While you might not be too thrilled with the way the Edmonton Oilers started this season, there’s no doubt 2017 was a good year for the copper and blue.
The highlight, of course, was that they made it back to the playoffs for the first time in over 10 years.
630 CHED’s Morley Scott took a look back at the playoff run and the season so far.
He said, mostly, he’s just happy for the fans.
“The crap that they had to put up with between 2006’s Game 7 and when they hit the playoffs again, it was a lot,” Scott said. “(There were) a lot of coaches, general managers, management changes and ownership changes. A lot went on during the decade of darkness.”
Scott covered the Oilers during the 2006 Stanley Cup run, and also back in the 80s with the dominant Wayne Gretzky-led team.
He said one of the main differences between those runs and the 2017 campaign was social media.
Thanks to platforms like Twitter, fans from all over the world can now connect and cheer on the team. That’s different from even 10 years ago, when most of the buzz was inside the city and didn’t extend much farther.
Even though it was great to see the Oilers back in the postseason, the way they started the 2018 campaign left a lot to be desired.
Scott said that was his main takeaway for 2017; the disparity between the two seasons.
“Expectations kill you sometimes,” Scott said. “Expectations outside the team and inside the organization are very high obviously. But things don’t always go the way you plan. It’s sports. There’s other teams on the field or on the ice playing. It’s not easy to always keep that trajectory going in the right direction.”
Looking ahead, Scott said there’s not much to panic about, especially given the young core of talent led by Connor McDavid.
“As long as you have him, and he’s playing lights out right now, I think they have a chance to turn (the season) around. They’re not that far back, but there’s a lot of teams to pass. And I think that’s the biggest issue. They’ve got to start chipping away. They’ve got to get by Colorado, they’ve got to get by Vancouver and then they can focus on the teams in the playoff spots.”
Scott also said while it may be tempting to shake things up, he doesn’t expect to see much movement at the trade deadline.
“I’m sure (the Oilers) are saying, ‘We’re a better team than we’re showing, we don’t think we belong where we are in the standing right now.’ The train of thought is probably, ‘Let’s just get what we can out of this year, regroup, and hope the trajectory keeps going up. ‘”
Scott also said if anything, the Oilers might try to add another defenceman to the mix, as they hunt for a playoff spot.
But he said even if they miss the postseason this year, the future is bright for the Oilers.
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