After a wildly successful season last year, belief in the Edmonton Oilers has tapered off like the price of oil. Not many folks had faith in them last season and not many seem to trust them this year. The support has dwindled so much so that Edmonton has not been included as one of the eight playoff teams on many preseason forecasts.
A large factor for the cold-shouldering that the Oilers are receiving is because all-star defenseman Chris Pronger, who demanded a trade shortly after the Stanley Cup run, is no longer a part of the team.
While the blue line is sure to be thin without him, one way to make up for that deficiency is with strong goaltending. Last season, the Oilers tried to make up for shoddy goaltending with a strong defensive corps, but that theory flopped. The tandem of Jussi Markkanen and Ty Conklin let down the team time and time again with sub par netminding, so much so that that team targeted a top-notch goalie at the trade deadline.
This season, with a number one goalie in hand, they plan to try the opposite.
The Oilers' defense was stellar last season, leading the league in shots against (25.5 per game) and limiting the amount of shots their average goalies faced. But that still didn't seem to help the team so much until they secured the goaltender position with Dwayne Roloson. After an outstanding showing in the playoffs, he's back to carry the load at the back end with a new three-year contract in hand.
While there is pessimism surrounding the back end of this team, the front lines are burgeoning with plenty of optimism. Forwards Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, and Jarret Stoll all experienced breakout seasons last year, each setting new personal bests for points. Considering Hemsky is only 23-years-old, Stoll is only 24 and Horcoff is only 28, these players are still on their way up in this league.
That's not even mentioning Fernando Pisani, who led all postseason players with 14 goals and was a Conne Smythe Trophy candidate, and Joffrey Lupul, who was acquired in the trade for Pronger. Lupul has only spent two seasons in the NHL but already looks like a 75-point player. He notched 53 points last season and led the Anaheim — then Mighty — Ducks with 9 postseason goals.
To this point, team leader and perennial all-star Ryan Smyth has yet to be mentioned, as well as quality role players Petr Sykora, Raffi Torres, and Ethan Moreau.
The Edmonton Sun recently reported that the top three lines will look like this:
Line 1: Smyth, Horcoff, Lupul
Line 2: Hemsky, Sykora, Torres
Line 3: Moreau, Stoll, Pisani
All things considered, those are three quality lines who will be finding the back of the net very frequently.
Sure, Pronger is gone. But there is a talented rotation of forwards and the goaltending will be much more reliable. There is no reason to think that this team won't be back in the playoffs.
Edmonton Oilers and doubting the Edmonton Oilers mix like Mondays and me.
"The desire to seem clever often keeps us from being so."
— François VI Duke de La Rochefoucauld
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