So my mighty Edmonton Oilers are 4-2-1 to start the season. If I have to be honest that makes me feel pretty good. Considering my call on the Oilers for this season is to fight for a playoff spot and either just make it or just miss, 4-2-1 is as good a start as any Oiler fan could have asked for. The question is do they deserve the 9 points and 5th place in the Western Conference or has the team overachieved so far this season? The answer is somewhere in the middle.
Lets look at the positives first. Quinn and Renney have the Oilers playing a brand of hockey that is at least fun to watch. So far this season, win or lose, I’ve walked away from Oilers games being satisfied the effort needed to win hockey games in the NHL was there. The team pressures the puck all the time and the effort to get to the net is front and center when compared to the last few season. Quinn’s use of sandpaper players on each and every line seems to be working and for the time being has also taken the heat off the Oilers in regards to the notion they are to small and just not tuff enough. JF Jacques, Gilbert Brule, and Ryan Stone have looked very good, and have even made the stat sheet on top of making the Oilers an unpleasant team to play against with their physical play. The team has more goals for through 7 games then they did at the same time last year and they have come from all over the lineup. Dustin Penner has 9 points. I’ll say that again, Dustin Penner has nine points. 5 of which are goals, that on pace for 58 goals, which never happens, but can this be the year Penner becomes the player the Oilers thought they where getting and he pots 30? Based on his play so far it’s not a stretch, he has looked great. Comrie at 1.2 million hasn’t disappointed either, with 6 points in 7 games he could turn out to be a the sleeper offense this team needed on top of a great story. Maybe the biggest positive so far, aside from his gaff against Calgary, it looks like Khabibulin will give the Edmonton Oilers a chance to win every night. An important key when you consider some of the concerns to start this season.
The two things that worry me are this. The Oilers have been in complete control of hockey games, with leads, and still lost. That’s a sign of a young team, but that’s also an excuse. The Oilers could be 6-1-0 if it wasn’t for last minute collapses. I’ve given the team credit of showing up for hockey games, but I can’t say they stayed focused for 60 minutes in all of them however. I think we all know the best teams in the NHL can lose if they take 5 minutes off, the Oilers aren’t one of the best teams in the NHL and can’t afford to take 1 minute off. Secondly the Oilers so far in this young season are getting out shot horribly, sometimes 2-1. They have won some games simply because they got the better goalteanding. In the long run however, like in the lose to the Chicago Blackhawks, this trend won’t play out in the Oilers favour. The team says although they are getting outshot, those shots are from the outside and not real threats for a goal to be scored. I’m not convinced. I think the more skilled teams will beat this team more often then not if they don’t tighten up in their own end.
The last word is that when you look at the pros and cons of the Edmonton Oilers so far in this young season, the cup is half full. They have a winning record, players that we needed to play well have so far, and the so called top line has yet to play it’s best hockey. It’s a good start.
Then again, this is just another damned opinion.
