Off The Post

Colin Fraser & The Cup

One of the newest Oilers, Colin Fraser was just down the street from my apartment today with the Stanley Cup. I had to leave work early just to get a glimpse of the Cup with our new center fresh off his big win with the Blackhawks last month. Living out here in the Vancouver area, I certainly don’t get to go to events with Oilers, well ever. I mean I know he was here because he won with the Hawks and it’s his hometown and it has nothing to do with the Oilers, but it was still cool to see the cup. I had a chance to see it for the first time just a few months ago during the Olympics, so this time it was just a bonus. I’m hoping this was just Colin’s first cup and he’ll be bringing it back again soon as a member of the Oilers.

The Fall for Hall

So now that I’ve got this fancy new iPhone I guess there’s no excuse to neglect my blog anymore?

So it’s been official for a few weeks now, Taylor Hall went first overall and has now signed his first NHL contract. A 3 year deal worth up to 3.75 million dollars with the bonuses worked in. Not bad for an 18 year old who has yet to play 1 game as a pro. I have to say, I am stoked! I feel as though this is the start of something big for the Oilers. I am always excited about an upcoming season, but this one is different. We are doing what we should have done 10 years ago, if not at least 3 or 4 years ago. Rebuild it through the draft and stop chasing over priced UFA’s.

For the first time since Doug Weight, do I really feel like putting a name and number on the back of a new Oilers jersey. Of course we need to know what digits he decides to wear.

On behalf Off the Post, welcome to the Oilers Taylor. I look forward to many years of writing about you!

A Franchise of Futility?

Feeling pretty bummed about this season so far, as most Oilers fans. The silver lining? Perhaps the “dive for five”, the “fall for hall”, ect. Yeah, yeah sure. I’m in agreement that it’s time once and for all for a true rebuild. But we’ve got the rest of the season to dwell on that. For now, I wanted to point some statistics I’ve been digging up about our Oilers and how bad it’s been for way to long now.

5th longest current playoff drought in the NHL: Only the Panthers (8), Kings (6), Coyotes (6), and Leafs (4) have longer streaks that the Oilers (3). And after this season, there is a good chance the Yotes and Kings will end their streaks, maybe even the Panthers. The Oilers have not played a playoff game since the Ryan Smyth trade. Missing the playoffs in the 09/10 season would also tie the franchise record (1993,1994,1995,1996) of 4 straight season missing the playoffs.

21 seasons since we last won our division: We can take some comfort in the fact that we have won 2 Stanley cups (1988, 1990) since our last division win (1986-87) and made it to the finals (2006) once more. However the Oilers have never won their division without Wayne Gretzky. Since the Oilers last won their division the Canucks have won it 5 times, the Flames 6 times, the Avalanche 8 (since 1995-1996), and even the Wild have won it once (since 2000-2001).

9 post season since the last cup: Since their last cup in 1989-1990 (18 seasons) the Oilers have made the post season only  9 times. During the same span the Canucks have made the post season 12 times, the Avalanche 11 times (since 1995-1996), and the Flames also only 9 times.

9 playoff series wins since last cup: A stat that isn’t all that bad in comparison to the rest of the division but still pretty grim. Over the past 18 seasons the Oilers have won a total of 9 playoff rounds. The Canucks have also won 9, while the Avalanche have 17 (since 1995-1996). Looking at the Flames lack of Playoff success does make me smile, they have only won 3 rounds, all in the same year.

Well, now that I feel like death, maybe we can start looking towards the future. What to do with the rest of the season, the trading deadline, the draft, ect. Lots to ponder, and another long summer to look forward to. Go Hawks!