I think that it’s generally best to stay calm and not panic if your team is struggling, but the way the Oilers are playing right now, I think panic is warranted
Flashback to the year 2017. The Oilers just lost a heartbreaker to the Ducks in game seven of the second round. Despite this, there’s nothing but optimism surrounding the team. In his first full season, Connor McDavid has already proven that he’s the best player in the league, Leon Draisaitl looks like he’s turning into a star, and the rest of the team seems to be just good enough to put them over the edge. The ending to the season might’ve stung, but as far as Oilers fans are concerned, things are looking good.
Flash forward to the present day. McDavid and Draisaitl have won the past two MVPs and have been the class of the league for three years now. If you told this to an Oilers fan from five years ago they would be ecstatic. They would assume that things are going incredibly well, and rightfully so. That is, unfortunately, not the case. The Oilers have now lost their last 11 games with their Head Coach behind the bench and are stuck in a tailspin. They also haven’t won a single playoff game since that 2017 season. This is the worst-case scenario. We’re living in some dystopian future where the forces of evil have worked to ruin this hockey team and give them the worst coaches and management imaginable. McDavid and Draisaitl only have four and three years left on their deals, and this team has still failed to surround them with anywhere near enough talent to win a single playoff game, let alone a cup. So with all this in mind, I think it’s appropriate to press the panic button.
I’ve been seeing a lot of people lately saying that “it’s too early to panic” or to just “trust the team”. I understand their optimism. This team has been so bad for so long that being negative gets tiring. It seems like failure is no longer disappointing, it’s simply expected. But we need to expect better from this team, we need to expect championships, but right now, we need to panic. Fire Tippett, fire Holland, fire Nicholson. This team needs change and it needs it now. As bad as this team has looked, they still have McDavid, they still have Draisaitl, so with the right people in charge, they can get better, but the people they have right now, aren’t the right people. Oilers fans have to stop settling for mediocre. We need to expect better.
The Morning Skate 