One shining moment in recent Oilers history has brought on years of misery. A coach and former GM that no matter how poorly they perform can point to a few months where they were seen as larger than life heroes. Hell, I even put my longstanding hate of MacT aside in that stretch.
To think that the coach and even GM may have been let go if the team missed the playoffs or got spanked in the 1st round that year. It is amazing how many of the players that were part of that drive have come and gone, yet the men at the top of the heap can boast a level of job security that few people ever achieve in life.
Obviously it was all the coach and the GM, they were the 2 people that drove that bus into North Carolina for game 7 of the Cup Finals. The same coach that can never be ridiculed because "it's the players:", the same GM that overpaid all but 1 of the remaining Oilers from that run. If the coach can't be criticized for the players putrid play, then why in the hell is he applauded when they play well?
Why should anyone be allowed to bask in their one shining moment for a lifetime in pro sports? Better coaches and GM's have been fired for doing much more than these 2 EVER did. But this team and these men seem intertwined tighter than DNA.
Anaheim had a coach and GM change after making the Cup Finals, with a new coach and GM in tow, they won the Cup. Carolina saw a coaching change before returning to the Finals and winning it all. Calgary has had 2 new coaches since making the Finals despite making the post season and being a perennial North West Division contender.
Yet we are left with 2 men that are lucky to have jobs at the NHL level, let alone secure ones, 5 overpaid members of that run (Moreau, Staios, Pisani, Horcoff, and Roloson) and we are right back to where they started in their managerial positions. Minus the never say die attitude, the top seeds fearing the small market team filled with heart and desire.
We have come full circle from where they started. This despite once being a small market team and now having a level playing field, or quite frankly a playing field that makes US big fish in a small pond. Higher paid players, more skill, same results? Pardon me while I try to figure out this formula.
This fan would gladly give up the memory of that experience to see some actual change in the way that this team is run on and off the ice.
Oilers hockey, where a Cinderella run can trump years of failing to do a good job.
You're in Oil country, where the team seems to have some slick customers that can talk their way out of a lynching.
Lowe and MacT bleed Oil, snake oil that they conveniently bottle and sell to the fans.
