Can the Oilers put the past behind them?
The Edmonton Oilers last lifted the Stanley cup in the 1989-90 season, two seasons after the great Wayne Gretzky departed for Los Angeles.
In the recent past, the Oilers have failed to even compete to gain a playoff spot, with their playoff drought currently standing at five seasons and counting. In the 2010-11 season, just 25 wins in total saw Edmonton bottom of the whole league for two years running. A big factor in this failure is the lack of a ‘main man’, a player who will guarantee you 90 points a year such as Crosby, Ovechkin and Richards to name a few.
Young Canadian Jordan Eberle topped the points tally with 43, closely followed by fellow youngster Taylor Hall, aged just 19, with 42 points. The fact that two youngsters topped the points table is a massive positive, however, next year they will definitely be looking for someone to stand up and bag 70+ points at least.
Hockey is massive in Canada and Oilers fans are starting to get frustrated by the team’s lack of success in recent years. So, can they perform well next year and try and push for a playoff place? Yes, I think they can. Perhaps a playoff appearance is a bit ambitious next year but a 35/40 win year for Edmonton would be a successful year.
If Edmonton are to have a successful year, what are the key aspects? Well, the Oilers gained 1st choice pick in the 2011 entry draft and selected Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. No doubt he is going to be a great player but there is huge doubt as to whether he will play in the 2011-12 season due to his size, or lack of for that matter. At 6ft tall and just 164 pounds, a season with the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton’s AHL affiliate) seems likely.
Along with Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, as mentioned earlier, will be massive if the Oilers are to succeed. 42 points in a rookie season isn’t too bad at all, so who knows what he will be able to do when it comes to the regular season. It seems that Edmonton are starting to build the franchise around Hall, which will put huge pressure on young shoulders, and if he doesn’t fire, Edmonton won’t fire, simple.
Experienced 38 year old Nikolai Khabibulin played in 47 games last year, winning just 10 with a save percentage of .890. This played a big role in the 2010-11 struggle and Khabibulin will look to put this right in perhaps his last season in the big leagues. He has 300 wins in the NHL along with a Stanley Cup, and if Edmonton can find some solid defence, Khabibulin will definitely have a better season and the Oilers will also have a much better season. Netminders are key to a good team, a save percentage of .910+ is required along with shutouts throughout the course of the season.
Very interesting times are ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and no doubt I will be keeping a close eye on them in the 2011-12 season. They deserve some success and so do the fans and I feel this may be the year for them!
