The second coming of the Oilers' Dynasty?

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Just by way of explanation, few people on the planet can claim to be more fanatical fans of the Edmonton Oilers than myself, since I lived in Edmonton during the glory years.

Do I dare hope for a reincarnation of the Oilers' dynasty? Hell yeah!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/adrian_dater/11/04/edmonton.oilers/index.html

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is drawing comparisons to Gretzky. And talent aside, some of the comparisons are eerily similar. Lots of people discounted Gretzky when he first arrived in the NHL for his slight build and lack of physical play. Taylor Hall is also drawing comparisons to Mark Messier.

In all fairness and honesty, my big concern is whether the Edmonton ownership and market can keep a potentially budding team together. Salaries were much lower before Gretzky got traded to the LA Kings, in part because he and the rest of the Oilers core had agreed to stick together to carve out a championship team. It was only a matter of time before discontent set in though, with Paul Coffey being the first to get shipped off to Pittsburgh. Once Bruce McNall raised Gretzky's salaries, the remaining Oilers could only churn out one last gasp for their glory years in 1990 (which was admittedly sweet). And subsequently, it became much harder for Canadian teams to stay Stanley-Cup level competitive.

I'm crossing my fingers that they can build that second reincarnation that fills the seats and is willing to stay together, but I'm not exactly holding my breath. Disappointment wouldn't surprise me either.

 

After a brutal December and January plagued by injuries, well ... check this out:



Sam Gagner tied the franchise record for eight points in a single game that was held by Gretzky and Coffey. I thought Nugent-Hopkins was supposed to be the one doing this? I'm hoping Sam Gagner can now provide a needed piece, a second-line center to take the heat off of RNH. Move Horcoff to grunt work on the 3rd or 4th line I say.

By the way Aldeth, I understand your point about waiting until there's one cup before talking dynasty. The Detroit Red Wings have been the closest thing to an NHL dynasty since the heyday of the old Oilers. But even then, their cups were too spread apart to be a real dynasty. But watching this game ... it conjured up a lot of memories from the good ol' days. So, I'm still hopeful. Now if only we can find the bona fide offensive defenceman that we need. Definitely need to shop Ales Hemsky around.

 

And Pocklington wasn't a douche?

I dunno ....



Looks pretty Gretzky to me. One thing to keep in mind was when Gretzky put up 200+ points in his heyday, the league still had a lot of beer-bellied slower guys that Gretzky could do circles around. He couldn't do that in today's game, or at least not as often. Neither could Lemieux. Everybody's bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, more schooled in the finer points of the game. I'm not saying that RNH will be as good as Gretzky. Who will? But I honestly think it's a matter of degree, and a smaller degree than you might suggest.

And yes, a lot of the fans are now making the comparisons to the good ol' days.

RNH > Gretzky (lite?)
Taylor Hall > Messier
Jordan Eberle > Kurri
Nail Yakupov (just drafted 1st overall) > Glenn Anderson

One of the things that was missing was that marquee offensive puck-moving defenceman who could kick the attack up to high gear from his own-end. And we may have just landed him:

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/06/30/prized-ufa-justin-schultz-chooses-edmonton/



Justin Schultz > Paul Coffey (lite?)

If anything represents a turning of the worm in Oil country, it's this. Ever since the glory days, Edmonton has been thought of as the 'Siberian no man's land' of the NHL, with prize UFAs or trade targets not wanting to touch Edmonton with a 10-foot pole (e.g. Dan Heatley, Marian Hossa) or with key players demanding to be traded out pronto (e.g. Chris Pronger).

Schultz, who was eagerly pursued by every other team in the NHL, chose Edmonton precisely because of all the talent up front. When was the last time Edmonton won a UFA sweepstakes like this?

You have to admit, it's been tough to be an Oilers fan, especially since the 2006 cup run. To have something resembling the ol' days, even if a matter of degree, would be pretty darn sweet. The only thing I think can now get in the way is whether the core will succumb to greed instead of working out their own internal salary cap.

 

It kinda sucks for us that we're stuck with a way past his prime Khabibulin for another year.

Devan Dubnyk is a huge question mark. He has all the size to cut off so much of the net, and has the technique to accentuate that advantage. But ... every once in a while he just lets in a super-soft goal that makes you think the other team could put a beach ball past him. But then he breaks out with an insane flash of brilliance. If he can get his confidence and put it together, he MAY BE the Oilers' starter. But yeah, goal tending is a lingering question mark for us.

 

I find that Fuhr always was one of the most under-rated goalies. "His GAA never matched Roy's, blah blah blah ..."

There's a reason for that. The Oilers loved to burn their own wagons in search of the goals, and still did but not as much after 86. Coffey loved to join the Oilers in the rush with abandon. But when it didn't work and the other team managed to quickly counter, guess who was there to bail them out? Yep, Fuhr. The guy was an amazing bundle of energy and reflexes. He was smaller than other goalies, and yet didn't venture very out from his net, cause his glove-hand and feet were like ninja blades.

Some fans ride Dub due to his cold streak this year, but he could turn out to be a real gem. Some goalies (e.g. Tim Thomas) don't even hit their stride until well into their 30s.