The Edmonton Oilers played 3 games this week. 3 games against teams at various levels of the standings. Unfortunately they lost all 3. All three were for reasons that are the running reasons they have now lost 13 games in a row. Last nights loss against the hated Calgary Flames set a team record. It is the first time in franchise history that they have gone 0fer in a month. ZERO wins and 2 lousy points from scraping through to overtime before succumbing to the loss.

Tuesday it was the Chicago Blackhawks making a trip to Edmonton. The game started off in typical fashion these days with the Oilers forgetting to show up to start the game and Jeff Deslauriers letting in that easy goal only 44 seconds into the game. It was bad enough the team didn’t show up to start the game but this made it even worse. In fact, by time the team did show up to play it was 4-0 for the Hawks and they were just in cruise control and you could see they had taken their foot off the pedal. It was a game of men (Hawks) vs. boys (Oilers). In watching the first 39 minutes it was hard to realize that both these teams were in the same league.

The Oilers finally got on the board in the last minute of the second with Fernando Pisani finding the net. The Oilers then came out in the third and played a pretty decent period, although I am not sure if it was a case of the Oilers stepping it up a bit or the Hawks laying back. Probably a bit of both. Ryan Potulny closed the gap for the home team at 5:44 of the period but that was as close as it got. Again, weak goaltending and only playing for 21 minutes are not going to win you many games.

The Edmonton Oilers have 32 games left this season. We all know that they are not making the playoffs for the 4th straight season. The Oilers players, management and owner know it too. They just haven’t come out and admit it though. So as fans, what should we expect from this team the rest of the season?

Should we expect them to just go through the motions? Should we accept them to just show up each and every game and just play dead while they are beat into oblivion? Here are my thoughts on what needs to be done to make this abysmal season something that can be looked at as a success in the long term scheme of things.

The Oilers have been dealt a gift either through fate, misfortune or even mismanagement but it is something they need to use. The gift? 32 games of under fire, in the heat of the action, mean nothing for now exhibition games. 32 games to see what players they have for the future.

The first thing they need to do is to put the younger players to the fore of this team. Whether it is by trading some of the older veterans or sitting them in the press box. And if they can’t trade some of the guys because of their contracts then send them to the minors. Who cares if someone claims them and you get nothing. This franchise has to start over anyway. Saving the money is worth it right now. The captains “C” and the assistants “A” needs to be taken from those who have them now and be given to the young guys who are going to lead this team in the future. Let them start leading now. Carolina did the same thing by taking the “C” from Rod Brind’Amour and giving it to Eric Staal. He is the future of their franchise.

When things go wrong, you’ll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better. – C. S. Lewis

This is the only way that fans can look at the Edmonton Oilers season right now. Last night against the Dallas Stars was again a shining example of how those things that can go wrong, just continue to go wrong.

The Oilers started the game desperately trying to hand the game to the Stars. With 4 penalties in the first 11 minutes it appeared that the team was just going to play a lazy game and lie down and play dead. For the second straight game, they gave their opposition a 5 on 3 power play by taking 2 penalties at the same time. On this night it was again 2 veterans with Horcoff and Pisani both getting nailed. Again this was untimely as it was only 41 seconds after the Stars had scored to take a 1-0 lead. With the Oilers having the 29th ranked penalty killing unit you expected the Stars to make it 2-0 quickly. On this night, however, it was not the Sedin twins on the ice and the Oilers were able to kill that off. What did they do to celebrate this kill? Less than a minute after the brilliant kill Sam Gagner took a holding penalty and were again able to kill that off. With 6 seconds left in that penalty they Patrick O’Sullivan was pegged for unsportsmanlike conduct and with the team shorthanded for almost 6 consecutive minutes, the Stars finally solved the Oilers PK and made it 2-0. The shots at this time were 17-2 for the Stars and it looked like this was going to be Monday all over again.

So how do you know that your season is Going to Hell in a Handbasket? When the officials buy a dive of monumental proportions in overtime and you lose on the ensuing power play. What happened last night was a case of Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong, does.

The Edmonton Oilers played possibly their best game in months yet they still managed to lose the game. They outplayed the opposition almost to a man, they out shot them, they out hit them, blocked over 3 times more shots, and even had less giveaways yet they still lost the game. There was 2 places they didn’t outplay the Canucks and in the end, those 2 facets of the game ended up costing them the game.

5 on 5 the Oilers were a far better team than Vancouver. But one of the major achilles heels of this team was blown out of the water. The Sedin twins were almost non-existent for most of the game however they were busy strutting their stuff during the power play. A power play that was 3 for 4 and only spent a total of 3:27 on those man advantage situations. Between them the Sedin’s picked up 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points.

6-0 final. Does anything else need to be said? This was a plain, old fashioned butt whooping of large proportions. For a team of so-called professionals either playing for jobs next year or showcasing themselves for a trade, this game was played with the passion and intensity of a limp noodle. EDMONTON OILERS = FAIL

I have watched the Oilers since the beginning of the WHA days and this was one of the worst games I can remember in a very long time. This made 8 straight losses and 15 times in the last 16 games. We all know, and the team knows that their playoff hopes are totally gone but the least they can do is try or give the semblance of try when they step on the ice.

Again, the leadership on this team must come into question. The leaders on this team are obviously ok with losing and unfortunately they are dragging the young guys down that rutted road of no return. This team brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from the legendary Vince Lombardi:

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

This team has obviously gotten into the habit of losing and the leadership of this team seems to be quite happy with this. How could things have gotten this bad? I believe that the leadership of this team started to try and take control of the team when Craig MacTavish was coach and I don’t think things are any different now. The leadership wants to control the team and don’t want to do anything other than their way.

The Edmonton Oilers entered the HP Pavilion (known as the Shark Tank) for a Saturday Matinee game winless in 2010. Their last taste of victory was on December 30th against the almost as hapless Toronto Maple Leafs. 6 games, having been outscored 23-13 over that period and team had to face the top team in the league in order to break out of the winless streak. Not a positive outlook for this team. That with the fact it was an afternoon game which, throughout their history, the Oilers have not done a good job of showing up for.

The Oilers have shown over the first 46 games that their line-up and team make-up is filled with weaknesses. If only took the San Jose Sharks 3:51 to expose one of them. That dreaded weak goal. Patrick Marleau was given credit for the goal as his centering pass from the corner hit Oiler’s starting goaltender Devan Dubnyk’s stick and deflected through his legs and into the net. Definitely not the kind of gift that the league’s top line needs and not the way the Oilers need to start a game.

The Oilers did have a bit of life though and were able to tie the game briefly with 16 minutes gone in the period as some hard work down low by Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner lead to a great cross ice pass from Gagner that found the stick of a pinching Denis Grebeshkov who made no mistake beating Shark’s starter Thomas Greiss who was making his 7th start of the season.

That was as close as the Oilers would get though as another of their nemisis bit them less than 3 minutes later. Dustin Penner was nailed for a high sticking call out near center ice. It was one of those lazy, unnecessary penalties that ultimately seems to cost the Oilers and it took the Sharks only 54 seconds to find the twine as Devin Setoguchi gave them the lead for good. Outshot 16-6 in the period the Oilers were lucky to get out only down by 1but some good goaltending by the rookie Dubnyk kept the Sharks circling but not biting.

Saturday afternoon it was second place Manchester United taking on 15th place Burnley F.C. in this weeks English Premier League action. ManU came into the game needing a win in order to keep pace with front runners Chelsea while Burnley needed a result to help keep themselves above the relegation zone.

On paper this should have been a cake walk for United with 13 places and 24 points separating the 2 teams in the standings. Burnley had also not won a game at Old Trafford since 1962 so history was also behind United on this day.

The game was eventually won by the Red Devils by a score of 3-0 but the score flattered the home side. The Clarets had the 2 best chances to score before the goose eggs were finally broken. Both Steven Fletcher and David Nugent exposed the weak United back as each were sent in alone by ex-United player Chris Eagles but their finishes both missed the target. Disappointing for a club that had held their own.

Immediately following the Nugent miss, United came the length of the pitch and in the 64th minute it was Dimitar Berbatov who found the mark with a deflected shot off a defender. 5 minutes later it was Wayne Rooney who added some insurance. Mame Biram Diouf replaced Rooney in the 73rd minute and the new guy opened his United scoring account in extra time to close out the scoring for the game.

ManU have to feel lucky that this was their opponent today as another team of quality would most definitely have put the screws to the Red Devils on this day. If either of those glorious chances had been taken then it would have been a different game.

The Edmonton Oilers started their final 38 games tonight knowing for sure that goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is officially done for the season as he has opted for back surgery to try and correct his herniated disc problem. The Oilers GM Steve Tambellini has also come out and said that the team will not be going out to look for a new goalie to get them through the rest of the season. With both Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk both needing to clear waivers next season if they get sent back to the minors this is the smart thing to do. One of these guys will be the Khabibulin’s back-up next year and the Oilers need to see which of these goalies is going to be their goalie of the future and which guy they can take a chance on losing by sending back down. As I said before, these 2 young goalies have to be started on a rotating basis no matter what. Let’s see what they are made of.

The first period tonight had to be one of the most boring periods of hockey I have seen in a while. There were only 7 total shots (4 by the Oilers) and no goal and very little in the way of action. Other than some good work by Robert Nilsson and Andrew Cogliano and a great hit late in the period by Dustin Penner it was booooorrrrring hockey.

The one thing I was impressed with in the first period was the defensive work (yes, defensive) by Robert Nilsson especially in taking the puck away from a much larger Michael Rupp in the defensive zone. The Oilers did some good work and ended the period getting a 5 on 3 powerplay as the Pittsburgh Penguins were guilty of taking 2 penalties at the same time with 12 seconds left. The Penguins played the period like they thought this game was going to be a gimmie.

So did anyone expect a different result tonight? I know I didn’t. I said in the last post that the mini-camp wouldn’t be successful because the end result was the same players and the same team leadership (or lack thereof). I was right. The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 which was flattering to the Oilers in the end.

It appears that many of the Blue and Copper faithful are feeling the same way. I usually follow Oilers tweets on Twitter during the games and it was pretty consensual tonight that most fans didn’t expect any difference. Many had similar reasons; others were just hoping the Oilers continue losing to get the best chance at the first pick this summer in the NHL entry draft.

If I remember correctly, there are 2 terms going around for this idea. The “Fall for Hall” was one and the other was the “Dive for a Top 5”. I think I like the “Fall for Hall” the best. If this is the way you are thinking right now then you will be happy to know that the Carolina Hurricanes won tonight leaving them only 2 points back of the Oilers for dead last in the league.

Do the Oilers have a chance now to make the playoffs this season?  As I said before, only if and when the sun starts rising in the west.

I did expect, at least, the Oilers to come out for the first 1 or 2 games and play like they had learned something in the mini-camp before they fell back into their old habits. It actually only took 5 minutes for those old habits to creep back into their game and by the 5:27 mark, 2 giveaways and some weak goaltending and they were down 2-0. That was pretty much it.

Tonight begins the post mini-camp edition of the Edmonton Oilers. So does anyone really think this 4 days session is going to make a difference? Probably not, unless of course the sun rose in the western skies this morning.

After the 4 day mini-camp what are the Oilers left with? The same players who for the most part have lots of try but lack the heart and desire to do the things necessary to win. They are left with the same leadership group that for the most part have been non-existent and a waste of salary. Leadership that takes stupid, lazy penalties. Leadership that doesn’t show the heart and soul of a true Oiler’s leader.

This 4 day exercise may in fact make them a better team defensively. Although with only 3 teams giving up more goals there isn’t many places to go but up.

It may make their pathetic special teams tolerable. The powerplay sits 17th in the league with a success rate of 17.9%. Not bad but good teams are usually in the top half of the league. The penalty killing is a woeful 28th at 76.1% efficiency. It is also the only PK unit that has not scored a short handed goal.

A team that Pat Quinn wanted to see play with more crust is either 27th or 4th in the league with 38 major penalties so the guys are showing a bit of feistiness but I think most of those majors come when the team is losing (which is most of the time) and the guys are frustrated.

Unfortunately we may see the positive result of the first game tonight and maybe even the second game against Kid Sid on Thursday but it probably won’t take them long to slide back to the way things have been. Until the leadership of the team either steps up to lead by example or is replaced or the Oilers start receiving NHL calibre goaltending the last 38 games are going to be as hard to watch as the first 44.

As a fan I will continue to watch and cheer. I guess on the bright side, the mini-camp did give us one thing. The Oilers haven’t lost a game in 5 days and that is something that hasn’t happened since the first week of December.