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Worst Oilers team ever? Edmonton fans starting to ponder the possibility

Senators Oilers Hockey

From left, The Edmonton Oilers’ Theo Peckham,Taylor Hall, Colin Fraser, and Ladislav Smid sit in the penalty box during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senatorsin Edmonton, on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

AP

When thinking about the woes of the Edmonton Oilers this year, a very young team surrounded with veteran parts that are a mix of successful and abysmal, you wonder just how someone thought it was going to work out this year. Sure, with the influx of talent like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Paajarvi there was some thought and hope that they’d all be able to become instant success stories and help the Oilers to fight for a playoff spot.

As things go in the NHL, the best hopes and dreams are often dashed quickly. Hall has been solid but took a while to find his way on such rough team. Eberle has been the best of the bunch while Magnus Paajarvi took even longer than Hall to find his stride. Veterans Dustin Penner and Ales Hemsky have been solid while captain Shawn Horcoff has struggled through injuries to try and be the team’s top center.

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal looks at things with the Oilers with a cold, harsh dose of reality for how the Oilers are doing this season and he wonders, even in spite of the youthful hope on the ice, if this is the worst Oilers team in franchise history.

The all-time points low is 60 in ’92-93 when Ted Green had 41 players tug on an Oilers jersey. Current Oilers’ TV colourman Louie DeBrusk was on that team. So were Steve Rice, Dave Maley, Joe Beranek. They didn’t have one player with even 50 points in an 84-game season, not the current 82. The goalies Billy Ranford and Ron Tugnutt were fine, but the team couldn’t beat the Sisters of the Poor.

This year’s team has 40 points in 56 games. Doing the math, they’ll have to win 10 of the last 26 to get to 60 points. How are they supposed to do that in the ultra-competitive Western Conference where only three teams--Edmonton, Colorado and St. Louis--look to be out of the playoff race? How are they supposed to do that when they have 16 wins in their first 56? They have 20 games left against Western Conference teams. They have 10 wins against the West all season. They’ve won two in their own Northwest Division in 13 games.


Yes, things are that bad and already talk has begun of just who the Oilers will look at when they’re near or at the top of the 2011 NHL Draft. After cleaning up in recent years with forwards and with the number of issues they’ve found for themselves on defense, blue line prospects will get looked at heavily and Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson will most likely be the top one available. There’s no doubt that if the Oilers can grab him they will.

Fellow basement dweller Ottawa is their main threat for the top pick in the draft but the Oilers can take a bit of solace in knowing that the Sens have plenty of prospects waiting in the wings on defense. I suppose if there’s a silver lining to be had in what’s essentially a lost season, it’s that the Oilers can at least look ahead to continuing to make the team better through the draft. It’s a trick they’ve had to get used to the last few seasons and until those youngsters begin to mature, it’s how things are going to continue in the great white north.