The Edmonton Oilers had a terrible start to the season. Their best players didn’t play well at all, and they didn’t seem to be able to win. Their goalies were also unable to stop pucks. Their strategy appeared to be unraveling as a whole. The franchise would almost certainly need to make a significant trade at the NHL Trade Deadline.
That wasn’t meant to happen, at least not in a forced manner. The group was thought to be among the NHL’s greatest groups. Many hockey analysts considered them favorites and thought they would make it deep into the postseason. I could see the Stanley Cup now. The players said it was “Cup or bust.”
The Penguins, headed by Mario Lemieux, had just won back-to-back Stanley Cups, an achievement not shared by the Oilers since well before Connor McDavid was even born. Born in 1997, McDavid was seven years removed from Edmonton’s last championship. Pittsburgh broke the record for the longest winning streak, although they were unable to complete a three-peat that season as they were upsetly eliminated by the New York Islanders in seven games. But by then, the majority of the roster had already won the Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Although they have been close, McDavid and his Oilers have not yet advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. When McDavid was just nine years old in 2006, the Oilers made their final trip to the Cup Final. Two years ago, Edmonton was on the verge of collapse.
Leave a Reply