Oilers prove they are more than a one-man show
It was all over but ANAHEIM, CALIF. the crying.
Only there was no crying. As devastated as the Edmonton Oilers were and are after coming one game short of advancing to the Western Conference final, they haven’t lost sight of what they accomplished.
They just delivered a great season, one that saw a former NHL doormat grow from perennial laughingstock to legitimate powerhouse.
And they are only getting started. “What can you say about this group?” said goaltender Cam Talbot, the backbone of Edmonton’s gutsy post-season run. “From last year, finishing near the bottom of the league … we grew as a group and we took that next step.”
In eliminating the San Jose Sharks in six games and taking the Anaheim Ducks to seven, the Oilers showed anyone who didn’t already know it that they are more than a one-man show.
Talbot established himself as an elite-level workhorse. Leon Draisaitl proved in the playoffs what he already proved in the regular season: that he is one of the top 10 players in the league.
And in the only proving ground that matters in the NHL — the playoffs — how many young Oilers stepped up on the big stage? Almost all of them. Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning, Anton Slepyshev, Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom all embraced the toughest hockey in the world.
“You could see how much we grew as a group and individually we’ve grown just as much,” said Talbot. “Leon was a man out there in the playoffs; he was our best player night in and night out. Benning really stepped up in Game 5 when we really needed him to.
“Drake came up with a couple of big goals for us. The list goes on with the guys in this room. I’m proud to be part of this group this year. I had a great time playing behind them.”
The are no guarantees next year, of course. Nobody knows if Patrick Maroon can duplicate his career year or what Milan Lucic will look like with another year on him. Or if they can get Kris Russell to stay.
A lot of things can go wrong. But a lot of things look like they’re going right, too. It’s hard to imagine the Oilers won’t be better next year and better than one game away from the Western Conference final means some very exciting possibilities.
“(We showed) that we can win,” said Draisaitl, “that we can play with any team, it doesn’t matter who it is. We know in here that we can play with any team and we can beat any team.
“For the players, the fans and the league as well, that’s the most important thing to take away. We know how good we are. We have a bright future ahead if we keep getting better, if we decide to keep going the right way as a group.
“Eleven years not in the playoffs and we took a very good team to seven games in the second round. It could have went either way. We have something here in Edmonton that we can look forward to. We’ll be back next year.”
Head coach Todd McLellan got a lot of questions answered during this run. These 13 playoffs games taught him more about his team than the previous two regular seasons did.
What can you say about this group? From last year, finishing near the bottom of the league … we grew as a group and we took that next step.
“I think what we did in the second round was we solidified an identity of a pretty scrappy, resilient, never-die team,” he said. “There’s still a little bit of inconsistency in our game, but we’ll grow up and we’ll fix that as we move forward.
“The one question that I had and that I think is answered: we weren’t afraid of the stage. We were willing to come out on it and perform. For an inexperienced team from Day 1, that’s a good sign moving forward.”
It’s a great sign as far as Maroon is concerned.
“The guys should be looking around and seeing what an accomplishment we had this year (being) one game away from going to the conference final,” he said.
“We have to give each other some credit. We did a really good job this year.”