Oilers ahead of schedule
ANAHEIM — Peter Chiarelli celebrated his second anniversary as Edmonton Oiler general manager between Games 1 and 2 of the Pacific Division final.
There was, however, no actual celebration involved.
“I, uh, didn’t even think about it,” said the G.M. who had a 5-3 win in Game 1 to celebrate if he was going to be celebrating anything.
In a way, it’s difficult to take a step back and assess Chiarelli’s two years with the Oilers only two games into a second round series when there’s suddenly so much potential to go deeper into the first Stanley Cup playoffs for the Oilers in 11 years. But mostly it’s easy. Only a few months ago, the hope was to play meaningful games down the stretch and maybe, just maybe, get these guys five or six games of playoff experience.
“In our business you just roll through the time pretty quickly. I think it’s a little bit like watching your kids grow up. Before you know it they’re off to college and graduated,” said Chiarelli.
“The two years have flown by. It’s time to renew my lease on my place already,” he said of the downtown condo where he and wife Alicia reside.
“We’ve settled in. We have our two dogs. My wife has been back and forth visiting our two kids in college.
“My impressions of Edmonton have always been good. My best friend is from Edmonton, so it wasn’t really a surprise to me what I discovered here,” he said of Mark Carney, the former governor of Bank of Canada who was his hockey-playing teammate and campus roommate for four years at Harvard and the best man at his wedding.
“There’s no surprise to me about the town, but I am very impressed by it. My idea of Edmonton certainly was reaffirmed from a hockey point of view with the passion and knowledge that we’re witnessing now.”
It’s all sort of gone at warp speed for the GM.
“It goes fast. When I came in, there was a lot to do.”
Chiarelli has made all the right moves. And the big move, to trade Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson has now gone from being highly controversial to complete, unadulterated acceptance and endorsement.
“It was a fair trade. It’s what we needed. He’s still a young player. Defencemen sometimes take a little longer to mature and he’s maturing before your eyes.
“He was maturing last year. He continues to mature. You see him making a lot more plays. He’s starting to be an outstanding defender. And he’s a great kid,” Chiarelli said of the 24-year-old from Skelleftea, Sweden, who scored two goals, including the winner, in Game 1.
There’s obviously a long list of moves that Chiarelli has made and almost all of them have been proving to be the right moves. But as the old saying goes, some of the best moves you can make are the ones you don’t make.
Chiarelli wanted to see how the members of this team performed together down the stretch and playoff series before make any more moves.
“I think what I said at the deadline was that we already had made a lot of changes. I really wasn’t fishing for the big one. We got David Desharnais who was experienced and makes good plays. I’m glad where we are and if you want to play the hindsight game, I think we’re OK.
“The team has exceeded my expectations. I had us down for a playoff spot, but we really took off at the end,” he said of winning 12 of the final 14 regular season games.
“I think that’s been a function of confidence and guys realizing that they can do this. I had us battling for a playoff spot this year, which was what we were doing until we took off.”
Your correspondent suggested to Chiarelli that what happened in the series against San Jose might have been worth an entire year in the development of this group.
“You’re right. I remember the first time in Boston when we made the playoffs and lost a seven-game nailbiter against Montreal, we lost, but it was a way better experience than losing in less games than that.
“In that first round series there were two real junctures that were important for development. There was taking them for granted after the first period in Game 1. Then there was the responding and rebounding from the 7-0 loss in Game 4 and learning the playoff style. And now we’re at the next level so we’ll see where it goes.
“For me, it’s a lot of fun to be back in the playoffs, to have a little bit of success and to watch these guys. A lot of them haven’t played in the playoffs. It’s great for me to see them embrace it and change their games a little for the benefit of everybody.
“It’s fun to watch them enjoy the wins together. As a manager you can really tell where you are going and what you’ve done when you hear the banter on the back of the bus. That’s been fun to hear again. It’s been a couple years for me and a lot of years for a lot of the guys.”