DISAPPOINTMENT GIVES WAY TO FUTURE PROMISE
Edmonton’s return to NHL playoffs ‘about as good as you could ask,’ says McLellan
In the end, it was just the beginning.
It took a few minutes for the players in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room to be able to project past the moment and to look forward to the future.
But to go from player to player as you made the rounds in the room after their 2-1 loss in Game 7 to the Anaheim Ducks, one by one they got there.
“Unless you win a Cup, there’s no way a season can end this way and feel good,” said Zack Kassian. “The only way you are going home happy is with a Stanley Cup. We fell short of that goal.
“We had a good first period. They had a good second. We had chance to score in the third and we didn’t score.”
After a deep breath, Kassian continued.
“There’s a lot to be proud of in this room. It’s tough to see it right now. But we are a resilient group of guys. There were numerous times throughout the year that we could have folded, not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs. The respect that I have for the guys we have in here is through the roof. This is a team you could feel how close-knit we were.
“It doesn’t feel good right now, but the longer this sits, the more we have to realize that if you had told us we’d be at this point at the start of the year, we would have taken it.
“It’s just tough right now.” Adam Larsson put it another way.
“There are not a lot of positive thoughts after a night like this,” said the defenceman, who came to Edmonton in a trade for Taylor Hall and became a core member of what will unquestionably project as a top-of-the-table team going forward.
“The series itself was really a tough one. There were a lot of ups and downs and highs and lows. That’s a very good team over there. I thought we really put up a battle. It was a good fight. But we fell short in Game 7.
“The season overall has been a lot of fun. Obviously it’s tough right now, but throughout the year I feel we did a lot of good things.
“This team and this organization took a lot of big steps this year. I guess after a couple of days we’ll feel a lot better about what we did this year.
“It’s a learning process for a lot of guys. A lot of guys hadn’t played a playoff game. This was their first year. I thought we put up a hell of a battle.”
Leon Draisaitl led the team in scoring in the playoffs, but, like captain Connor McDavid, couldn’t get the puck in the net in Game 7.
“The game ... there’s not much to say,” he said. “They scored one more goal than we did and unfortunately that decided the series.
“The series ... it was two very good teams going at it. It was a long series going all the way to Game 7.
“It’s frustrating. But we have something we can look forward to.
“It was a very good season. Unfortunately it ended a little too short and a little too early for us. We have something we can look forward to in Edmonton. If we keep playing this way and keep getting better and better as a team and a group, I think our future is pretty bright.”
All year, head coach Todd McLellan referred to this group as a “growth team.” In the end, it grew up and now can look forward to growing into something special going forward.
“There’s two streams of feeling right now,” said McLellan when he hit the interview room.
“We didn’t come into the playoffs just to play well. We came in to win. I think our team played that way and prepared that way and battled that way. So the feeling right now is one of disappointment. We couldn’t quite get it done.
“When you remove that and look at the big picture, our entry into the playoffs was about as good as you could ask with the type of teams that we played, with the series that we played and the ups and the downs. We basically got a college degree within a month when it comes to playoffs.
“That experience for us moving forward is going to be very, very helpful.
“I looked around the room when we were done and had a minute or two together and the amount of bumps, bruises, scrapes and ice bags and just that scrawny looking players is a good sign for us. It’s just too bad we couldn’t get one more goal.”
There have been a lot of empty “wait until next year” seasons. This year, “wait until next year” never sounded so good.