Humiliating

I wrote back in early March a piece called “Deep Ice Horizon”, and it was stupid of me.  Not because after that the Oilers jumped back in the race, but more so because I should have saved the title for when this obviously was going to happen.  I don’t know 1 Oiler fan who didn’t call this at one point or another.  And while Mac T did do a good job at the press conference this morning, Kevin Lowe just proved why he is the problem with this franchise and needs to go.

I didn’t form this opinion during the presser.  I’ve had this opinion for quite a while now.  But I REALLY developed this opinion over the last few years.  It got stronger this morning with the news that Steve Tambellini was being replaced by Craig MacTavish.  Yet ANOTHER Oiler retread.  And again, Mac T did a good job in the presser.  I said quite often back in the day that Mac would likely be a pretty good GM.

But it still is a case of Lowe just hiring another one of his buddies, rather than looking for who might be the best guy for the job.  Scott Howson is now the VP of Hockey Operations which is the job Mac T leaves behind.  What that job is, I’m really not sure!  But apparently it is a job, and it’s filled by ANOTHER one of Kevin Lowe’s buddies rather than looking for the best candidate.

It’s just like Entourage.  A group of guys, hanging out together, having a good time.  At first it’s a cool show and you wish you were in that group, and then after you see it play out you desperately want it cancelled because its just getting worse and worse and worse!

And if it wasn’t bad enough going into the press conference, it got A LOT worse during the press conference.  The best was when John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal asked (and I’m paraphrasing here): “why should the fans have any faith in this group since its basically the same group that has led them nowhere?”  Kevin Lowe tweaked, brought up how he had 6 Stanley Cup rings (5 of those were over 20 years ago, none of them were as a GM) and also brought up how that group put together a team that made 1 miracle run 7 years ago.  And at no point did he take ANY ownership of the shit show that has gone on in Edmonton.

Now, Oilers fans get accused a lot of living in the past.  I don’t think we (yes, I have to include myself) do that.  Just because the Oilers have a rich history doesn’t mean the fans should be ashamed of that.  However, Kevin Lowe CLEARLY does this.  He has become the joke of the NHL.  Bruce Arthur was absolutely killing him on twitter during the press conference, and rightfully so.  Down Goes Brown (Sean McIndoe) had a piece mocking Lowe’s incompetence right after the presser was completed which is a must read http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2013/04/oilersgmkevinloweinterviews.html

This organization has gone down the right road.  They desperately needed to rebuild, acknowledged that and have done it the right way.  And there was no doubt that Tambellini, while he had made some solid moves, needed to go.  He was much too slow at addressing the problems on the hockey team and in my opinion lacked the balls to make a big move.  And as I’ve said a couple times now, Mac T came out swinging and if he was telling the truth then the Oilers just may have a solid GM on their hands.

But even if MacTavish does a good job, nobody is denying at this point that Kevin Lowe needs to be fired.  He has taken this organization nowhere.  He only wants to hire his buddies.  He has no accountability and that has a trickle down effect that is very evident on the ice.  The fact that Darryl Katz hasn’t recognized this and canned him yet is beyond ridiculous.  He was a great Oiler, but he needs to go yesterday and until he is gone I just can’t see this team getting back to being one of the elite franchises in the NHL.  I PRAY I’m wrong about that…

Follow me on twitter where I bitch about the Oilers constantly @TJ_Soups