What Exactly was That?!
After coming back down to earth having lost 4 in a row and 5 of 6, the Edmonton Oilers, the NHL’s latest emerging talented darling completely dominated the team that used to own that moniker. The West leading, 2010 Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. An amazing night for both the Oilers and there fans. But let’s get honest about it.
I’m not intentionally raining on Oilers fans parade (although I know I am), but you have to be honest. The Hawks had been rolling till arriving in Western Canada this past week. I didn’t see the game inVancouver but from what Kelly Hrudy was saying Saturday night, despite the Hawks apparent 5-1 Pauly D win (get it? Pauly D win? Blowout? See what I did there? But I digress…) they didn’t play that tight of a game. Then in Calgary they didn’t seem into it. Then in Edmonton they were without a doubt not into it!
What were the Hawks doing after the game? Oh that’s right, Vegas for a little in season va-cay. See where I’m going with this? What happens on the last night of games before the All-Star break every year? More often then not teams play terrible because most of the players are focused on getting away for a few days. It is to the players as what Friday’s are to most of us. “F the workout it’s Friday baby!!!” Don’t tell me you haven’t said something along those lines before. Or “I’m taking off early, it’s Friday bit**es!!!” Right. It’s human nature.
This is the biggest factor in what happened on Saturday night. Don’t get me wrong, perfect storm happened to make it 9-2. What made it 9-2 was a pissed off Oiler team who had just lost 5 of 6 looking to get back on track against a team that pretty much toyed with them 6 days earlier. And they needed it. It was Saturday night and a LOT of the crew was looking to slump bust! Lucky for the Oil and there fans, a lot of them did, specifically of course a man named Taylor. Yes, Chorney played terrific…
Aren’t I just FULL OF IT TONIGHT?! But bad jokes aside, all I’m asking is to look at this domination rationally. Oiler fans it was terrific and I’m glad you enjoyed every minute of it, these days have been a long time coming. But as for going forward just keep it in perspective. Stars and Preds back to back, this could be 7 of 9 by Wednesday morning. And Hawks fans, they weren’t worried about the games in Calgary and especially Edmonton.
Kevin Weekes on the HNIC broadcast couldn’t understand why no push back from the Hawks? Well it’s embarrassing, nobody wants to get hurt before going to VEGAS!