This can’t be good - Oilers implode

Doh! Amid all the high expectations and cheers and beers … the Oilers started the Stanley Cup final by not only losing the game but losing it in a less than stellar way (blowing a 3 to 0 lead).

And to cap the debacle, they lost their goaltender, Dwayne Roloson.

Now, of course, everyone who said they were bound to win (many of whom didn’t give them a single thought at the beginning of the season) now say they haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.

So … for those who have not actually watched the Oilers this season, from someone who actually has, the Oil are not dead. The show isn’t closing. All is not lost.

Much as I like Roloson (he’s a great positional goaltender and has good reactions), he’s not spectacular. He’s just a pretty good goalie who has benefited from the way the Oilers play in front of him (well, except last night when they sucked).

The impact of losing Roloson will be more psychological than actual. The Oilers’ problem right now is at the other end of the rink. They out-skated, out-worked and out-shot Carolina last night. But Cam Ward was in the way.

The Hurricanes will get better. But then, so will Edmonton. One thing the Oilers will need to do is become more disciplined in their own end. (They’re kind of bipolar that way – sometimes fabulous, sometimes appalling.)

And Oiler fans can also take some comfort in the fact that all season long the Oil have shot themselves in the foot whenever they became comfortable with a lead – in a game, in a series, in the season. They seem to thrive on adversity and love putting themselves in a hole. I don’t know whether this means they have no killer instinct or just that they are not terribly bright. But either way, they play best when they are down.

Their biggest problem right now, I think, is the belief out there that losing Roloson means losing the series. It doesn’t. Not by a long shot. Oh … and another thing they’ll need to do is get over this business of driving opposing players into their goaltender. (It wasn’t just Bergeron who did it – Jason Smith did the same thing earlier in the game.)

Can they win the Stanley Cup? Yes. Will they? I believe that answer lies in the Carolina end of the rink.

Tags: Oilers, Edmonton Oilers, Stanley Cup, NHL, Hockey