Oil Country Running Dry

Two goals a game: that is what the Edmonton Oilers are currently averaging twenty games into the season. Shocked? Don't be. And here's why you shouldn't.

Last season the Edmonton Oilers finished 12th in the western conference with 71 points, and weren't even close to making the playoffs as they sat 25 points back of 8th place Calgary. Kevin Lowe traded away franchise player Ryan Smyth at the deadline, which all but sealed Edmonton's fate for the 2006-2007 NHL season. Cap that off with losing veteran defenceman Jason Smyth, leading scorer Petr Sykora and young forward Joffrey Lupul, and Lowe left Oilers' fans with nothing much to cheer for.

However, this season was supposed to be different. After losing three core players, Lowe upgraded his blueline by aquiring powerplay specialist Sheldon Souray, offensive defenceman Joni Pitkanen, and playmaker Dick Tarnstrom. Top that off with aquiring Dustin Penner, and it looked as if Lowe had redeemed himself in the offseason. Once again, this season was supposed to be different. They had a tremendous offensive blueline, a true number one goalie, had tremendous potential in the fountain of youth, and had aquired a power forward from Lowe's buddy (err, ex-buddy now) Brian Burke. Finally, there was light at the end of the tunnel for Oil Country.

Fast-forward to November 20th, and the Oilers aren't seeing much light from the basement of the western conference standings. Through 20 games the Oil have amassed 15 points for a winning percentage of 0.375... and it gets even worse. Snake bitten by injuries, the Oilers defensive corps (which looked so promising at the start of the year) had yet to show what they could do collectively as a healthy unit, leaving the team's forwards to shoulder the burden. It was the team defence that was supposed to struggle. After all, the Oilers picked up Dustin Penner. The answer from Edmonton was 2.00 goals/game, not far off from the 2.34 goals/game the Oilers averaged last season. Edmonton's offense had run dry.

Forget about looking for Carmen Sandiago; where in the world is Dustin Penner? After signing a 5-year $21.25 million deal, Penner has disappeared; the 6-4 power forward has 3 goals in 20 games, and is on pace for a 12 goal season. Horcoff and Hemsky were expected to pick up their play, but with only 16 and 13 points respectively, it simply isn't enough when Edmonton's other players are not producing. Where is Jarret Stoll (3 goals in 20 games)? Where is Raffi Torres (3 goals in 20 games)? Ultimately, where are the Edmonton Oilers? Oh yeah, 15th in the western conference.

This is perhaps more frustrating to Kevin Lowe than the injuries to his blueline. Simply put, Edmonton just can't score. Last season the Oilers' top scorer (Sykora) had 53 points and was the only 20-goal scorer on the team. This season, only two players have more than 5 goals. And no, that doesn't mean that Edmonton has balanced scoring throughout the team because 10 players are without a goal. It gets worse. Take a guess how many players on Edmonton's roster have a positive +/- rating. Really, take a guess. The answer: two.

On the bright side, one of the few pleasant surprises for the Oilers has been the steady play of rookies Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner. Both players bring exceptional vision and playmaking abilities to the table, and have put up solid offensive numbers for a struggling team. Oilers' fans can only hope that they can excel night in and night out.

Edmonton also thought they would at least have a stellar goaltender in Dwayne Roloson to steal games for the struggling club, but this has not been the case. Surprisingly, Roloson is 3-9-1 with a .890 save% and a 3.21 GAA. If someone were to tell head coach Craig MacTavish that Mathieu Garon was to emerge as the go-to-guy for Edmonton this season, he wouldn't have believed you. Now, he is hoping Roloson can find his game while believing that Garon can carry the load until then. MacTavish has no choice but to go with the hot hand in goal.

Injuries, a dried up offence, and a struggling starting goaltender is no potion for success. The Edmonton Oilers are caught between a rock and a hard place and show no signs of stepping out of their slump. When healthy however, Edmonton will be better. When that happens remains to be seen. For now, it's up to the Oilers themselves to prove to the critics that they can recover from this and make it to the post-season dance.

So is there any realistic hope for the Edmonton Oilers this year?

In a strong conference, it will be difficult to come back from their early setbacks. There certainly is hope for the future with a young team, but there are simply too many stairs to climb this season. For every step forward the Oilers had taken in the offseason, they have taken two steps back on the ice. On the bright side, Edmonton can only go up from here.

To reach Christos, send an email to christos10@gmail.com