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Wednesday, November 25, 1998
Oilers have to start beating top teams
Not only do I regularly tune in to the History Channel, but I am also fully cognizant of the fact the Oilers upstaged the Colorado Avalanche during last spring's Stanley Cup first go-round. And what a magnificent comeback it was, too, as the Oil rebounded from a 3-1 deficit in games.
But ...that was then, this is now ... and it's still a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world we live in.
Between now and the next episode of springtime madness, there's a matter of a long, cold winter, 147 sleeps and 63 regular-season NHL fixtures - most of which aren't to be taken lightly.
Lots left to prove:
This briefing brings us to tonight's Skyreach Centre renewal between the new/improved Avs and the second coming of the Oilers, who still have a good deal to prove.
"No question, we've had a good start ... but that's all it is,'' confessed centre Rem Murray yesterday, putting things in perspective.
The 10-8-1 Oilers sit atop the Northwest Division, but only three points back in third spot are the resurgent Avalanche - 4-1-1 in their last six and definitely displaying signs of life following an abysmal 0-4-1 beginning.
"They're playing a lot better after a slow start,'' observed 12-goal Oiler Bill Guerin. "They're a good team and everybody knew they'd be bouncing back. That's a good sign for them, despite the injuries they've had.''
Oh yes, Colorado's hurtin' with a black and blue defensive corps that has been completely revamped. The fact the Avs' toes haven't been tagged in the morgue is largely due to the Oilers' inability to put the boots to them when they were down.
Colorado's first sign of a pulse was 6-4 in Denver Oct. 24 when the Avalanche buried the Oil with a 4-0 first period.
Colorado then progressed to a win-one, lose-one mode when the teams met again Nov. 4. Coming off a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of former Oiler Curtis Joseph, in Toronto, they waxed Edmonton 5-2.
"We barely hit them and they pretty much did what they wanted to,'' recalled Mike Grier, one of the Oilers who must establish a physical presence.
The other bit of alarming history is that the Oil is 0-6-2 at home during regular-season play vs. the Avs since they migrated from Quebec in 1995.
If these Oilers are to create some historical significance of their own by advancing past the stage of barely qualifying for the playoffs, upstaging the Colorados from October through mid-April is a necessity.
"The only way we're going to get a better playoff spot is by beating the better teams in the regular season - Colorado, Detroit, Dallas,'' deadpanned Guerin. "We want home-ice advantage in the playoffs. When you're playing catchup in other people's buildings, the odds are against you.
"If you keep doing it time after time after time, it's difficult to win,'' continued Guerin of the last two first-round upsets over Dallas and Colorado that were followed by quick Round 2 exits.
"The good teams, they believe in themselves.''
How close are the Oil to scaling the next level?
"I think pretty close,'' replied Guerin, who played on a Stanley Cup winner in New Jersey. "It's a matter of gaining more experience within our dressing room. It's a learning process.
"And there's absolutely only one way to do it: You've got to beat the best to be the best.''
To which Grier added: "It's time we started beating those elite teams instead of just playing with them. It's important we start winning these games for our own confidence.''
Don't forget, too, that this is a town that has responded in the wake of almost losing its franchise - where local ownership was sought out and where 13,000 season tickets had to be spoken for by May 31 to qualify for the NHL's small-market subsidy. Others - i.e. Quebec, Winnipeg, Hartford - failed under similar circumstances.
"We want to play better for the people,'' stressed Grier, although a 4-4 home-ice record may suggest otherwise. "Maybe that's why guys are pressing (at home) that they want so badly to pay the fans back for what they've put in.''
Working for the fans
OK, the players do understand. Now it's a matter of channelling that energy properly.
"We want home ice,'' stressed Murray. "This is the loudest building I've ever seen in the playoffs. Unbelievable. It would be nice to reward the people with that.''
Reversing the tables on Detroit, Phoenix, Dallas, Colorado is where this mutual admiration society begins.
"No question,'' said Murray, "we don't want to give (the Avs) anything to feel good about.''
They've done that twice this season already.
It's time perhaps to alter the course of history.
