One final slapshot to the mouth

Talk about a shitty week. First I travel all the way to Raleigh to watch the Oilers lose game 7 (But it was still a sensational, memorable time that I'll always cherish and never forget). After the game I find out my grandmother has had a stroke. I rush home Tuesday and go up to see my grandmother midday on Wednesday and she dies early Friday morning. I'm still dealing with her loss and will be for a long time. I didn't love my grandmother any more than I did my other grandmothers, but I had a special bond with her, and in many ways I was a little too shocked to really break down and sob like I felt doing inside. Anyway, I was with my family all weekend and come home late yesterday evening.

This morning, just to get my mind off of my grandmom and my grief, I go to an Oilers fan Website, OilFans.com, and I read that the Oilers best player, Chris Pronger, wants out of Edmonton. Greeeeat.

I'm not equating sports with my Nan's death. Far from it. Sports is trivial on a good day and family means everything. But this was another chink in the armor today. Unreal. Often, I watch sports for a bit of an escape from everyday life; when your team does well, it lifts you up, and when they lose, you're just a bit down. That's the tradeoff. The older I get, I realize that you have to truly cherish a championship when your favorite team(s) wins one, because it's never a given that it will happen in any given year, or ever.

I know, I know, I promised no more hockey, but I had to vent about Pronger wanting out. This is going to be very difficult for the Oilers to overcome. No way Edmonton even gets to the second round in the just-concluded playoffs with no #44. Now, he'll be gone.



It sure looked like Pronger was stoked to be an Oiler (and a successful one here after scoring a goal in the playoffs, above). He had signed a four-year deal, had begun to build a house in Edmonton, and it looked like the Oilers were building something pretty good, too; coming one win away from a Stanley Cup.



As it turned out, Prongers return to Edmonton after game 7 (above) was hello... and goodbye. To be honest, this makes me resent the game 7 loss all the more and just deepens my disappointment. The Oilers were THIS close. And now they feel so far away, and the offseason has just started.



This guy, #47, defenseman Marc Andre Bergeron, will always be the guy that lost us the Cup. He pushed a Carolina player into Conn Smythe candidate Dwayne Roloson in game 1 of the series vs. Carolina, ruining our Cup chances. Yes, the Oilers came back and tied the series, but the odds were against us. I think even the most ardent of Edmonton haters would agree that the Oilers could have won at least one more game with Roloson in net. Nice job, Bergeron. The only way he vindicates himself? By lifting the Stanley Cup next year during a parade route through Edmonton. And those odds look a helluva lot longer now. Now, I'm not taking away from Carolina's Cup - they earned it and won it fair and square, no *. Injuries are part of the game, but injuring your own player is a bad idea, especially when it's your best player, and your starting goalie, no less.

Oiler GM Kevin Lowe certainly has his work cut out for him. He did a masterful job putting the Oilers together to make a highly improbable Cup run. Now he has to parlay arguably the best defenseman in the league into another very good defenseman, and perhaps some goaltending help. If anyone can do it and get value, no question it's him. Get goin', KLowe. We want the Cup.