Oil Change

The Team: As the NHL season chugs towards Christmas, the Oilers continue to provide fans with an emotional roller-coaster ride. This is a team that wins unlikely games and loses others that should be an automatic two points. Through it all, head coach Renney and his assistants remain patient and stick to their game plan, sometimes reinforcing their lessons with a soft touch and other times with toughness. The players take a memorable road trip to Anaheim and Phoenix with their fathers, sharing a round of golf in the desert between games. Back in Edmonton and preparing for a tilt against the Sharks, they get a surprise dressing room visit and pep talk from Prime Minister Harper, in town for the 2010 Grey Cup. Heading east, they sweep the Sen, Habs and Leafs, only to come back to Edmonton and play inconsistent hockey during a lengthy, pre-Christmas home stand. With the New Year looming, injured captain Shawn Horcoff assesses the progress of Oil Change on the eve of another Battle of Alberta against the Flames.

The Grind: January finds the Oilers’ playoff chances in growing jeopardy. Some fans advocate throwing in the towel right now, arguing that a freefall in the standings will secure them another valuable first or second overall draft pick in June. But the coaches and players are proud professionals and refuse to give up. As the team grinds their way through a long prairie winter, the true character of the squad reveals itself. The rookies gain valuable seasoning; the vets show their leadership qualities. Some players fulfill expectations, while others slip back on the depth chart as the team moves forward. Meanwhile, Oiler brass and scouts are busy looking at the progress of their AHL farm hands down in Oklahoma City, at possible draft picks in June, and at previous draft picks back playing in the juniors. This will be a very intense time for the new Oilers. If the team does well over the next month and a half and exceeds expectations, it could be back in playoff contention when the February 28th trade deadline approaches.

Deadline: By the time this episode airs, a little over two weeks after the NHL trade deadline, the Oilers will have declared their intentions for the rest of the season. They will either stand pat with the team they have, bolstered as needed by call-ups from the AHL, or they will have moved players , and possibly very important players, either in preparation for a serious push for the playoffs in the spring or to make roster space for the next stage of their ongoing rebuild.

End of the Beginning: One of two scenarios will play itself out in the final episode of Oil Change. The team will either be in the hunt, with everyone’s focus firmly fixed on the prize – making the playoffs – or the Oilers will know they are once again destined to finish the season on the outside looking in. In that case, management and coaches will be looking to make some tough calls over the final weeks on the futures of their players. For non-playoff teams, this is the time when players, and particularly those on the bubble, must take advantage of the remaining games on the schedule to make their case for a new contract. In both scenarios, the future remains to be written.