How Did the Edmonton Oilers Get Here?

This blog is less than a week old but I haven't touched the NHL. Allow me to indulge you now. It's been eleven looong years for fans in the Alberta capitol, but thanks to that failure they've rebounded quite nicely and the Edmonton Oilers playoff drive starts tonight. Let's see how long it lasts. In the meantime, let's understand what it took to get here with some help from Oilersnation. Their list deserves a second look and what better time?

"Will Acton, Mark Arcobello, Dean Arsene, Richard Bachman, Cam Barker, Taylor Beck, Eric Belanger, Shawn Belle, Matt Benning, Anton Belov, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Sebastian Basallion, Jesse Boulerice, Kyle Brodziak, Laurent Brossoit, Mike Brown, Gilbert Brule, Ilya Byzgalov, Drake Caggiula, Taylor Chorney, Adam Clendening, Andrew Cogliano, Eric Cole, Mike Comrie, Philippe Cornet, Adam Cracknell, Yann Danis, Brandon Davidson, David Desharnais, Jeff Deslauriers, Leon Draisaitl, Devan Dubnyk, Ben Eager, Jordan Eberle, Kurtis Foster, Colin Fraser, Sam Gagner, Mathieu Garon, Martin Gerber, Mark Fayne, Mark Fistric, Viktor Fasth, Taylor Fedun, Mark Fraser, Luke Gazdic, Tom Gilbert, Alexandre Giroux, Curtis Glencross, Boyd Gordon, Denis Grebeshkov (twice!), Josh Green, Matt Greene, Eric Gryba, Jonas Gustavsson, Taylor Hall, Curtis Hamilton, Ryan Hamilton, Teemu Hartikainen, Ales Hemsky, Matt Hendricks, Roman Horak, Shawn Horcoff, Darcy Hordichuck, Brad Hunt, Jean-Francois Jacques, Jesse Joensuu, Aaron Johnson, Ryan Jones, Zack Kassian, Nikolai Khabibulin, Jujhar Khaira, Oscar Klefbom, Rob Klinkhammer, Lauri Korpikoski, Alex Kotalik, Milan Kytnar, Jason LaBarbera, Anton Lander, Phillip Larsen, Adam Larsson, Mark Letestu, Charles Linglet, Milan Lucic, Joffrey Lupul, Steve MacIntyre, Martin Marincin, Patrick Maroon, Connor McDavid, Colin McDonald, Jussi Markkanen, Andrew Miller, Chris Minard, Alexei Mikhnov, Ethan Moreau, Johan Motin, Petr Nedved, Nikita Nikitin, Anders Nilsson, Robert Nilsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Ryan O’Marra, Patrick O’Sullivan, Jordan Oesterle, Linus Omark, Iiro Pakarainen, Adam Pardy, Theo Peckham, Dustin Penner, Steve Pinizzotto, Joni Pitkanen, Tyler Pitlick, Magnus Paajarvi, Toby Petersen, Lennart Petrell, Fernando Pisani, Alex Plante, David Perron, Richard Petiot, Jeff Petry, Corey Potter, Ryan Pultony, Benoit Pouliot, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Jesse Puljujarvi, Teddy Purcell, Marty Reasoner, Liam Reddox, Griffin Reinhart, Bryan Rodney, Dwayne Roloson, Allan Rourke, Mathieu Roy, Geoff Sanderson, Rob Schremp, Justin Schultz, Nick Schultz, Ben Scrivens, Andrej Sekera, Dillon Simpson, Anton Slepyshev, Ladislav Smid, Jason Smith, Jerred Smithson, Ryan Smyth (twice!), Sheldon Souray, Steve Staois, Jarret Stoll, Ryan Stone, Zack Stortini, Jason Strudwick, Andy Sutton, Petr Sykora, Danny Syvret, Cam Talbot, Dick Tarnstrom, Colten Teubert, Patrick Thoresen, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Raffi Torres, Brad Winchester, Jim Vandermeer, Chris VandeVelde, Lubomir Visnovsky, Ryan Whitney, Nail Yakupov, Bryan Young, Kevin Lowe, Steve Tambellini, Craig MacTavish, Peter Chiarelli, MacT, Pat Quinn, Rom Renney, Wreck-It Ralph Krueger, Dallas Eakins, Todd Nelson, Todd McLellan, Bill Moores, Craig Simpson, Charlie Huddy, Rob Daum, Kelly Buchberger, Steve Smith, Keith Acton, Rocky Thompson, and Craig Ramsay".

Wow! 184 players, GM's, and coaches including todays personnel. I feel like that list should be accompanied by I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash! Oh hell giv'r a try if you like. 

Enjoy these playoffs Oiler fans! This is a very different NHL but it could be another ten before this happens again. Plus, I don't think I'll pen another Oilers article unless my Calgary Flames see you in the next round. So "Go Oilers"!

Thanks to www.oilersnation.com for the list.

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