Edmonton Oilers

Before the season began, Edmonton Oilers head coach Tom Renney was quoted that last year the team was "playing with house money" and that this year would be where winning and the formation of expectations would take place.  

After a start that had many fans salivating about the ever-elusive, meaningful April hockey (8-2-2 through the first 12 games), the team has won 26.67 percent of the games it has played since then.  

First off, I'd like to say I've thought Ales Hemsky has been as professional and as good of an Edmonton Oiler there has been during his nine years with the club.

He's been oft-injured since the 2009/10 season, but 406 points in 512 NHL games is nothing to scoff at.The Oilers are struggling, and it has the fans wondering if GM Steve Tambellini has a shake-up in order to try to turn things around.

While it's still early in the year, there have already been several rookie standouts that are making their case for the Calder Trophy.

With a wide array of talented, first-year players to choose from, there have been few stand-alone candidates to this point. However, the season is still young, and as it progresses you will start to see leaders separating themselves from the pack.

For now, we're left to examine the players currently making a name for themselves as rookies around the league.

The Edmonton Oilers are very similar to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They both enjoy very notable histories in the NHL and have each won their share of Stanley Cups. 

In recent years, while both teams have been less than stellar in the league standings, Edmonton lost its similarity with the Original Six Leafs in that they have clung to the deep bottom of the NHL's basement. 

In 2006, The Edmonton Oilers came within one game of winning the franchise's sixth Stanley Cup. Five years later in 2011, they are the worst team in the NHL for the second straight year.

How does a professional sports team fall so far so fast?

It has become fashionable to call out the Edmonton Oilers. Several years ago, the Buffalo Sabres had called out the Oilers on inflating the prices of RFAs by signing Thomas Vanek to a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet. The Sabres matched the contract.

This is part 1 of my series examining what moves I think the Oilers should make in the offseason.

As another long, last place season draws to a close, Oilers fans once again set their sights on the upcoming draft. With 30th place once again assured, the Oilers will have a 48.2% chance of retaining the first overall pick, and will be picking no worse than second overall.

Once again the Oilers will likely have the first overall selection at the NHL entry draft, where they will be able to draft another potential cornerstone for a franchise that surprisingly has, in fact, won the Stanley Cup before.

This is a press conference that will happen at some point soon, but why not get a sneak peak right now?  Assume that the organization is in the exact same position that it is in today, so in other words, nothing's changed in the past decade.    

The hits just keep on coming for the Edmonton Oilers.

After losing Taylor Hall to a high ankle sprain last month, and having already lost Ryan Whitney in December, TSN is now reporting that Sam Gagner had exploratory tendon surgery after last night's game against Washington and will be shut down for the remainder of the season as a precaution.