UPDATED! GDB LXXXI: The real, Final Countdown

Well, Nation fans, this is it. The second-last game to cap off on another year. A year that failed to meet expectations, for sure. But hope lies on the horizon. And it’s not just because Europe is performing a live version of the Final Countdown as you view this post, either.

Though the Oil came out of the gates relatively strong at the beginning of the season, we were also beset by a pile of injuries. And when I say "a pile," I’m talking a motherfrakkin’ pile. Who’s out? Hemsky, Rehabibulin, Souray, Smid, Peckham, Brule, Gagner, JF Jacques… And that’s just right now. Throughout the season, other guys have fallen and come back,

And I’m not saying that a perfectly healthy roster would have guaranteed us a playoff spot, but I can tell you this: we’d have done a damn sight better than last place in the league. And what are we left with for our troubles? An 81st game, played at 2 in the afternoon against the Kings. It’s not quite the cherry on top of the fabulous season Oilers fans were expected, is it? After this there’s only one more to go…

I’m going to assume the boys who make up the Mighty Oil are really just looking forward to the end of the season. These last games are a formality, obviously, and then the guys can get on with their summers. And they can do so with the optimism that things couldn’t possibly be worse next year. Because we’re already there.

We have the Entry Draft coming up at the beginning of July… and that’s going to help build excitement for fans and players alike, as all will continue to speculate as to whether it will be Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin.

But for this second-last hurrah, we need to focus on the here and now.

Right here, right now, my wish as a Oilers fan who’s been dragged through the season is to win this afternoon’s game on a high note. No ridiculous turnovers, no absolutely shit penalties… Just a team of Oilers playing the game, having fun, and you know, winning.

Right here, right now… What are you hoping for, Nation?

So this is it. The final weekend of insult in the longest season recorded to date. For those of you still following the Mighty Oil – we salute you.

We were having a debate with a buddy last night about whether or not the Oil have already put their darkest days behind them. Its a clouded topic of considerable debate and we aren’t entirely convinced it has all been put behind us yet.

Its harder to be lower than last place certainly, but at the very least the Oil won’t be last place and against the Salary Cap ceiling anymore going forward.

That’s a start.

There have been a great many bad decisions and ill timed moves on the tactical chessboard to get us to where we are today, but there were also a mind shattering number of injuries too making the Oil look worse than they actually are.

These injuries will heal and that should move the needle of success.

Running out the season that Justice forgot may feel like a waste of time for many, but we will be finding a TV and a way to watch the game as we park out at Servus Centre to watch the Scotia bank Alzheimers Pro Am.

Awesome ex-Oilers are here including Paul Coffey, Marty McSorley, Glenn Anderson and the Legendary Norm Lacombe and we will take time away from SqueeFest 2010 to see the present day Oilers run out the clock.

These weary and bedraggled Oilers face the Kings today, a team that only recently also sucked too and probably caused all 11 of their hard core fans heart ache as they rebuilt.

But in this day and age of NHL parity it normally doesn’t take long for things to turn around and in theory as goes for the Kings should go for the Oil too. At least this is what we tell ourselves as we cry ourselves to sleep at night.

There will be 9,358,982 articles on the OilersNation dissecting the season six ways from Sunday but in our opinion the final conclusion is this:

The best part of the 2009-10 Oilers Season is that it’s almost over.

Finish strong Oil.