It takes everything in our Jordan Eberle loving heart to come on here and write anything other than a 900 word swear parade. We had a very sombre Sunday indeed after the Oil decided to get shelled 5 squat after getting pumped 4 nothing earlier in the week. 

There are no words to describe how bad things are at the moment. On a personal note we can’t recall being this unhappy ever really. The comments section here at the Nation is melting with our fellow citizens venting fire and brimstone in every direction. People are getting clever with getting swear words on the site bypassing our naughty filters.

Originally we were going to delete them – but then thought better of it. There are times when swearing is completely appropriate. And with this All You Can Eat Crap Buffet we are being asked to enjoy for 7 years now why not let a few blue words out if it makes you feel better.

It breaks my heart to read comments like this as correct as they might be. And the 139 props from so many of our fellow Oilers fans that feel something is dying inside them too? Unbearable to read. OilersNation.com wasn’t built for this.

It’s the age of infinite unhappiness.

You may find it ironic that this is the new NationGear design. Talking about Stanley Cups in Edmonton makes about as much sense as Lindsay Lohan keeping her schedule open on Oscar Night. But it is precisely now at the darkest moment that hope becomes so crucial. 

Hope is one of the most important things we can have. If we believe that this is our lot in life – cheering our collective hearts out for a group of unperforming non caring trillionaires working for an organization that takes us all for granted then the sun will never rise again. The minute we feel that a current squad of losers is all we deserve the light of hope will be snuffed out forever.

We would use this horrid Monday to remind everyone what the concept of the "Oilers" really means. Kevin Lowe is not the Oilers. MacT, Eakins and the rest of the Coaching staff aren’t the Oilers. None of the players or Daryl Katz himself are the Oilers. They are merely the current crew piloting a ship that is far bigger and more important than any of their piddling efforts can destroy.

The Oilers are Fernando Pisani and Company bringing us to our feet in 2006 for one glorious spring. It’s Doug Weight getting 104 point season back in 1996 blowing minds in the process. It’s Cujo flying across the crease to rob Niewendyk in the playoffs. If you are old enough the Oilers are the glory filled 1980s. We are too young to remember them but we understand it was quite the time.

The concept of what being an Edmonton Oiler means might be lost on 75% of the people collecting cheques from Kay-Z but we must all keep our heads held high through this darkest time in franchise history if ever we are going to find our footing again. If this current iteration of players don’t want to show up and compete they are free to leave. They are not Oilers and we refuse to acknowledge half of these crumbs going forward.

Being an Oilers fan is the aggregate of all the good times we have had with the team in our lives. The Oilers are the team that we would listen to as a kid on the radio late into the night before John Short would tuck us into bed. The Oilers are Dr Randy Gregg taking an 8 year old Wanye into the dressing room to meet his hero Craig Simpson who couldn’t have been nicer.

The Oilers are a rookie Ryan Smyth talking to a 13 year old Wanye outside Rexall Place for a good 15 minutes when he must have had many better things to do. The Oilers are the team that played an OT playoff game during a high school dance that had the entire school watching the game on a tiny TV in the cafeteria while a confused DJ spun tunes for an empty gym.

This current squad is simply an unimportant chapter of a story that will outlive them all.

It is some strange sort of a twist of fate that we picked the worst 6 year stretch in franchise history to make the Nation Network and commit a good part of our day to supporting the team. We can’t stand the Oilers at the moment but our love for OilersNation grows by the day.

We have made so many friends all around the world from this site and reading the tweets and comments of all these folks we have come to know over the past 6 years is heartbreaking. But it is some small mercy at least we still have each other to talk to in an uncensored environment that is telling it like it is.  A place for top drawer fans that deserve so much better than what we are currently getting.

Fans like Mr and Mrs Towelboy who came in from Lloydminster to take their lovely daughter to her first Oilers game on Saturday night. Driving for hours in the hope that they will give their kid a night she will remember fondly in years to come. The minute folks like this say "yeah it’s probably not worth sacrificing the weekend to see the Oilers get pumped" we are all screwed.

They deserve more.

We actually considered taking some time off from the Nation yesterday. We don’t intend to be some voice in a chorus of negativity screaming and yelling about how crappy everything is. But there is something deep inside us that believes a better day is on the horizon that prevents us from quitting. So we will slog on even if the divide between the actual Oilers and OilersNation increases by the hour. 

We have been saving free vehicle stickers for a few weeks now hoping something awesome would happen and then we could drop them in celebration. But it seems as though that day is far off in the distance for the time being. In any event our friends at Auto Canada have partnered to distribute awesome free vehicle stickers. You can click here to order them for pickup or delivery depending on your locale – completely free.

Cop these stickers Nation and rep them proudly. Most people with a functioning brainstem would take one look at this team and say "I wonder what’s showing on HBO right now?" Luckily we are made of tougher stuff. We are Oilers fans.

And if you want to drop some money on hope – with a portion of the proceeds going to our friends at the ICCP – go buy some NationGear here. Hope must never die no matter how dire things seem.