Just Win, Baby
3 years ago
Nothing beats winning. Absolutely nothing. It doesn’t matter how, and it doesn’t matter against whom. Regular season or playoffs, it doesn’t matter. Just win, baby. When you do, putting in the work in practice is welcome. The jokes are funnier. The food tastes better and the beer tastes colder. There is nothing like it.
The Edmonton Oilers have to be feeling a little bit of that today, and they should, after winning their fifth straight game with a 3-0 shutout of the Vancouver Canucks Thursday. Now, they get ready to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday to open a three-game series between the top two teams in the North Division after improving to 11-2-0 over their last 13 games. The are 14-8-0 overall.
And while this five-game heater guarantees nothing in games yet to come and there’s bound to be more bumps in the road, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the ride along the way — that goes for fans and players alike. No, that doesn’t mean it’s time to start planning the parade route, as those jaded by failure like to point out, it just means there’s a time and a place to enjoy the journey. This is one of those times.
I’m reminded of that today because it’s been exactly 20 years since the Oilers set an unlikely franchise record with nine straight wins, from February 20 to March 13 of 2001, and I was along for the ride on the bus and on the plane, right on the periphery of all the buzz and all the fun. Mercy, it was a riot watching Tommy Salo, captain Doug Weight and a rather unexceptional team break the franchise record of eight straight wins, set multiple times by Wayne Gretzky and all those Oilers’ Stanley Cup crews. I’ll never forget it.
ON A ROLL
Feb 23, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Bo Horvat (53) checks Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
None of this is to say that @Connor McDavid and @Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the team we’re watching now, which for my money is a superior team to the group from 20 years ago, has a nine-gamer in the cards. Maybe. Maybe not. Different time, different players and a different era. Likewise, we can’t forget all the fun everybody had during that unlikely run to the 2006 Stanley Cup final. This team is not either of those teams. Again, it’s the journey.
All I know is watching @Mike Smith throwing himself in front of pucks like a kid about to wipe-out on his toboggan, seeing @Jesse Puljujarvi taking a punch in the nose Tuesday, then coming back to score the 2-0 goal last night and mugging on the bench like only he can, is a lot of fun. It’s sort of an updated version of Salo mocking reporters in a hotel lobby for their choice of sports jacket, among other things, or having a laugh listening to The Champ on the bus in Tampa Bay during the nine-gamer. “I said, pardon?”
Smith has stopped 56 straight shots since giving up the 3-0 goal in Vancouver Tuesday before buckling down in a 4-3 win. I thought the big stopper was done last season. Puljujarvi has been nothing short of found money since returning from Finland. After playing well but having no luck around the net early, he’s scored six goals in his last 10 games. I wouldn’t have bet on that. How do you not like that big, sloppy grin of his?
McDavid, of course, has been McDavid. He’s put up 26 points in his last 13 games and sits atop league scoring. It’s the same old, same old ridiculous highlight reel stuff from him. The biggest difference being it looks like he has more help around him beyond Draisaitl and @Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — not only up front but back on the blueline. How much more of a cornerstone guy can @Darnell Nurse be than he is right now?
THE WAY I SEE IT
Feb 19, 2021; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund (11) and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) faces off for the puck during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
“It’s experience. It’s confidence,” Smith told Mark Spector of Sportsnet when asked to describe the team’s roll. “It’s learning how to win close games, believing in the group, and what the coaching staff is preaching. It’s everyone getting on the same page…and I feel like we’ve really, really taken a step in the right direction here.
“You can feel it. It’s a different feeling in the locker room. This team is gaining confidence every single day we’re together. Guys are gelling. Winning helps in gaining confidence, and a swagger about the group. We feel we can win close games, or games where we’re down.”
Of course, it goes without saying this roll could end tomorrow against the Maple Leafs. The thing is, the more players experience what the Oilers are going through right now, whether it comes by way of a startling comeback win like Tuesday, a blowout from the get-go or finding a way to win in a tight playoff-like game, the more you want it. This is how teams grow. This is how teams learn. This is why they play.
Just win, baby. And enjoy every minute of it.
Previously by Robin Brownlee
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