NADIR

As an Oiler fan, I can give you chapter and verse about low points in organization history. The quick exit in 1983 was nothing—we knew the Oilers would be back. The Pronger trade request was a bad damn day, I suspect you remember it. Tonight? Losing like this to the current edition of the Calgary Flames? Come on.

I’m not one for grand gestures, and I’m certainly not one who believes any business or organization should have a knee jerk reaction to a specific trainwreck. However, the score and the Hall-Eakins exchange are the cherry on top of a truly incredible season.

Oiler fans have, in my opinion, been amazingly patient during this rebuild. Even in this season—which is the most trying year of all—the grumbling has been less than one might expect based on performance/expectation.

The remaining schedule is difficult, the jerseys keep flying from the stands (and may I say that’s getting old) and the hits just keep on coming.

Looked liked Dallas Eakins and Taylor Hall had some frayed nerves tonight. That can be a good thing—this has to be a low for both men—and something good could come from it. Sometimes these things don’t work out, and history tells us if one of them is leaving we already know his name.

This has all the makings of a bizarre spring. It is, at the very least, a dramatic low point in a season that defies description. We’ve passed surprise and driven through anger, and long ago stopped checking the standings.

What’s next? I suspect the answer is indifference.