The alternate title for this graph could be "indifference v hatred of the suckitide." You pick.

We were having a chat with some of the boys last night regarding the Oilers win over the Stars last game. "How come you didn’t Ghost Ride after the win" asked our one buddy, triggering a debate about where the average Oilers fan’s head should be on February 17, 2011.

The way we figure, we are collectively at a turning point.

A great many casual Oilers fans have long since given up hope or care for the 2010-2011 season. Some of the crew roll their eyes and tune out if the Oilers game is mentioned at all. "I don’t care a bit about the Oilers these days. I wrote the season off long ago and I have basically done the same already for next year" was one of the opinions thrown out in the rousing debate.

For these folks there is nothing to get mad about because they no longer follow the comings and goings of the squad. They may place some faith in the Super Kids, but have been so beat down by the Shitanusly Bad Hockey these past 5 years that they have literally tuned out.

Another sub-group within the indifference crowd are those who are convinced that things are going to turn out just fine and that we should all sit idly by and let the Mighty Oil rebuild on their own schedule. "The future is bright" they say. "provided you define the future as 2040."

These are the folks we can understand the least of the indifference peeps. Passionate enough to follow the team 24/7 they have given them a hall pass of competing on a night to night basis. They themselves are indifferent to the remainder of the season, why shouldn’t the Oilers themselves be too?

There is a second group of Citizens of the OilersNation who have taken a different approach to the winning free hockey being played by the Oilers. They understand the fact that the Oilers are two years into a rebuild but don’t accept the current lack of compete on the ice as a part of that process.

We count ourselves squarely among this group of people. It is only the revolution in positivity that has come into our lives since we saw the Justin Bieber movie in 3D* that prevents us from filling the pages of the interwebs with venom laced venom rants, detailing in great degree that the E in ELPH stands for exciting and not excrement. No, the Biebs would not want it to be that way and so we will sit on our hands for the time being.

Our very own Robin Brownlee made mention of this fork in the road in a recent article. "There is something a lot worse than the fear and loathing fans have expressed today. It’s called indifference, and once a lover scorned goes down that road, history shows that it’s tough to rekindle that flame."

Without putting too fine a point on the issue we will simply throw out the question on what seems to be a light day for articles on the Nation.

Where do you sit on February 17, 2011?

*Actual story, fantastic movie, wanna fight about it?