Point and Counterpoint

Erik Cole is gone.

Last night on their award winning website, jeanshorts and baggedmilk made the following statement: “I had a premonition, and I will tell you what it is. Erik Cole pots a beauty tonight only to be traded tomorrow. Book it.”

Well isn’t this fantastic. Not only is JSBM wanted in three different provinces for a variety of felonies but they are also apparently clairvoyant. This is a dangerous skill for an evil of their magnitude to have somehow acquired. Speaking of acquisitions — how about them Oilers? (insert heavy sarcasm here)

Point: (from MSG via blackberry messenger)

“I honestly think that the Oilers came out on top today. Two quality players and a second rounder for Cole. Good trade”

Counterpoint:

Shut your tooth garage, MSG.

*throws a wild punch which MSG easily dodges, then runs into dark alley*

Point: (from humantorch in Holland via Twitter)

“And yet somehow we managed to get smaller and softer. Um, yay?”

Exactly. The Oilers are severely lacking players who possess the ability to bang and crash AND bring offensive skill to the table. Cole was one of the few Oilers who could beat you in the alley and on the scoreboard. Now, not so much. It fails to address any of the real shortcomings of the team and adds more smallish soft players to an already soft roster.

Point: (via comment from jeanshorts)

“Is Wanye sulking in the corner, clutching his autographed Erik Cole picture? Come on big guy, it’s what had to be done. I’m pretty sure you’d be more upset when he walked at the end of the season and we got absolutely nothing for him.”

Firstly we don’t have an Erik Cole autographed picture. If we did, we would be rushing down to a local tattoo artist to have him transfer it to our back in life-size detail to show Cole as he departs from town. Erik Cole didn’t want to leave Edmonton. We sat on a couch watching Gregor’s show broadcast not two feet from Robin (Smokeless) Brownlee as he said the following (or something close to it) not two weeks ago:

“If Cole leaves the Oilers it’s because the Oilers want to trade Cole — not because he wants to leave Edmonton”

Good players come to Edmonton and often depart quickly thereafter. It’s time to reverse this trend. We have no issue with who the Oilers got in return today. O’Sullivan and Kotalik are fine. Whatever. It’s who they didn’t get (anyone of note) and who left town (#26) — that is the problem.

It’s now crystal clear that it is known around the league to avoid E-Town until there is a regime change. If these are the best moves possible on a day where Morris went to Toronto, Jokinen went to Calgary and the Ducks emptied their roster of role players for basically nothing, then something needs to change.

And fast.