THE RETURN TO CONTENTION . . .

There’s been plenty of discussion about when, exactly, the Edmonton Oilers realized they’d best forget about patching up the remnants of the team that went to the 2006 Stanley Cup final and undertake a bare-metal rebuild.

Framed in what’s happened since that close-but-no-cigar trip to Game 7, namely six straight years out of the playoffs and a streak of futility that’s seen the Oilers acquire first overall picks in Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov, I read with interest something sent to me on Twitter today.

It’s a form letter from then-GM Kevin Lowe that was sent to season ticket holders in March of 2007 in the wake of the deadline deal that sent popular Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders. Here it is:

We all, of course, are acutely aware of what’s happened in the seasons since Lowe reassured season ticket holders the goal was to return the Stanley Cup to Edmonton. More than five years later, the goal remains the same, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

We wait.