An Open Letter to Taylor Hall

Dear Taylor –

Do you mind if I just call you Taylor?

As I write this, I’m watching the quarterfinal match between Canada and Sweden and I can’t help but feel a little sad. Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy that I get to watch you play in May, but I really wish it was in Oiler blue rather than Team Canada red. It would give me great joy to watch a deep Oilers  playoff run, especially with you leading the team. It’s been a while since we’ve had that kind of success here, and I can’t think of a better way to end that drought than to have you carry the team on your back (yet again) and spearhead the post-season effort.

Full disclosure: I’ve been on Team Hall from the outset, and was really impressed with your play in the 2010 World Juniors. When it became apparent that you and Tyler Seguin would be competing to be drafted first overall, I picked my side. You want proof? After the Oilers lost 6-1 to the Calgary Flames (to cap off a January with an 0-10-2 record), I said this:

Oilers. Ugh.
Let’s go Taylor Hall!!!

— Megan (@mig14) January 31, 2010

Even then, five months before the draft, I was hopeful that management would make what I saw as the right call and draft you over Seguin. I’m not sure what it was that drew me in, but I’m glad that Tambo and crew saw the things I did and picked you.

Someone owes you an apology for the situation you walked into in 2010. The team was a tire fire then, and I think that fans and management alike assumed that you’d be able to save everyone from themselves. Unfortunately, with a decided lack of true veteran leadership, the success of the team rested firmly on your shoulders, and there hasn’t been much to speak of. Sure, there have been some flashes of brilliance, but I think we can both agree your first five years in Edmonton (save for the 80 points in 75 games in 2011-2012) were forgettable at best.

I don’t know what happened in the summer of 2015, but whatever it was made a huge difference in the way you looked out on the ice. It’s like last summer was the point at which you truly shed the “kid” identifier we’ve saddled you with. You were more composed, less reckless, and you were lighting it up at a pace I couldn’t believe.   I know that your point production slipped a bit after the All-Star break, but it was a pretty decent season all-around. As a fan, I really enjoyed watching you rip it up for the first 2/3 of the season. I wrote and tweeted a lot about you (much to the chagrin of pretty much everyone I know), and if I die while you’re an Oiler this tweet will be my legacy:

I just…. I can’t. Taylor Hall is better than all of us. https://t.co/Wa14CMM7qn

— Megan (@mig14) February 2, 2016

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I’ve been on the Taylor Hall Fan Bus for as long as I can remember, but this year I took over as the driver. I’ve repeatedly said that I’ll cry if you ever get traded. The thing I end up talking about the most, though, is the perception that people have of you; we can call them character problems, but that would imply that there’s something wrong with the way you conduct yourself.

Over the years, I’ve seen (and I’m sure you have too) all manner of criticism directed at the way you play, your body language, your leadership ability, how that one time you were rude to someone’s sister at a bar, how you’re lazy and don’t care about winning. I don’t think any of that is true. Sure, maybe there have been times when you’ve been frustrated, but I’d defy anyone to play the sport they love for 6 years without so much as a hope of a winning season and NOT be frustrated. 

When it comes to leadership both on and off the ice, I don’t think there’s much question that you’ve got it in spades. Speaking out about mentoring Connor McDavid (and inviting him to live with you), talking about accepting more responsibility for the success of the team, and fully embracing Zack Kassian as a teammate despite his off-ice issues – these are thing that a real leader does.

And as for not being a winner: earlier this week, this column from the National Post came out, and was accompanied by a video. I was suitably impressed with what you had to say, because it’s pretty clear that while you enjoy playing for Canada and understand that it’s an honour, you’d much rather be back in Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

I want that too. 

I want to see you raise the Stanley Cup on the ice at Rogers Place.  //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I want you to be an Oiler for life, and I want your number in the rafters alongside my other favourite. 

Mostly, I want people to stop acting as if the organizational incompetence of the last 10 years are somehow your fault and recognize the gift we Oiler fans have been given – that despite the lack of success, you still want to play here and you want to bring a Stanley Cup back to Edmonton. 

For what it’s worth, I think you can.

Sincerely,

Megan