Tank Warfare: Oilers Edition

On 23 August 1943, in the smoking rubble of one of the biggest military engagements the world has ever seen, Soviet armies emerged victorious over their German foes at the Battle of Kursk. From 5 July (1943), Operation Citadel had engaged Soviet and German forces along the Kursk salient, approximately 450km south-east of Moscow, in a battle that would ultimately result in almost 1.2 million casualties, not to mention the loss of thousands of tanks, guns, mortars and aircraft. The German armies spent months preparing their offensive, only to be met by a considerable opposing force of Soviet soldiers, vehicles and weapons, and found themselves to be on the losing side of the battle for only the second time on the Russian Front. After the Battle of Stalingrad, where the Germans ran out of resources before they ran out of enemies, this victory galvanized the will of the Soviet forces, leading to full-on offensives forcing the Germans out of the motherland and into eventual surrender.

In unrelated news, the 2015-16 Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a late-season tank battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs. After 61 games (58 for Toronto), the Oilers and Leafs both have 50 points; on a points per game basis, the Oilers are tanking harder than the Leafs for sure. At this current rate, the Oilers are projected to finish 67 points, while the Leafs should top out at 71. The Edmonton Oilers definitely have a monopoly on being the worst.

There was so much hope at the beginning of the year, wasn’t there? After drafting ‘generational talent’ in Connor McDavid, new GM Peter Chiarelli made some moves that people thought were improvements on the 2014-15 version of the Oilers (Griffin Reinhart deal notwithstanding). Then training camp happened, and it seemed like things were falling into place: Connor McDavid was going to come and save the team from itself, and score a million goals and we were going to win the Stanley Cup.

The reality has been, of course, much different. McDavid came, sure, but he was held pointless in his first 4 games and there were actually people calling for him to get traded. As an 18 year old. After 4 games. (Some Oiler fans deserve the Oilers, indeed.)

The injury bug had bitten this team, which has had 260 man-games lost as of February 22; in comparison the New York Rangers have only lost 61 man-games due to injury through that same date. Obviously injuries happen, and a team that is struggling anyway can see those struggles multiply when certain players go down.

Of the major injuries the team has seen this year, these probably impacted results most:

• Jordan Eberle – 13 games missed
• Nail Yakupov – 22 games missed
• Connor McDavid – 37 games missed
• Oscar Klefbom – 31 games missed (so far)
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 15 games missed (so far)

We can’t blame all of the Oilers struggles on injury, much like the Germans couldn’t really blame losing at Kursk on the Russian winter, though I think indirect arguments to the contrary can be made in both cases.

After last night’s game against Ottawa, Nail Yakupov provided this insight:

“Everyone is really tired of losing.” – Oilers winger Nail Yakupov

— Rob Tychkowski (@Sun_Tychkowski) February 24, 2016

I don’t mean to rag on Yak, and I like the guy and think his unabashed enthusiasm for the game of hockey is great, but if they’re so tired of losing, why don’t they do more to not lose? It’s not like this team hasn’t put together some pretty good hockey this year (anyone remember that 6-game win streak in December?), and considering they’ve lost 18 one-goal games (12 in regulation and six in OT or the shootout), they’ve been closer to winning more games than maybe we give them credit for.

Since close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades (and probably actual tank battles), it means a lot that they’ve given away 24 points in regulation by a one goal margin. Some of those points absolutely should have gone to the Oilers, which would make a stinker like Tuesday against Ottawa less awful to deal with.

If I’ve learned one thing over the last few years of watching this team, it’s this: It’s fun to joke about tank battles (Bring it, Toronto. You cannot win.), but at the end of the day, I just really want to see this team have some success before it’s dismantled and has to be rebuilt. Again.

I know that people keep saying that the Oilers can’t keep winning the Draft Lottery because it isn’t fair. And maybe it isn’t, but guess what? If the Oilers are winning the Draft Lottery, the Leafs are not. And that’s something I can definitely get behind. Besides, if the Oilers have got you down, just remember, you could be Leah Hextall whining on national TV:

@leahhextall your finest moment as a broadcaster #oilers pic.twitter.com/ABnp3sfvhg

— Jon Shaw (@flamesguy89) February 24, 2016

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