On this episode of Locked On Oilers, host Nick Zararis takes a deep dive into what success truly means in hockey and why “championship or bust” thinking doesn’t tell the whole story. Using examples from teams like the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens, we discuss why progress, development, and effort matter just as much as championships.
We also explore how Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard define success for the Edmonton Oilers beyond Stanley Cups, plus why players like Vasily Podkolzin and Brett Kulak represent growth that can’t be measured solely in wins.
0:00 Intro: The state of sports media today
5:47 Stephen A. Smith and the contentification of journalism
17:39 Hockey as a weak link sport
23:46 Finding meaning in the attempt, not just winning
28:50 Outro: Internship and affiliation agreements
Why the Edmonton Oilers can’t be evaluated based only on championships | Reframing sports debate
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12 Comments
I'm not sure the Oilers or McDavid himself failed this season. I'm certain about the Stars.
It’s amazing to think 1) pick up Marchand in free agency quicker than Fla 2) teach skinner not to let in the first shot on net 20% of the time, – could have been difference makers. It was that tight (although it didn’t always feel that way)😅
Sorry, but McDavid (himself I’m not talking about the whole team) did not have it at his top level. Hopefully this coming up season he’ll play like the Connor M we love and know he’s capable of hockey 🏒 🥅
I thought for sure you were going to make a pillar of your argument that hockey, for the fans, is entertainment. If people settle down for a moment and remember this, it puts everything into perspective. As long as a team tries its best, then the games are always entertaining, good, bad and ugly. From an entertainment perspective, the Oilers are a smashing success. Most of the league is. The flip side of this is when a team gets corrupt and begins hiding things from fans, miscommunicating, lying, etc. The Oilers bad years are a pretty good example of this. The Old Oilers Boys club, pretending mediocrity was good enough. Feeding the fans successive seasonal sh!t sandwiches and expecting the fans to say "Yum, thank so much! Tastes great because Dynasty Oilers made me the sandwich." That strays from entertainment and into the realm of selfish and greedy motivations , using fans for their money and (expected) undying support. Things are different now and the Oilers can be seen as Grade A entertainment that most of the league's fanbase would kill to be able to cheer for.
I'm speculating here but I think if you managed to poll every team's fanbase, you'd discover a 60/40 league split that would take Forsling over Bouchard every day of the week. Your love for the Oilers has biased you right out of measured consideration, Nick.
I agree, the Bouch Bum is the best defenseman in the league 😂
I think it’s safe to evaluate Connor McDavid after what we saw with two Stanley Cup Final Series. Connors ability to disappear and put up really pedestrian numbers, while getting dominated offensively by one player picked up off waivers (Forsling) and scoring one goal in six games. That is not captain material, that is not greatest player of a generation material. Take a step back and get off the man’s 🥜 and admit it finally, I promise it will be therapeutic.
Dumb Take
Mc D is running out time. 4 years and he will be done. Overspend at deadline get a goalie. Man o man. Ive never seen anything like it.
In 2009 I was a PIONEER of independent hockey online broadcasting without the "branded" blog or the Podcast, NHL teams to benefit themselves worked together to snuff me out and to destroy me because I made legitimate altruistic demands for accountability from PLayers Coaches and Management then Ownership in said order…. and when none was given I ripped it out of them by publicly exposing weakness graft and manipulation, then by creating new accurate verbiage I proceeded in breaking down into small useless tiny pieces the most worshipped secretive "intellectual property" type of "secret" Systems NHL Clubs were using back then. They shall be judged on wins vs losses and Stanley Cup wins as NHL Teams always have been and always will be, your Generations do not grasp understand nor even consider the true values and meanings of the words Legacy Core Values. There are NO PARTICIPACTION RIBBONS,ITS NOT NICE AND ITS NOT FAIR, YOU will GET YOUR FACE AND BONES BROKEN COLLECTING YOUR PAYCHEQUES.So please lets all stop trying to ask for accountability when we cannot even understand competition and Legacy Core Values. I bet you cannot even name Legacy Core Values, probably never even heard the verbiage before .Instead of giving yourselves permission to shortcut lifes challenges by simply yapping really loud then changing everybody elses ideas and work to suit yourselves can the younger Generations please give themselves permission to be smart and to be creative and to be winners again and to build their own NewAge verbiage terminologies tactics style and Identity, stop just trying to slag and drag down the Legacy Core Values the very game is built upon. If you dont understand ask for help, thats how it works.
The Man with the best Plan and the skills ability guts and brains to use those talents to execute that Plan, wins very time, its not about skill. The Panthers SYSTEM beat the Oilers SYSTEM….the rest of the discussions must be properly tiered down. The conversation must be expanded to focus primarily upon the System aspect of the game,time to change. If you dont know what System your Team is using you cannot dispense S#its and giggles….you are in the dark….you are JAFO…… you will forever be blaming the wrong people and making the wrong changes until you UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM and how it needs to be managed and executed. Son, they DONT WANT the Fanbase discussing SYSTEMS, because it takes the entire NHL Brand to a brand new level of accountability and Fan insights. If I told you the Panthers used a 3-Layer forecheck to beat the Oilers 2 years in a row and they will beat them 10/10 because they have a Superior System managed and executed accurately and consistently , would you have even a clue what I am talking about? Nope, so you would google 3-Layer forecheck right?…..well what if owners of Multi-Billion dollar Entertainment Businesses did not want that data to be open-source online anymore …. if you google 3-Layer Forecheck you might then find nothing…. we live in a world full of transparency… only winning matters, the rest is just filler. Do you bake the cake for the Icing or do you make the Icing for the Cake? See what I just did to multiple generations of young vulnerable minds?Smoke is coming out of their ears because they want a 3rd option….not just 2 options of win or lose….they want win -lose-compete to all be EQUAL IN VALUE AND MERIT… so whats the answer Icing or Cake?
Great work lately…welll rounded open minded perspective… fun discussions…keep up the good work. Thanks, my time here was well spent.