SPORTS TALK: Not the start to the season that the Oilers wanted

By Greg Buchanan

The Edmonton Oilers are off to their second rancid start in two seasons. This time, they lost their first three games before pulling out a  dramatic OT win over Philly to close off their four-game home stand.

They were not very good in every portion of their game on those home-ice losses. If this happens in November or December, you figure it out. You've got some other games to insulate you. Right now, it's the only thing you've got to look at.

The Oiler players can tell themselves they're committed, can tell themselves they're engaged, but they're not quite there. When I watch the Oilers, they're not quite there in every facet of the game. They're not quite physical enough. They're not quite committed enough defensively. They don't track back quite enough. They don't get enough saves. All of that adds up to loss, loss, loss.

I don't care about the fancy stats—this Oilers team was better with Ceci, Desharnais, McLeod, and Holloway—and they are missing Kane. There's no solid defending, and the guys they picked up are old and exhausted after 1.5 periods. There's no grit, energy, or toughness.

Here is the bottom line: What do they have? Three goals. What do they have $78 million tied up in offence, and we're going to blame the defence? Like, give me a break. The bottom line is this team is built on offence. It's got some of the best players on the planet. They went and got (Jeff) Skinner and Arvidsson to give more offensive thrust and push. They haven't done it. Until the offence improves, nothing else is going to improve. They're not paying the price. They're not going hard where you need to go hard. They're not getting in and digging in.

Oilers fans take a deep breath; IT IS AN 82 GAME SCHEDULE.