For Young Oilers, Growing Up is Hard to Do
Craig Custance - SportingNews.com
Nov 17, 2010
Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin sat on the ledge of a dressing room stall, a towel wrapped around his waist, not looking real eager to go anywhere.
The frustration of another blowout loss weighed heavy on his shoulders, and the 37-year-old veteran leaned forward, arms resting on his knees.
On this night, he gave up six goals to the Detroit Red Wings. It followed a game in which he allowed four goals on eight shots. A few nights later, he would let in eight more goals against the New York Rangers.
Being a part of the rebuilding process isn't easy, especially when you've been in the National Hockey League for 15 seasons.
"It's always a challenge," Khabibulin told Sporting News. "I'm an older guy, but as a team we're a young team. We're trying to grow together."
There's plenty of reason for optimism and hope in Edmonton, with future stars Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi. But right now, optimism and hope isn't translating into wins. For the most part, it's not even translating into close games.
At best, this season has been one learning experience after another for Hall and his teammates.
"That's what this is -- University of National Hockey League," coach Tom Renney said.
And, if you listen to Khabibulin, education is exactly what this team needs right now. The talent is there. But the NHL smarts? Those haven't arrived yet.
"A lot of guys haven't played too many games yet. They definitely have to smarten up a little bit," he said. "Sometimes they make -- a lot of times make -- bad decisions. And through maybe a lack of experience, or maybe (it's) being stubborn."
For Hall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, it's quite an adjustment. Instead of using his speed to blow past opponents, he has to use it to get back on defense.
He's learning through losing, which is a new experience for someone who led his junior team to consecutive Memorial Cups.
"You've got to take what you can from it," Hall said. "You have to become a better player, a better person, a better team for it. We know we're not going to win the Stanley Cup this year."
Yet, that's exactly what the three young Oilers are expected to win in the future. The Oilers have followed the path of the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks -- bottoming out in order to build the talent necessary to win.
When those teams landed Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane, it came with the realization that the future would forever be altered.
Oilers GM Steve Tambellini won't go there with Hall, but the 18-year-old forward is every bit as important to his organization as those stars are to theirs.
"I don't want to do that to him right now," Tambellini told Sporting News. "But what I do know is that when we are going to be a very good team, Taylor Hall is going to be one of the centerpieces."
Khabibulin has been there before. He has played on a bad team with great young talent and understands that elite talent changes things in a hurry. He sees similarities between this Oilers team and the Blackhawks he left to join the Oilers.
So does Oilers forward Colin Fraser, who played parts of four seasons with the Blackhawks, including three playoff games during Chicago's Stanley Cup run last spring.
The Oilers play host to the Blackhawks on Wednesday, and in the opposition, Oilers fans could get a glimpse of where their team is headed.
"Yup, 100 percent," Fraser said. "Obviously, it doesn't happen overnight, but things are looking up and going in the right direction."
It's just a little hard to see right now. It's hard to see progress in an 8-2 loss, or when a future star like Hall is benched for long stretches of action.
Maybe Khabibulin won't be around when the potential is ultimately realized. Heck, it was Antti Niemi who lifted the Stanley Cup in Chicago after Khabibulin had bridged the gap from cupcake to contender.
But now Khabibulin is invested in Edmonton. He's very much interested to see if this pain comes with a payoff.
"It's a challenge to see where this team is going to be in a year or two," he said. "That's going to be interesting."
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