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 Adam
Messages: 6857
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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| CrusaderPi wrote on Thu, 03 August 2023 16:49 |
| Adam wrote on Thu, 03 August 2023 16:31 |
| CrusaderPi wrote on Thu, 03 August 2023 16:00 |
| Teammate Avry wrote on Thu, 03 August 2023 15:52 |
| Adam wrote on Thu, 03 August 2023 13:47 |
| benv wrote on Sun, 30 July 2023 17:31 |
All things considered, the 12-13-3 record that Burnett had the Oilers at after 29 games had to be considered at least a modest success (they were actually in a playoff position). But then the wheels came off. The team lost its next seven games, as Burnett had a public feud with his captain and stripped Corson of the captaincy. One game later, Sather fired Burnett and replaced him with assistant coach and ex-Oiler Ron Low for the remainder of the season. The Oilers would finish the season at 17-27-4, just 4 points out of a playoff spot (but 2nd last in the conference). It was perhaps a slight improvement, but the team still had a ways to go.
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https://www.coppernblue.com/2010/9/28/1700540/the-worst-capt ain-in-oiler-history
Shayne Corson was a complete train wreck here. Sather had hoped that he could build him up, first by pushing the narrative that he was the veteran to mentor the Oilers young up-and-coming stars, especially Arnott. That was followed by the awarding of the Captain's C. The hope was that you show a whole bunch of confidence in his ability to lead and presto - he becomes a leader.
That isn't what happened though. The details of what exactly happened leading to losing his letter haven't ever been fully told (that article suggests he was trying to get an official scorer to change an assist from Arnott to him to help him towards a bonus), but he definitely got in some sort of row with Arnott and Weight, then with the coach after that.
He wasn't a good person, wasn't a good teammate and certainly wasn't a good captain. Only good that came from his tenure in Edmonton was the trade return - just getting Mike Grier would have been great, but to also get Curtis Joseph? Amazing.
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Interesting how over 25 seasons later we still are in the dark on a bit of it. Appeared to be a level of Corson and the team moving past things since he was at the final night of Rexall in 2016.
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The people in Edmonton who one would normal expect to find and share this sort of information have a pretty long history of not sharing the details unless it's beneficial to their sources. Personally, it makes me wonder how much of the 'Corson is bad' story is a story.
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There's a ton of history of Edmonton writers burying stories for some and exposing others. Mark Spector has flat out said as much on the radio - saying if he saw a guy out after curfew and he was a guy who gave him good material, good quotes, then he'd probably just give the guy a nod and a wink and leave the story untold. He's also the guy who was super-happy to expose Mironov & Kovalenko's night on the town and report on Jason Arnott having a baby out of wedlock (something that wasn't at all unique to Arnott's situation, given that Lowe, Anderson and Messier all had kids who's moms they never wed in Edmonton). With Arnott, he said that it was newsworthy because Arnott was having a bad season - so he was explaining to the fans one factor of that. No idea why that's the only Oilers baby he felt the need to cover with an exclusive scoop.
I do wonder if it's coincidence that it was Fuhr - a famously bad interviewee - who was the focus of the Journal's cocaine scoop. I think it's probably safe to say he wasn't the only Oiler of that era to partake in drugs either.
For whatever reason, the Corson story didn't get fully reported, other than the fact he had fallen out with first Weight and Arnott and then Burnett.
Interestingly, Burnett was still coaching in the OHL until 2021-22. That Oilers season ended his NHL dreams though.
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A manager like Kevin Lowe wasn't built in a vacuum. For whatever little he learned, he did learn under Sather. It has been obvious to almost everyone that things are not always what they seem in Oilerville in the 24 mostly miserable since year since Lowe took over from Slats (Comrie, Souray, Pronger, Hall, Puljujarvi, Reider, and many many more) but I think it's unlikely this started with Lowe. If I were to bet on a question that could never be answered I bet whatever happened with Carson was a two way street where everyone looked bad. Fortunately for the Oilers, Corson going away made everything go away. A quick cover story about bad guy Corson stealing an assist from Arnott keeps the Oilers' good guy image.
I don't really mind this fairytale approach to customer manipulation so long as I'm not forced to pretend it's real.
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I guess the counter-point to that is just how miserable a person Corson was everywhere else. He was a total wild child with the Habs, and then a big part of a very public dressing room split in Toronto towards the end of his career.
I totally agree that the Oilers have a tendency to spin things. Sather was a pretty savvy customer and he might have pushed a narrative if he thought it best for the team, but thinking back I don't think that was really his M.O.
He wasn't one to vilify players as they left generally - and he sure was here for a lot of departures. He went out of his way to excuse the exits for Damphousse and Nicholls - both of whom had a lot going on in their lives when they asked for trades out, even though that decimated our top line. You look at guys like Bonsignore, who with what they've said in more recent years, he could have just savaged - but he didn't. There really wasn't' much said about him. The media felt he was a bust, but I mean, it was something so obvious that even they could see it without being told.
Sather had a much different relationship with the media than Lowe. I think he encouraged his players to be friendly, but he was standoffish and never gave them much. I mean, there's a reason that Matheson wasn't writing a puff piece about Steve Kelly in 1995. If it was the Lowe era, that's not a mistake he'd have had to worry about making.
Sather threatened to run Spector out of town over the Arnott story, and you can see in Spec's book that he still kind of despises Slats. Similarly, he was apoplectic with David Staples and John McKinnon over the Fuhr story. He always had a level of misdirection with them too - the most famous is probably the Brad Werenka trade, where he blows off reporters asking if he's on the block by saying he's got a long history ahead of him in this town...but he happened to be in Quebec City when he gave that quote, and traded him to the Nords a day or two later.
The only guy I can remember really getting completely knifed during the Sather era was Jimmy Carson - although that guy couldn't keep his mouth shut and talked about Edmonton as a place where there's just a lot of cows or something like that just after he got traded. I think he pissed off everyone before he went, so they were a little more happy to throw him under the bus.
I think that Lowe just stayed buddies and fell for their argument that they were his connection to the fans, so he owed them some kind of info conduit. He played with the Oilers a long time - but how much GM mentoring did Sather ever give him? He was only two years with the team outside of as a player before Slats left for NYC. (Given how much we all laughed about Garth Snow a few years later, it's actually pretty crazy that we just all accepted that a year coaching and a year as an assistant coach made Kevin Lowe the natural replacement as general manager).
Maybe you're right though...if you want to keep Weight and Arnott shiny for the fanbase, then better to make it black and white that Corson was a bad guy. It's a definite possibility that I can't fully rule out.
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireLowe #FireBobbyNicks #FireKenHolland #FireKeithGretzky
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50 seasons of Oilers hockey |
By: benv on Mon, 29 May 2023 11:06 |
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Re: 50 seasons of Oilers hockey |
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Re: 50 seasons of Oilers hockey |
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Season 1, 1972-73: The Alberta Oilers |
By: benv on Mon, 29 May 2023 13:20 |
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Re: Season 1, 1972-73: The Alberta Oilers |
By: Adam on Mon, 29 May 2023 13:28 |
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Re: Season 1, 1972-73: The Alberta Oilers |
By: benv on Wed, 31 May 2023 14:50 |
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Re: Season 1, 1972-73: The Alberta Oilers |
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Re: Season 1, 1972-73: The Alberta Oilers |
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Season 2, 1973-74; Second verse, same as the first |
By: benv on Wed, 31 May 2023 15:08 |
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Re: Season 2, 1973-74; Second verse, same as the first |
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Season 3, 1974-75: Jacques Plante was an Oiler?! |
By: benv on Sat, 03 June 2023 01:55 |
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Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
By: benv on Sun, 04 June 2023 18:01 |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
By: Adam on Mon, 05 June 2023 12:08 |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
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Re: Season 4, 1975-76: NORM!!! |
By: Leia on Mon, 05 June 2023 22:59 |
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Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
By: benv on Tue, 06 June 2023 22:33 |
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Re: Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
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Re: Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
By: Adam on Wed, 07 June 2023 09:53 |
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Re: Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
By: benv on Thu, 08 June 2023 17:46 |
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Re: Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
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Re: Season 5, 1976-77; welcome Slats and Peter Puck |
By: Adam on Sat, 10 June 2023 15:18 |
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Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
By: benv on Thu, 08 June 2023 22:35 |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
By: benv on Fri, 09 June 2023 10:11 |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
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Re: Season 6: 1977-78; Steady improvement |
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Season 7, 1978-79; Well hello Mr. Gretzky |
By: benv on Wed, 14 June 2023 22:48 |
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Re: Season 7, 1978-79; Well hello Mr. Gretzky |
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Season 8 (NHL season 1), 1979-80: NHL Baby! |
By: benv on Fri, 16 June 2023 22:15 |
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Season 9 (NHL season 2), 1980-81: All arrows up |
By: benv on Sun, 18 June 2023 16:44 |
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Re: Season 9 (NHL season 2), 1980-81: All arrows up |
By: Adam on Mon, 19 June 2023 09:12 |
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Season 10 (NHL 3), 1981-82: The Bubble Bursts |
By: benv on Wed, 21 June 2023 01:20 |
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Re: Season 10 (NHL 3), 1981-82: The Bubble Bursts |
By: Adam on Wed, 21 June 2023 10:10 |
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Season 11 (NHL 4), 1982-83: Continued Improvement |
By: benv on Thu, 22 June 2023 17:40 |
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Season 12 (NHL 5), 1983-84; Champions at last! |
By: benv on Sat, 24 June 2023 18:24 |
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Season 13 (NHL 6), 1984-85; The greatest ever? |
By: benv on Tue, 27 June 2023 22:43 |
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Season 14 (NHL 7); 1985-86: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! |
By: benv on Thu, 29 June 2023 00:05 |
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Season 15 (NHL 8). 1986-87; Back on the Horse |
By: benv on Sun, 02 July 2023 00:58 |
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Season 16 (NHL 9), 1987-88: The first cracks |
By: benv on Thu, 06 July 2023 22:44 |
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Re: Season 16 (NHL 9), 1987-88: The first cracks |
By: Adam on Fri, 07 July 2023 10:34 |
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Re: Season 16 (NHL 9), 1987-88: The first cracks |
By: benv on Fri, 07 July 2023 11:34 |
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Re: Season 16 (NHL 9), 1987-88: The first cracks |
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Season 17 (NHL10) 1988-89: Whiskey.Tango.Foxtrot. |
By: benv on Wed, 12 July 2023 21:48 |
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Re: Season 17 (NHL10): Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. |
By: Adam on Wed, 12 July 2023 23:53 |
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Season 18 (NHL 11); 1989-90: Return to Glory |
By: benv on Sat, 15 July 2023 16:34 |
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Season 19 (NHL 12); 1990-91: A noble attempt |
By: benv on Fri, 21 July 2023 23:09 |
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Season 20 (NHL 13) 1991-92; Year of transistion |
By: benv on Sun, 23 July 2023 17:24 |
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Re: Season 20 (NHL 13) 1991-92; Year of transistion |
By: Adam on Sun, 23 July 2023 23:03 |
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Season 21 (NHL 14); 1992-93: The bottom falls out |
By: benv on Wed, 26 July 2023 15:35 |
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Season 22 (NHL 15); 1993-94: Full on rebuild |
By: benv on Fri, 28 July 2023 20:31 |
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Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
By: benv on Sun, 30 July 2023 17:31 |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
By: Steve on Thu, 03 August 2023 10:20 |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
By: Adam on Thu, 03 August 2023 13:47 |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
By: Adam on Thu, 03 August 2023 16:31 |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
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Re: Season 23 (NHL 16), 1994-95: At least it was short |
By: Adam on Thu, 03 August 2023 17:53 |
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Season 24 (NHL 17),1995-96: Enough with the losing |
By: benv on Thu, 03 August 2023 12:26 |
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Re: Season 24 (NHL 17),1995-96: Enough with the losing |
By: Adam on Thu, 03 August 2023 13:53 |
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Season 25 (NHL 18), 1996-97: Playoffs again! |
By: benv on Sat, 05 August 2023 00:26 |
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Re: Season 25 (NHL 18), 1996-97: Playoffs again! |
By: Adam on Tue, 08 August 2023 09:51 |
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Season 26 (NHL 19), 1997-98: Bye bye Peter Puck |
By: benv on Sun, 06 August 2023 19:20 |
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Season 27 (NHL 20); 1998-99: Bye Cujo; Hi Salo |
By: benv on Wed, 09 August 2023 17:39 |
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Re: Season 27 (NHL 20); 1998-99: Bye Cujo; Hi Salo |
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Re: Season 27 (NHL 20); 1998-99: Bye Cujo; Hi Salo |
By: Adam on Thu, 10 August 2023 12:03 |
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Season 28 (NHL 21), 1999-2000: More of the Same |
By: benv on Sun, 13 August 2023 22:38 |
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Season 29 (NHL 22); 2000-01:New millennium, new GM |
By: benv on Wed, 16 August 2023 15:41 |
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Season 30 (NHL 23), 2001-02: Weight Loss |
By: benv on Thu, 17 August 2023 15:47 |
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Season 31 (NHL 24), 2002-03: Rebuild and Reload |
By: benv on Mon, 21 August 2023 20:04 |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
By: Steve on Tue, 22 August 2023 08:40 |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
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Re: Season 30 (NHL 23), 2002-03: Rebuildl and Reload |
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Season 32 (NHL 25), 2003-04: Heritage Classic |
By: benv on Wed, 23 August 2023 15:05 |
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Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
By: benv on Tue, 29 August 2023 00:10 |
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Re: Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
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Re: Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
By: Adam on Wed, 30 August 2023 12:56 |
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Re: Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
By: Adam on Wed, 30 August 2023 13:04 |
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Re: Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
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Re: Season 33 (NHL 26), 2005-06: The Surprise Cup Run |
By: Adam on Wed, 30 August 2023 14:36 |
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Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: benv on Tue, 29 August 2023 23:51 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: oilfan94 on Wed, 30 August 2023 10:29 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: smyth260 on Wed, 30 August 2023 14:59 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: oilfan94 on Wed, 30 August 2023 16:00 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: Adam on Wed, 30 August 2023 16:55 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: smyth260 on Wed, 30 August 2023 17:13 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: Adam on Wed, 30 August 2023 17:35 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: oilfan94 on Thu, 31 August 2023 08:27 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: Steve on Wed, 30 August 2023 10:57 |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
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Re: Season 34 (NHL 27); 2006-07: #$@&%* Pronger! |
By: Adam on Mon, 11 September 2023 12:51 |
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Season 35 (NHL 28), 2007-08: Reason for optimism? |
By: benv on Thu, 31 August 2023 19:00 |
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Re: Season 35 (NHL 28), 2007-08: Reason for optimism? |
By: oilfan94 on Thu, 31 August 2023 22:18 |
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Re: Season 35 (NHL 28), 2007-08: Reason for optimism? |
By: Adam on Thu, 31 August 2023 22:41 |
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Season 36 (NHL 28); 2008-09: Shuffle the Chairs |
By: benv on Sat, 02 September 2023 22:47 |
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Season 37, 2009-10: Rock Bottom |
By: benv on Fri, 08 September 2023 23:10 |
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Re: Season 37, 2009-10: Rock Bottom |
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Re: Season 37, 2009-10: Rock Bottom |
By: Steve on Mon, 11 September 2023 09:52 |
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Re: Season 37, 2009-10: Rock Bottom |
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Season 38 (NHL 31); 2010-11: Year of H.O.P.E. |
By: benv on Sun, 10 September 2023 00:45 |
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Re: Season 38 (NHL 31); 2010-11: Year of H.O.P.E. |
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Re: Season 38 (NHL 31); 2010-11: Year of H.O.P.E. |
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Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
By: benv on Thu, 14 September 2023 17:22 |
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Re: Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
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Re: Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
By: Steve on Fri, 15 September 2023 15:09 |
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Re: Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
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Re: Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
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Re: Season 39 (NHL 32), 2011-12: Enter the Nuge |
By: Adam on Mon, 18 September 2023 14:12 |
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Season 40 (NHL 33); 2012-13:Short and not so Sweet |
By: benv on Mon, 18 September 2023 22:44 |
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Re: Season 40 (NHL 33); 2012-13:Short and not so Sweet |
By: Adam on Tue, 19 September 2023 01:57 |
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Season 41 (NHL 34); 2013-14: Eakins' World |
By: benv on Thu, 21 September 2023 01:08 |
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Re: Season 41 (NHL 34); 2013-14: Eakins' World |
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Re: Season 41 (NHL 34); 2013-14: Eakins' World |
By: Adam on Thu, 21 September 2023 10:39 |
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Re: Season 41 (NHL 34); 2013-14: Eakins' World |
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Re: Season 41 (NHL 34); 2013-14: Eakins' World |
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Season 42 (NHL 35), 2014-15: Misery continues |
By: benv on Thu, 28 September 2023 18:39 |
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Re: Season 42 (NHL 35), 2014-15: Misery continues |
By: Adam on Thu, 28 September 2023 21:59 |
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Season 43 (NHL 36); 2015-16: 5-14-6-1 |
By: benv on Sat, 30 September 2023 22:19 |
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Season 44 (NHL 37); 2016-17: Playoffs?! PLAYOFFS! |
By: benv on Fri, 06 October 2023 17:55 |
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Re: Season 44 (NHL 37); 2016-17: Playoffs?! PLAYOFFS! |
By: Adam on Fri, 06 October 2023 22:10 |
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Season 45 (NHL 38); 2017-18: A grim regression |
By: benv on Tue, 10 October 2023 23:30 |
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Re: Season 45 (NHL 38); 2017-18: A grim regression |
By: Adam on Fri, 13 October 2023 12:04 |
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Re: Season 45 (NHL 38); 2017-18: A grim regression |
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Season 46 (NHL 39), 2018-19; A resounding thud |
By: benv on Tue, 17 October 2023 13:31 |
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Season 47 (NHL 40); 2019-20: Covidus Interuptus |
By: benv on Wed, 15 November 2023 22:45 |
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Season 48 (NHL 41); 2020-21; Life in a Bubble |
By: benv on Sun, 19 November 2023 01:37 |
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Season 49 (NHL 42); 2021-22: Big steps forward |
By: benv on Sun, 26 November 2023 23:00 |
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Season 50 (NHL 43); 2022-23: Powerplay mania |
By: benv on Tue, 28 November 2023 23:16 |
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Re: Season 50 (NHL 43); 2022-23: Powerplay mania |
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