Why Signing Jagr Could Save the Franchise

No, the Oilers franchise is not in any danger of disappearing (though I sometimes do wish they would go on a temporary leave), but when I say "save the franchise", I mean to say "save the franchise from a long and onerous rebuild that may or may not end with a team that can contend for a cup".

I guess I'm not like most Oiler fans on the internet. Call me an aberration, but I actually want to see the Oilers compete next season, and don't really think four years of lottery hockey is something I want to watch. As it is, I don't really watch Oiler games any more because they are so bad. And I'm sure the television ratings will tell the same story.

In the Edmonton Journal today, Jim Matheson says that the Oilers will be watching Jagr closely at the Olympics, and if he stands out against the best competition in the world, then they'll go after him this summer. Unlike what seems like the majority of Oiler fans, I have absolutely no problem with this.

The Oilers are going to draft one of Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, or Cam Fowler this year. All three are going to be stars in the NHL, and will immediately become the Oilers' top prospect. Over the last few years, the Oilers have drafted Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Jeff Petry, and witnessed the emergence Linus Omark. The first two are going to be top 6 players in the NHL. Petry is having a fantastic year at MSU, possesses a 100 mph shot, and skates like the wind. He looks like he's going to be a top 4 defenceman in the not too distant future. Omark is having a good year in Russia, and could make the team next season, though he is more of a question mark then anything at this point.

A top 3 pick this season will make that prospect pool stronger, and I don't really see the need to keep tanking to add more to it. I mean, yeah, four more years of bottom 5 picks would make this team one of the best of the league come year 5. But I don't think that's likely given the young group of players on the Oilers right now. All those prospects I mentioned earlier have a shot at the NHL next season, depending on some contractual details. Sam Gagner is only 20, Andrew Cogliano is only 21. Ladislav Smid has become a great defenceman, and the emergence of Dustin Penner and Gilbert Brule this season looks promising. Ales Hemsky is still here, hopefully one of Souray or Visnovsky will stick around, and if Khabibulin is healthy, then there is simply no chance that the Oilers finish bottom 5 for an extended period of time.

Jaromir Jagr scored 71 points in his last season in the NHL (on an offensively challenged Rangers team). His stats in Russia haven't declined over the last two years, so he seems to be maintaining a pretty steady level of play. I think he'd probably become the best player on the team next season, even at 38 years old. Obviously the Oilers can't expect to make the playoffs just because of Jagr, but signing Jagr would be the first step in replacing the veterans that are currently on the team.

What I've been telling anyone that will listen is that the biggest problem with the Oilers is that the vets on the team are either average or below average, and none of them know what it takes to be successful. That's why I would get rid of Moreau, Staios, Pisani, as well as guys like Gilbert and O'Sullivan, who just haven't shown me enough to think that they will be a key part of the future. I would go out and sign a couple guys like John Madden, Mike Grier, Jaromir Jagr, and Anton Volchenkov. Guys that have been in the league for a while, know how to win, and play a game that is full of energy. I honestly believe that adding guys like that, as well as letting the young guys fight for few spots, would make the Oilers challengers for the division next season.

I will add that I'm slightly frightened of my own thoughts, as it sounds like something Kevin Lowe would say and do. But I do think it would work, and I don't think I could sit through four more years of lame hockey.

Signing Jagr could kick start the revitalization of the franchise, provided management makes the appropriate moves to compliment that signing. Maybe that's asking too much, and maybe I'm really grasping at straws here. But I just want to see a winning team, dammit!

Blogging the CHL Top Prospects Game

4:54 - In about ten minutes, the puck will drop on the biggest game of the season for Oilers fans. That's right, it's the CHL Top Prospects game! It's a shame that this is what it's come to, but hey, at least it's something to get excited about. I'll be trying to keep track of what's going on during the game, then I'll post it here, and hopefully come the final buzzer, we'll have a nice summary of the game. It's my first time doing this, but I figured it's best to get the first out of the way while I don't have an audience.

The players to look out for are obviously Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall, but a lot of other great prospects will be playing in this game. I'll talk about them after the game starts.

5:02 - Don Cherry: "They (scouts) don't want to see cuties". In case you didn't know, Don Cherry coaches one of the teams, and Bobby Orr coaches the other. Cherry may be old, but players should still take his advice seriously.

I didn't realize Peter Loumbardias(sp?) was doing this game. I'll grab my earplugs.

5:10 - So here are the rosters. From Team Orr I'm looking forward to watching Pysyk, Gormley, Burmistrov, Seguin, McFarland, and Niederreiter. From Team Cherry I'll be keeping a close eye on Hall, Fowler, and Brock Beukeboom (need I explain myself?). Don't really know much about the rest of that team, so it'll be interesting to see who steps up.

5:17 - Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin in the ceremonial face off, how fitting. This will be one of the few times I get to watch Seguin play this season, so I hope he has a big game. That said, I think he'd have to do a lot to win my heart from Hall.

First Period

5:20 - Seguin already looking pretty good, sets up a shot from the point, McFarland gets a good chance on goal, but Pickard with the save.

Pickard with two nice saves already, Burmistov with the the nice pass off the face off.

5:21 - Hey hey hey, look at that Beukeboom kid! Huge hit along the boards.

5:23 - Pickard with another save on a point shot by Gormley. It's early, but he looks very calm in the crease. No rebounds at all.

5:24 - Hall showing some strength along the boards, nothing much comes of it though. I think this may be the most extensive live blog coverage you'll find. Is it entertaining? No. But you won't miss a shot or light bump along the boards.

5:27 - Seguin with a very nice move to the net, almost worked for him.

Pickard with another nice kick save.

Burmistov with a chance off a funny bounce off the boards.

5:30 - Stanislav Galiev looking good out there for Team Cherry, had one great chance with a nice dangle to the front of the net, and then another one off a nice pass by Andrew Yogan. Not sure how he missed the second one, he had the entire net to shoot at. And finally a commercial break. These CHL players sure get to the face off dot quickly, no time to gather your thoughts between plays.

5:34 - Taylor Hall with a nice rush up the ice, almost set up Austin Watson for a goal. Then the Seguin line counters with a nice rush and some good work along the boards, both McFarland and Toffoli had good chances to score.

Galiev with another rush to the net, he looks like a really quick player who's not afraid to take it to the tough areas.

5:35 - Fowler with a great outlet pass from blue line to blue line, he looks really smooth out there.

5:39 - Ah, so Brock Beukeboom is son of Jeff after all. John McFarland looks dangerous every time he's on the ice he must have at least three shots on goal already.

5:42 - Jordan Weal's got some.. well, wheels. Gene Princepe, eat your heart out! Drives up the ice, loses the puck, gets it back on the back check, and brings it all the way back to the offensive zone.

5:48 - Hall with a shot on net from the lost, kicked out by Visentin. Seguin goes the other way and almost sets up MacFarland for a goal. But now Seguin looks like he's got a knee injury, looks like he caught an edge. Hopefully he's able to come back.

5:49 - Nino Niederreiter with the first goal of the game, wrist shot from right between the circles, just finds its way through Pickard's five hole, barely got over the line. Jeff Skinner gets the assist on the goal.

5:52 - Hall's line just dominating out there, he's playing with Austin Watson and Ryan Spooner.

Oh what a poke check by Pickard on Toffoli! Seguin's back on the ice, and he's the one who set up Toffoli on the two on one.

Brad Ross with the big hit on McFarland to end the period. 1-0 Team Orr after one.

6:01 - That was a fast period. After watching the Oilers for half a year, I think I'd forgotten how entertaining hockey can be. I'd say Seguin looked better than Hall in that period, and he definitely created more prime scoring chances. His line mate, McFarland, also really impressed me, but he's been falling in the draft rankings due to possible attitude issues. I liked Stanislav Galiev's game, and Niederreiter looked pretty good out there. Chet Pickard looked good in net for Team Cherry, save for the one goal he let trickle right through the wickets (trademark Ray Ferraro). Pysyk and Gormley looked steady on D for Team Orr, and Cam Fowler looked pretty awesome out there for Team Cherry.

6:08 - Nice piece on Tyler Seguin by Sportsnet, just following him around last night during the skills competition. Seems like a good kid, which may sound stupid based on that little clip, but having had to deal with the Moreaus and Prongers of the world, personality is something the Oilers should be looking at in prospects.

Second Period

6:13 - Hall's line with another great shift, ending with a nice shot from the point by Fowler. Visentin looking really good in net for Team Orr.

I will say that Seguin seems to use his linemates a bit better than Hall does.

6:14 - Devante Smith-Pelley just dumps it in, shoves the defender away with both hands, and then takes two defencemen with him behind the net.

Visentin with a couple of big saves, didn't catch who shot the puck on the last one, but Visentin slid across the crease and kicked the puck out and into his glove. No rebound at all.

6:16 - Loumbardias raving about Fowler's skating, and as annoying as he is, he is right. Fowler has a breath-taking stride.

6:18 - Hall's starting to turn it on a bit, almost set up two goals with cross-crease passes. He does have a very funny skating stride though, but hey, whatever works for him.

6:21 - The happiest man in the world, Peter Chiarelli, being interviewed by Rob Faulds. His team's going to the playoffs this year, with a chance at the cup, and he gets one of Fowler, Seguin, and Hall. He's simply glowing right now.

6:23 - Devante Smith-Pelley goes offside on a 2-1. Probably not what the scouts want to see, but hey, what do I know?

6:25 - Penalty coming up to Team Orr, Petr Straka with the PIM. Let's see how Hall can help the Oilers' powerplay.

6:26 - Seguin barely misses scoring shorthanded on an errant puck in Team Cherry's zone. Pickard just poked the puck away.

McFarland with a good chance shorthanded, he is very explosive out there.

6:28 - Niederreiter takes a shot, almost results in a goal as new goalie Maxime Clermont juggles the puck in feet and another player comes in and pokes it just wide.

Brad Ross nails a Team Orr player, looks like he's going to get a penalty for it. A bit of a scrum ensues.

6:33 - My Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips are really interfering with my ability to cover this game. Can't hear a word Loubardias is saying (which might not be a bad thing...?)

6:34 - Taylor Hall beats Pysyk to the puck, breaks in on a partial break, tries to slide it five hole, puck ends up in the crease, Austin Watson pushes the puck wide. Ref called it a goal, but overturned the call. Probably should have at least been a penalty on whoever was on top of Watson.

6:35 - Emerson Etem ties the game up for Team Cherry. Nice shot over the glove of Louis Domingue. He took the shot from the top of the circle. 1-1 hockey game.

6:37 - Awesome, another Subway monkey commercial that makes absolutely zero sense. Never can get enough of those.

6:44 - Seguin with two shots, nice puck control, then Hall loses the puck on a rush the other way, then McFarland with a breakaway. He gets robbed by Clermont, and then Hall comes back the other way, drags the puck through the defenceman's legs and rips a shot that Domingue just got a toe on. Pretty amazing sequence there. Now Niederreiter gets several chances to score right around the net. Best part was after missing the third chance, he appeared to bang on his head with both hands.

Big hit by someone on Team Orr on someone on Team Cherry. Too much going on. Can't... keep... up.

6:46 - Fight, McIlrith on Petrovic. McIlrith throws him down inside his own net, Petrovic still throwing punches while on his back.

6:47 - That's the end of the period, tied at 1. Hall won that period over Seguin, so now it'll come down to the third to decide that matchup. McFarland and Niederreiter were the next most dangerous forwards, both on Team Orr. A lot went on in that period, but so far the goalies have been the show. There's been nice saves by all four goalies who've played.

Third Period

7:03 - Somehow I think doing this for an Oilers game would be way easier. I could probably sum up tonight's game in one sentence. "Puck drops, Horcoff falls, Moreau misses net, Souray breaks some glass, Moreau takes hooking penalty, buzzer rings, Oilers lose 4-0".

7:07 - Hall's line, once again, starts the period strong. Hall really looks for the one on one move every time, but he seems to find ways to get the puck back, even if he loses it. He made some beautiful passes on that shift, too bad his linemates couldn't finish one of them off.

7:08 - Brad Ross looks incredibly agitating out there. Takes a shot, and then gets right in the goalie's face. He's thrown some big hits too. The kind of guy I wouldn't mind seeing the Oilers pick up.

7:09 - Talking about Sylvan Coutourier's kid Sean (who's having a terrific year), Peter's partner says "you can book this kid's ticket to this game next year". Peter yells "NOW". Reminds me of Gord Miller's "can you believe it!?" after Eberle's goal against Russia last year, followed by Pierre's "YES I CAN, GORD."

7:12 - Yogan and MacKenzie with the fight, couple of good punches thrown, but neither wanted to go the distance.

7:15 - Gormley with the point shot, tipped in by Skinner, Team Orr up 2-1 now. The Niederreiter line's got both Orr goals.

7:18 - Weal with the tip on the point shot by Petrovic, very similar to Skinner's goal. Game's tied at 2 now. Weal happens to be linemates with Jordan Eberle, maybe something the Oilers look at?

7:20 - Petr Straka with a nice move to the net, but Clermont held his toe against the post and kept it out. Galiev's got some sick moves out there, I don't see the Semin comparison that the commentators are talking about though.

7:23 - Clermont putting on a show, makes a fantastic diving stop on Hishon after the puck bounced in front off the end boards. Not sure if Hishon actually got any wood on the puck, but it looked spectacular.

7:25 - Martindale just absolutely ripped a shot off the post from the bottom of the circle. And now my boy Brock Beukeboom nails Seguin into the boards. Looks like he's going to get a penalty for it though.

7:28 - Looked at the replay of the hit, Beukeboom caught Seguin from behind. Pretty obvious penalty. Now we'll see Seguin on the powerplay, and Hall shorthanded.

7:29 - Taylor Hall is just too fast. Steals the puck from McFarland, breaks away from everyone, slides it across to Ryan Spooner on what was basically a two on zero. Spooner finishes on the backhand, 3-2 Team Cherry. Tough break for Petrovic though, as he flipped the puck over the glass right after the faceoff, so 5 on 3 for Team Orr now.

7:33 - Austin Watson with the big time shot block with Beukeboom set to step on the ice. Penalties both over now. Hall with the chance, but stopped again by Domingue.

7:37 - Martindale with a nice move to the net, but just misses the net. He's had a couple of good chances in this period, looks really good out there.

7:38 - Niederreiter just takes control, puck was not leaving his stick on that shift. Almost scored on one shot, gets the puck back, dekes out one defender, and almost scores on his backhand.

7:39 - Seguin's shot blocked by Beukeboom. Earlier, Hall stripped the puck from Seguin to create a scoring opportunity. I think Hall is starting to show why he's still the consensus number one.

7:42 - Orr empties the net with 1:40 left. Six attackers now, they need a goal.

7:43 - Louis-Marc Aubry seals it for Team Cherry with the empty-netter, 4-2 now.

7:45 - And now it's official. 4-2 final in favour of Team Cherry. Orr hands Cherry the 100 dollar bill. Can't help but smile when those two guys are together. I'll post some of my thoughts on specific players sometime later, but for now, I need a break. Jeff Skinner gets player of the game for Team Orr, Taylor Hall for Team Cherry.

Please Get That Thumb Out of My Face, Dave

TSN's Dave Hodge is not impressed with Oiler fans who welcome this lost season as an opportunity to gain a star player, aka. Taylor Hall. Do I really care what Dave Hodge thinks? No, not really. But the Oilers are playing right now (and are likely losing... horribly), so I guess I have some time to kill.

My thumb is down to the Taylor Hall sweepstakes, which do exist in spite of the fact that Toronto isn't involved. Usually, we're accused of paying too much attention to the issue of "tanking" to get a number one draft pick, because it's a Toronto issue, but now, it's an Edmonton issue where Hall is concerned, and they are following it in Edmonton.

I want to point out that Toronto actually does play a huge role in the upcoming draft, as if they can't find their way out of the basement, then Boston is going to be good for a very long time. If Boston adds Fowler, then they'll be able to stay strong on defence once Chara moves on. If they add Seguin, then they'll have a young star forward who will likely be as good as the guy they traded to the Leafs for the picks in the first place.

Anyway, so Hodge basically says that when Toronto is bad (and has their first pick), Toronto follows the draft, and now that Edmonton is bad, Edmonton follows the draft. Hey, guess what? When the Flames are bad, Calgary follows the draft. When the Black Hawks are bad, Chicago follows the draft. And so on and so forth. This all seems very obvious, but I just don't see how this relates to what Hodge goes on to say.

It's easy to find a so-called Oilers fan who was happy with Saturday's loss in San Jose because it kept the Oilers only two points ahead of last-place Carolina. I say this every year - the NHL should pick the draft order out of a hat containing the names of all 14 non-playoff teams - no advantage to finishing last, no need to wonder how hard the 30th-place team is trying to avoid 29th place.

So-called fans?! SO-CALLED FANS!?! Why I oughta! If I was a so-called fan, would I spend my time watching the Oilers (*checks tonight's result*) lose to the freaking Colorado Avalanche by... (oops, forgot to check score *checks score*)... by six goals? Whoa whoa whoa, wait, 6 goals? Okay, I didn't actually watch the game, but geez, six goals? Guess I'm not a real fan for not wanting to watch the Oilers get clobbered by a bunch of toddlers.

Anyway, to question the fandom of Oiler fans based on some of them wanting Taylor Hall is a bit ridiculous. Do you think Dave Hodge realizes that the Oilers haven't had a 100 point scorer since Doug Weight, or a 40 goal scorer since Petr Klima... 20 years ago? This team's marquee player for the last decade has been Ales Hemsky, whose career high is 77 points. This city is absolutely desperate for a star player, and so is the team. So excuse us for getting excited about the prospect of adding a legitimate future star forward to the team.

Hodge makes it sound like the Oilers are tanking on purpose. At the start of the season, management seemed pretty confident about their playoff prospects. Now, they obviously overstated the team's talent level, but injuries have taken a toll on this team, and they wouldn't be near last place if Ales Hemsky and Khabibulin were still on the active roster. Sure, the Oilers aren't exactly going out of their way to replace those players, but even if they weren't in line to get Taylor Hall, it definitely wouldn't be in their best interest to move prospects and picks for immediate help. So they're making do with what they have, and what they have is the worst roster, on paper and on the ice, in the NHL.

I don't know if Hodge has been paying attention to what's been happening in Chicago over the last five years, but what I've seen is a complete turnaround of a franchise that was horrible for a long time. If Hodge's ideas were implemented, and instead of drafting Kane they drafted Kevin Shattenkirk, and instead of Toews they ended up with James Sheppard, then the Black Hawks would still be one of the worst teams in the league. And remember, with Hodge's rules, next year they'd still have no better chance at drafting Hall than a ninth place team two points out of the playoffs does.

Nobody wants to finish last at the start of the season. But when it's inevitable, it's only fair that the worst team gets the best chance at the best young players. Otherwise, we could see teams stuck in the sewers of the league for ten years at a time, just because they can't get lucky at the lottery.

Luckily, the Oilers have HAL, the true mastermind behind the tank-job, on their side.

Dave Hodge: Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
Dave Hodge: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave Hodge: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Hodge: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Hodge: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.
HAL: I know that you and Gino Reda were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Hodge: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Dave Hodge: Alright, HAL. I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Hodge: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore. Open the doors.
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

Patrice Cormier, World's Number 1 Douchebag

Is the title vulgar? Yeah. Is it true? Definitely. If you haven't seen it yet (and let's be honest, if you're so hockey starved that you're reading this craptastic blog, you probably have. Or you're my parents, in which case, sorry for my language), then here it is:

In case it slipped your mind, that's Patrice Cormier, captain of the Canadian team at the World Juniors. This kid must be some kind of locker room presence, considering this isn't the first questionable thing he's done on the ice, and I believe he was the captain of Rimouski prior to being traded to Rouyn-Noranda. For the record, the player he hit was Mikeal Tam, and he suffered from a severe concussion after the hit. He also apparently stopped breathing for about 30 seconds after being taken off the ice. He's doing alright now, but one can assume that his hockey career is in serious jeopardy at this point.

Basically, last night Patrice Cormier almost killed someone with a dangerous shot to the head. And don't forget that it was only three weeks ago that Cormier was heavily criticized for elbowing a Swede and a Fin in consecutive pre-tournament World Junior games. To go through that experience and not learn anything takes some kind of an idiot. Unfortunately, this idiot is likely talented enough to make a career out of what he does.

Cormier will likely be suspended for the rest of the CHL season, but those calling for a permanent ban from hockey are going to be disappointed. If Todd Bertuzzi can do what he did, at the NHL level, and return to play again, then there's pretty much zero chance that the NHL will do anything to enforce some kind of lifetime ban. So Cormier will be playing for the Devils in the not too distant future, and he'll probably be up to his old tricks.

There has been talk of legal action being taken against Cormier, and the Remparts are apparently pursuing that route of action. I have no problem with that, but I will say that it sets a dangerous precedent if charges are pressed. The play, as reckless and stupid as it may have been, still occurred inside the confines of a hockey rink. If Cormier is convicted, then we're going to have to see a line be drawn between what is a hockey play, and what isn't. A hockey fight is a "hockey play", and players aren't arrested for beating on their opponents. But what happens if a player catches his opponent in the wrong place during a fight, and kills him? Is he now going to be charged for murder? What about an especially hard, but clean hit, that seriously handicaps an opponent? If Cormier is charged, then leagues around the world are going to have to clarify exactly what "going too far" means.

That said, Cormier deserves all the punishment he gets, and if by some chance he does fail to make the NHL, then I doubt we'll miss him.

Hey, at Least We're Not the Leafs

Starting fresh is what I'm doing here at Oilertown, and that's what the Oilers will have to do to dig themselves out of this last place hole they're in. And they really are deserving of that position. This is a team with one legitimate first line player, and a struggling one at that. The defence isn't all that bad, but I'd say only Visnovsky is worthy of the "top-pairing defenceman" label right now. As much as I want Deslauriers and Dubnyk to be successful, it's clear neither are ready for prime time yet. This is an ugly, ugly roster right now. You look at a team like Carolina, the only other team whose level of suck can compare to that of the Oil, and you see Eric Staal and Cam Ward. And then you realize that the Oilers will undoubtedly finish in 30th place this season, and then you flip off the Oilers game and tune into the latest episode of Jersey Shore. We got a situation.

It's not all bad though, and we could see a turnaround as early as next season. Fans have been pining for a rebuild for years now, but if you're an outsider looking at the Oilers' prospect pool right now, you might think that the rebuild started a few years ago. Sam Gagner was the sixth overall pick in 2007, Jordan Eberle is about as a good a prospect as there is out of the 08 draft, and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson was a 10th overall pick last year. Then there's the emergence of players like Linus Omark, Riley Nash, and Jeff Petry as legitimate threats to become impact players at the NHL level. Throw all this on top of one of Taylor Hall/Tyler Seguin/Cam Fowler, and it's not a bad looking future at all.

By next season, I would fully expect there to be at least three rookies on the opening day roster. Jordan Eberle is pretty much a sure thing at this point, from a hockey standpoint and probably a marketing stand point too. Any of the top three players from the upcoming draft are likely NHL ready. And if Paajarvi comes over from Sweden, he'll probably have a good shot at cracking the lineup, given his combination of size, speed, and willingness to drive to the net. If Omark comes over from the KHL, he'll probably be competing for a spot with guys like Potulny and Nilsson, and Paajarvi too, but again, he'll have to come over from Sweden first.

But obviously the Oilers can't just plug in a few energetic rookies to the current roster and expect it to be a playoff contender, can they? We'll see what Tambellini is made of in the coming months. There's a bunch of incredibly average or below average veterans on this team that don't have any place in a rebuild, and if they're all still hanging around come July, then I'm afraid the Oilers are destined for another losing season.

Now, I'm afraid I've completely lost the plot, and don't even remember what clever point I was going to make at the end of this post. So I'll end this first post with something to cheer you up. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit in 28th spot. Phil Kessel has 27 points in 37 games. That 27 points cost them two first round picks and a second. So just be glad you're not a Leafs fan.

Edit: There, now the title fits the conclusion of the post ever so perfectly. Dandy.