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Inside the NHL

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The Spoilers  

Edmonton is the team to avoid in the Western Conference playoffs

By Kostya Kennedy

Not long after the Oilers had thoroughly outplayed the Western Conference-leading Avalanche in a 4-1 win on March 28, Colorado's dazed goalie, Patrick Roy, noted the obvious: "The Oilers are for real."

As of Sunday, Edmonton was on a 12-4-2-0 run that included a franchise-record nine straight victories and brought its season record to 38-27-11-3. The Oilers haven't lost three games in a row since early November, but it's not only that Edmonton is winning, it's the way the team plays that has the conference's top clubs quaking in their skates. "They're scary," says Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, "because they never stop coming at you."

Rem Murray and the Oilers are every opponent's nightmare: tough, fast and determined. Rich Stewart/ Allsport

At week's end Edmonton was the fifth playoff seed, but with a number of teams still battling for postseason position, the Oilers could face any of the conference's four elite teams -- the Avalanche, Blues, Red Wings and Stars -- in the first round. None of them wants that matchup. "They're confident, and they play a hard game," St. Louis general manager Larry Pleau says of the Oilers. "They finish checks, they have a lot of speed, and [goalie] Tommy Salo is a warrior."

Besides being loaded with young talent, Edmonton has a recent history of beating higher seeds in Round 1. In 1997 the Oilers upset the Stars, and in '98 they took out the Avalanche. Though the Oilers fell to Dallas in the opening round the past two years, seven of those eight losses were by one goal. "You know you're in a game against them," says Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "They're physical, no lulls in their intensity."

Neither have there been many lulls in the play of Salo, who had appeared in 69 games (second most in the NHL this season) and maintained a .904 save percentage despite facing a conference-high 1,591 shots. The Oilers' hard-hitting, swift-skating style makes them particularly difficult to face in a long series because they can wear down an opponent. Says Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe, "Teams know that win or lose, we're going to get our pound of flesh."

Among the flesh takers are bullish wingers Anson Carter and Ryan Smyth, who along with smooth center Mike Comrie make up the Oilers' superb second line. Lowe acquired Carter from the Bruins in November for Bill Guerin and signed Comrie, a 1999 fourth-round draft choice, the following month. For the first time in several seasons Edmonton's offense doesn't rely exclusively on the playmaking ability of All-Star center Doug Weight.

"We have two things this year: more depth and more experience," says Lowe. "Last year we lost some very close playoff games. This year we think we can win them."

Issue date: April 9, 2001

For more Inside the NHL see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, April 4. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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