“You can complain that we’ve got American League this, or whatever. What we have is a damned team. And a good one.” After his club put up a dominant performance against the BlueJackets, Ken Hitchcock made it clear the Oilers believe. (SportsnetSpec)
Ken Hitchcock knows he’s not coming back to coach the Edmonton Oilers next year, and he can also look down his roster and see its many shortcomings.
But that won’t stop a career coach from trying to teach this team into the playoffs, and with 10 of its remaining 17 games to be played at home, being five points out of the wild-card spot right now put some in Hitchcock’s step post-game. “We’re in a really good spot — mentally,” Hitchcock told reporters in Columbus. “If we continue to be the kind of team we are now, we’ll be a really hard out. That was the goal: We keep playing at this level, and eventually the hockey Gods help you out. We’ve been at this level for almost a month.”
The Oilers are 4-1-2 in their past seven games, and are staying in the conversation despite a lineup that looks decidedly Bakersfield at times. “People [expletive] and complain about what we don’t have? Well, all we have is a team. You’ve got to give us that,” the coach said. “You can complain that we’ve got American League this, or whatever. What we have is a damned team. And a good one. We’re not going to be easy to play against for the rest of the year.”“What is there, 17 games left? We have a chance,” he said. “For us, with everything that’s gone so bad this season, it’s kind of neat where we’re at right now in the standings.
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