Oilers ranked too high among NHL's most tortured fanbases
The Daily Faceoff has ranked all 32 NHL fanbases based on how much they suffer, and for some reason the Edmonton Oilers have been placed up in 12th place.
There will undoubtedly be times when Edmonton Oilers fans wonder why they put themselves through the stress and anxiety of following the team, game-after-game, season-after-season, decade-after-decade. However, in the grand scheme of things, we would argue being a supporter of this particular organisation, is often more positive than negative.
We say all this, in relation to an interesting survey the Daily Faceoff's Scott Maxwell shared the results of on Friday. It ranks all 32 of the NHL's fanbases in respect of who is the most tortured, and we must admit our surprise at where the Oilers have been placed.
The Daily Faceoff's panel of six experts ranked the Oilers in a variety of positions, between ninth and 17th place, and came up with the final standing of 12th overall. In truth, we find it hard to agree with putting them so high up as a tortured fanbase.
Consider that since the Oilers joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season, they are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most Stanley Cup wins, at five apiece. And after this past season, they stand all alone at the top of the NHL, with eight trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
Yes, we appreciate the Oilers have suffered the ultimate heartache of losing their past two visits to the Stanley Cup Final in seven games, including the recent series loss to the Florida Panthers. However, even getting to the Final is better than not making it; being so close seems less torturous than the embarrassment of being swept.
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We acknowledge there are those who will point to the nightmare period between 2006-07 and 2015-16, aka the decade of futility, when the Oilers missed the playoffs every season. However, last time we checked, being so bad for so long helped them land Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who have all contributed significantly to the team's success 2016-17.
Oh, and on the subject of McDavid, you're doing pretty damn well as a fanbase to have the best player in the game today. And this is after previously having a certain Wayne Gretzky, the top player in the history of the NHL.
In another perspective, the Oilers were at least ranked second-lowest among the seven Canadian NHL teams in terms of suffering. Only the Montreal Canadiens were placed lower, which is no surprise for a franchise with the most Stanley Cups in league history - and by quite a considerable margin.
On the flip side, the Toronto Maple Leafs were ranked as the most tortured franchise in the NHL. Again no surprise really, for a team with the longest ever Stanley Cup drought, and just one playoff series win since 2003-04.
We do find it interesting that the NHL team fanbases take up seven of the top 13 places for most tortured. However, this just alludes to how seriously Canadians fans take the sport of hockey overall, compared to their United States counterparts.
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Regardless of this mindset, it doesn't change the stark reality that Oilers fans specifically, shouldn't be considered so tortured when looking at the overall history of their team. Yes they suffer, but there are easily -- easily -- more than 11 other NHL fanbases who have had it worse off over the years.
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