The way I see it, they can roll over at the start of the season and ice an imperfect team, or they can spend a little money (we’re talking a few mill here) to improve the supporting cast of players and ice a potentially competitive team, which would also help with player development too, not to mention morale.

Its kind of weird being an Oiler fan and not hearing the entire fanbase calling for the coaches to be fired and the players to be traded.

Btw, I’m not a believer that rebuild = shit the bed. I think we’ve got the core players we need for our future (although a young d-man and a young goaltending prospect would be nice – although Roy might fill that last need), we should be playing like the season means something. I think even last year, that should have been the case. I’m never a fan of not putting forth an honest effort, except when it’s painfully obvious we have no choice (like December 09 onward for us last season).
Otto: yup, that sums up my feelings.

I agree with you Racki that other teams stars don’t have to fear Mac, only other heavyweights. But if Mac could improve enough that he’s hitting everything like JFJ, other teams would fear him. The downside is that what we’re seeing out of Big Mac is the best we’ll ever see.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be a team that out hits the opposition every night? When you do that, other teams start thinking of you as a team that is tough to play against. I think the organization wants to go that direction, but we obviously don’t have the roster to do that just yet. We’ll get there eventually.

I always feel the need to add that so much of what we as hockey fans love to discuss doesn’t matter anymore because of the rebuild. We can make comments on how we need to bolster our defence or add a quality checker or whatever our team is lacking but due to the rebuild, its like none of that stuff matters. The wins and losses don’t matter, the only thing that matters is that the youth core gain experience and improve. Losses used to sting, now they don’t bother me.