Congrats Oilers fans. It's been a long two years since you were gifted the best player in the world after winning like 10 other lotteries.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) March 29, 2017
That was the tweet from Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski just moments after the Edmonton Oilers clinched their spot in the 2017 NHL playoffs and ended a 1o year playoff-less drought but it was too much for Wyshynski eh? And apparently, Canadian teams shouldn’t win the Stanley Cup either.
Before we get into everything, full disclosure. I listen to the Puck Daddy podcast as well as the Puck Soup podcast. I enjoy the humor and the insight and I’ll continue to listen to them. I recommend you listen to them as well.
Well, on the Puck Soup podcast Wyshynski replied to the reaction from Oilers fans. Here is the audio AND some of the transcript of the portion of that pod where co-hosts Wyshynksi and Dave Lozo went over the, in my opinion, well-founded vitriol directed at the “Puck Daddy” by the Oilers’ fanbase.
If you’re listening, skip to the 13:50 mark. I recommend this option. There’s a bit of the ‘ol locker room language, so you’ve been forewarned.
GW – It’s time for another edition of which fanbase did I piss off this week?
DL – To be fair, that was kind of a dickish tweet.
GW – It was totally dickish. So on Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers qualified for the playoffs for the first time in ten years and I tweeted, “Congrats Oilers fans, it’s been a long two years since you were gifted the best hockey player in the world after winning like ten other lotteries.” And at last count, it has like 2500 likes on Twitter and sparked people yelling at my employer and yelling at the Edmonton radio station that I appeared and will never have me on again.
I say this once and then we can move on about Oilers fans. I don’t give a shit about your drought. They were treating this thing like they were the Cubs. The last time you were in the playoffs you were in the Cup final. During this stretch, this painful stretch, of drought which has made you despondent and sad and now your nightmare is over; you drafted the best player in the world.
The moment Connor McDavid becomes an Oiler, guess what happens? Your drought’s over. You know it’s going to happen.
DL – Well not right away.
GW – NO, IT’S OVER! It’s like winning the lottery, which they actually did, winning like $10M and then two years later, right, having a party because you paid off your student loan. YOU ALREADY WON THE LOTTERY! IT’S DONE! YOU’VE ALREADY ACHIEVED IT. The nightmare is over the minute Connor McDavid joins your team. Now it’s just icing on the cake that you made the playoffs again. It was an inevitability and it pissed me off to see them (Oilers fans) treating it as if this has been a tortuous existence. You know what’s a tortuous existence? Being the fucking Florida Panthers and not having the Gretzky dynasty in your back pocket to validate your existence as a franchise. And not having fucking Connor McDavid on your team is a tortuous existence.
Like, a ten year drought where the last time you were in the playoffs you were playing for the Cup. I’m sorry, I’m not getting out the fucking stradivarius for you here.
DL – It was the longest drought in hockey…
GW – Who gives a shit? They have a charmed life! They won the lottery 75 fucking times and they ended up with Connor McDavid on their team.
DL – They won it three other times and never made the playoffs. I don’t understand the whole, “you won the lottery” thing. You should’ve known this was going to happen. They won it three times in a row and it didn’t happen.
GW – Right and now they have a great collection of young players on that team. Including one they flipped for obviously Norris trophy winner Adam Larsson.
But my point is that…
DL – This is the longest drought. Everyone goes to the playoffs in hockey.
GW – But look what happened during that drought. Like how could you possibly treat – “Oh my God, the nightmare is finally over…”
The nightmare was over the minute Connor McDavid looked at that camera with tears in his eyes and said, “God dammit I’m going to Edmonton”
DL – Yeah, but everyone said that every other time they won the lottery. This is it.
GW – But it’s McDavid. It’s different. Come on! It’s not Ryan Nugent-2nd line center at best-Hopkins. It’s a generational talent the ended up with.
DL – They weren’t going to be a playoff team last year if he played all 82. So I don’t know how you can say it’s an inevitability.
GW – It was an inevitability.
DL – Did you take them to make the playoffs this year? Nooooo
GW – I picked them to get close I think. I don’t remember my picks.
DL – When you say inevitability, it’s a different word for you than it means for everybody else.
GW – I just think that the way they were treating last night was like a Cubs fan. Like, the curse is over, we killed the billy goat. You have the best player in the world on your team and you didn’t make the playoffs for ten years after making the Cup final.
I weep.
DL – Let me pause at a theory of where this is coming from.
GW – Sure.
DL – Devils are going to miss the playoffs for a 5th straight season.
GW – They are.
DL – You never really had the lottery chance over these 5 years. Who’s the highest pick you got at that point?
GW – It was probably Zacha (Pavel).
DL – Oh boy…
GW – Well Larsson maybe. Well no, that was pre-drought I think.
DL – This is the longest drought they’ve had since they first moved to Jersey. So I’m going to pause at something.
GW – Please.
DL – Bitterness. Jealousy.
GW – Of me towards them?!
DL – Uh huh.
GW – I couldn’t give a shit if the Devils didn’t make the playoffs for a long time. I relish that. I relish the opportunity to have a team on the upswing eventually after decades of being a playoff team and winning multiple Cups and winning 5 conference championships. Fer sure.
DL – The other thing too you have to kind of consider is, how many fans of the Oilers today weren’t alive when they won their Stanley Cups.
GW – Probably a lot.
DL – So what does that matter? Why should they not be happy because they won Cups 30 years ago?
GW – I’m not saying they shouldn’t be happy. They just shouldn’t be this happy.
DL – How happy should they be? What’s the level of happiness they should’ve had last night?
GW – If you’re looking at the chart and you know I love charts. If you’re looking at the chart, it’d be the rollercoaster is flat and then it spikes when McDavid gets drafted and it kinda levels out. To me, the most joyous thing that happened to that franchise is knowing that you have the next Sid or Mario or Gretzky on your team and now it’s inevitable that you’re going to make the playoffs.
They treated it like it was this gigantic fucking weight lifted off of their shoulders. I was just like, “Come on! You didn’t know this was going to happen?”.
DL – Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs with Eichel.
GW – Right because Eichel isn’t as good as McDavid and Auston Matthews isn’t as good as McDavid. McDavid is a very very special once-in-a-lifetime player and they got him. Congratulations! I just think that it’s kinda silly to sit here and be like, “Oh my god, the nightmare is finally over
“Oh my god, the nightmare is finally over. We finally got back to the playoffs.”
Like, no shit. No shit! You got the best player in the world right now outside of Sidney Crosby on your team.
DL – I think the Penguins missed the playoffs the first two years Crosby was there. Definitely the first year. I’ll look that up because based on your theory of getting one awesome guy, they should’ve just known this was coming and be like,
“Cool.”
GW – Right! And Penguins fans were like,
“Oh my god, our nightmare is finally over. It took 45 minutes since Mario retired for us to be in the playoffs.”
I have no sympathy for this. There are other franchises that should feel this way is what I’m trying to say. Fucking Winnipeg or some shit.
DL – Fuck Winnipeg. They’ve been there 5 years shitting their pants with their shitty GM and coach. They don’t deserve anything.
GW – The Blue Jackets, the Panthers. There are a number of teams that haven’t had a taste of the success that the Oilers have had in their history.
DL – You’re talking about tastes of like 30 years ago. Nobody gives a shit.
GW – It’s Gretzky. It’s the standard by which all dynasties are judged.
DL – There are people walking around now that only know Wayne Gretzky as a coach. The same way there are people walking around that only know that Michael Jordan as a meme.
GW – You’re lying to prove a point! You’re fucking Sean Spicer right now with this argument.
DL – You know how long ago Gretzky retired? 20 years ago!
GW – These people can’t open a record book? They don’t know who the best player of all-time is? They just had a fucking list.
DL – So you’re saying some 23-year-old kid who has just lived through the shittiest years in Edmonton should be like,
“Meh. Who cares. We had cups before I was born.”
No, that’s not how it works.
GW – You had the best player in the history of the sport on your team. You’ll always have that as a fallback position.
DL – So when the Yankees were dog shit for like 15 years in the 80s, you couldn’t be sad about it because you have Babe fucking Ruth. Come on!
GW – As a Mets fan, I was reminded all the time that the Yankees had a storied past that my franchise couldn’t even lick the boots of.
DL – Uh. A storied past? Who cares? Live in the now Greg!
GW – I am living in the now. The living in the now is that they have Connor McDavid on their team and they just treated it as if like, they, for the first time in the history of mankind they made the playoffs.
DL – Oh, it’s the Taylor Hall trade that’s got you mad too.
GW – Noooo. I love Taylor Hall.
DL – You helped the Oilers get to where they are.
GW – I’m happy I did. I think it’s great that the Oilers are good again. I didn’t like when they were complete dog shit. I wanted them to be basically like the Leafs this year. Which is to be really really good and then just fall short of the playoffs. Which, god willing, the Leafs will do.
DL – Now you’re rooting against the Leafs?
GW – I want Boston and Tampa in the playoffs.
DL – Ow! Why do you want Boston in the playoffs?
GW – Well, I like Boston as a playoff team. I think a Boston/Ottawa slobberknocker series would be fun and soften whoever wins that series of either Montreal or the Rangers. But I definitely want Tampa in the playoffs.
I like the idea of keeping the Leafs humble. I like the idea of the Leafs getting right to the cusp of it. These kids get the playoff experience they need and then fall short.
DL – Originally, maybe I thought it was bitterness stemming from the Devils’ putridness. Maybe you just hate the young people.
GW – No, I love young people.
DL – You don’t want the young people to have success.
GW – You’re getting close to it but you keep missing the target.
DL – Is it Canada? You just hate Canada?
GW – Mmmm hmmm.
DL – Yeah, is that what it is?
Okay, let’s go over the fanbases. Columbus, everyone hates. Now Edmonton, everybody hates you. Once people hear the Toronto part of this, where everyone in the world I think is happy that Toronto has got a bunch of good young kids…
GW – I’m very happy. I just want them to fall short and stay humble and keep hungry.
DL – You’re like the guy who’s like,
“Millenials always want to feel entitled to the playoffs.”
GW – I think they are. I think they’re totally entitled to the playoffs.
DL – So are you going to be mad when the Oilers play the Ducks in the first round and beat the Ducks? Are you going to go on Twitter and be like,
“Good job beating an old slow team.”
GW – No, because again, you’re proferring a theory about me which isn’t true. I want McDavid to do well. I want all these young players to do well. I think it’s the best thing for hockey if they get new blood in there but I want to keep the Leafs humble.
DL – But wait. You want the Leafs to do well, I mean, you want the Oilers to do well. You like McDavid doing well. It’s good for everybody but nobody can be happy about it.
GW – No. I think all of this makes complete sense.
DL – You sound like a raving lunatic right now. People are listening to this right now and saying,
“Why does Greg hate my team but wants it to do well? And why should I not be happy about it?”
SKIPS TO 25:25
DL – Okay, Ducks vs. Oilers, are you pulling for the Oilers?
GW – I’m pulling for the Oilers big time. Big league. I want the Oilers to do extraordinarily well. If they win the Cup, great. Dawn of a new era. I just don’t want the fans to be as apoplectic as they were about making the playoffs. It’s stupid.
DL – How many rounds do the Oilers have to win to be justifiably happy as fans?
GW – They can be happy as fans, just not THAT happy.
DL – But how happy? Like as happy as they are now, what would they have to do to justify that happiness? Two rounds?
GW – No, it has nothing to do with the success in the playoffs. It has to do with, if this was 20 years and it was 20 years between playoff appearances. I would understand it. It’s been 10 years.
DL – Nobody goes 20 years without making the playoffs anymore.
GW – But it was 10 years and the last time you made the playoffs you played for the Cup. That’s my point. My point is you played for a Cup the last time you were there and you go McDavid in those 10 years and you’re treating it like,
“Oh my god, we’re opening up the basement doors! The sun is finally shining on our faces. Thank you Jesus Christ for this day!”
DL – Again, I go back to the fact that they had McDavid for two years, you didn’t pick them to make the playoffs with McDavid at all, so it couldn’t have been as such a sure thing that you’re now making it out to be in hindsight.
Here’s my thing, I feel like making the playoffs is the most anti-climactic thing in hockey because everybody knew that the Oilers were going to make the playoffs two months ago. That’s what bothers me, is how it’s just not fun to clinch in hockey unless it’s the last day and you get that second wild card spot and it’s like,
“Oilers are in!”
Well, if they didn’t get in yesterday and they didn’t get in the next day, they were going to get in on Friday. That takes the edge off for me. It would’ve been more fun if the Oilers would’ve got in on that last day while beating the Blackhawks.
BLAME CANADA!
SKIP TO 29:10
GW – I don’t want another Canadian team to ever win the Cup. It’s been a beautiful 23 years.
DL – Wow! It is anti-Canada. That’s what it is.
GW – Of course! I’m an American. Why would I want a Canadian team to win the Cup?
DL – What, you don’t like Max Pacioretty? A good New York boy.
GW – I revoked his citizenship.
DL – Wow! Boy, you really are like Donald Trump. You leave the country, you can’t come in anymore?
GW – I want the Leafs to win eventually, just not now.
DL – I want the Oilers to win, don’t be happy about it… I don’t want the Leafs to win but I do eventually want them to win.
I’ve never heard this sort of logic at play about teams you don’t really care about used as a way of, you’re rooting for them?
Might we agree that Wyshynski cleverly capitalized on an opportunity to get some hits to his site here with a massive troll job? I mean whatever takes the sting away from his team being one of the worst in the entire league. Ah well, good for him. The Devils are half way to that 10-year playoff-less mark and I don’t see anybody coming in to save them anytime soon.
