The Edmonton Oilers of 2009-10 Are Still Finding Their Way

Changes are what a lot of fans in Oil Country were asking for during the past two seasons.

With the emergence of GM Steve Tambellini as a reformer of old boys' clubs and the introduction of Pat Quinn and his associate staff as saviours of the franchise, major changes have been the primary theme this season so far.

What kind of team is emerging from the shadows of a third straight summer without playoffs has yet to be determined. Quinn is spinning his alchemical genius in an attempt to identify what kind of team he has inherited and what kind of team he wants to build.

Quinn's evaluating the team gradually: game by game, period by period.

Now don't get this transition period confused with a roster overhaul. Most of the guys from last year were back for another season, though some found that they were sitting in the press box instead of playing.

No, my friends, these changes are primarily about team identity.

There have been many misconceptions about former head coach Craig MacTavish and his style of coaching.

Some claim MacT's coaching stifled offence, citing the inability of offensive messiahs such as Rob Schremp and Jani Rita as examples of what could have been. Some questioned his methods of motivation by calling out Dustin Penner in the media.

But that's all foolishness. MacT's coaching was as offensive as the next guy, and the team defense he preached is a requisite of any successful team.

Ask a Detroit Red Wing. Ask a Pittsburgh Penguin.

All coaches blend the lines, and all coaches make mistakes. But don't think Quinn won't call out his guys in the media—because he's already done it before.

Team toughness was also a key of both coaching groups.

So what's the big difference, then?

The key policy change that the new coaching staff is promoting is a fundamental but often forgotten aspect of franchises in flux: Quinn, Tom Renney, Wayne Fleming, and sidekick Kelly Buchberger have made it clear that no jobs will be handed out this season based on seniority and that all roster spots will be earned through competition and merit.

For the Edmonton Oilers of 2009-10, hockey is no longer a democracy—it's clearly a meritocracy.

These policy changes held through training camp and resulted in some curious lines as Edmonton sifted through its menagerie of small, skilled forwards to end up with Jean-Francois Jacques on the top line and Ryan Stone flanking the 91-19 line with Mike Comrie and Patrick O'Sullivan.

Merit and hard work are values that are finally seeping back into the vocabulary for a team that was once defined by those values in the late '90s, when Smyth, Weight, Smith, and Salo were the names on the back of the jerseys.

Perhaps it's a good thing that Quinn's Oilers aren't reinventing the wheel and are starting back at square one of hockey fundamentals.

Because if the first three games of the season are any indication, nothing is going to be handed to the Oilers, and things might just be as tough as they were last season or tougher.

The injuries to Fernando Pisani and Sheldon Souray are especially daunting, because these blue-collar hockey players represent the kind of nucleus the team is trying to build around.

The loss of Souray, especially, could turn out to be more devastating than the Lubomir Visnovsky injury was last season, depending on how long he's out.

Combined with inconsistent goaltending from the legendary but enigmatic Nikolai Khabibulin, the Oilers have yet to win a game outright and are still losing games they should've won.

Two those losses came to the divisional Calgary Flames, just in the first week!

The season is young, and the Oilers have been close in all their games, so it isn't yet the time to despair for these young Oilers.

These unpredictable challenges facing the team in the early going are in addition to outright challenges that Quinn has posed to his team:

Sam Gagner has been placed on the fourth line, and Ales Hemsky has been paired with Jacques. Quinn wouldn't put Gagner or Hemsky in a situation where he doesn't think they would succeed, but why now, when he's trying to build a team identity?

There's a good reason why Gagner is on the fourth line, and it has something to do with Quinn believing, as many Oilers fans also do, that the kid is a born leader and just needs to be given a chance to show it.

Often it is asked, where can the Oilers find a winger to play with Hemsky?

Quinn is asking perhaps a more relevant question: When can Hemsky learn to play in such a way as to make his teammates better?

A better reason for having Jacques on the top line, other than the regurgitated common sense response of having him learn a Dave Semenko-esque policing role or adding size and grit to a pint-sized Oilers lineup, is rather to test Hemsky's ability to adjust to adversity.

More importantly, this is probably the season when we find out whether Hemsky is indeed a dominant NHL winger waiting to show his true colours (as we all hope) or whether he is just a complimentary player who has had the privilege of playing with Ryan Smyth and Shawn Horcoff (as Ales Kotalik was).

Quinn wants to know whether Hemsky has it in him to push the envelope.

This is the same opportunity offered to other skilled players on the team, from Visnovsky down to the likes of Gilbert Brule.

Competition is healthy, and Quinn has found ways to push his players to push themselves.

He has called out the entire team and asked them to decide amongst themselves who wants to be part of the proud renewed Oilers tradition of mixing elbow grease with high skill.

Who will answer the call?

Will they answer at all?

All that's for certain is that the Edmonton Oilers are reinventing themselves.