Rexall Place: A Shrine Among Shrines

Rexall Place is a shrine among shrines, and everyone is welcome inside.

A recent article on OilersNation about "the most annoying fans" roused my interest.

Many Oilers fans submitted accounts of their own experiences with these kinds of fans and I can't say I disagree for the most part.

When it comes to the mumbling drunks who call into the radio show after the game and suggest that we trade the whole team for Alex Ovechkin, there's not much to be said. When it comes to fans that know nothing, but like to give the impression of being an Oilers know-it-all, there's not much to be said either.

But forget about them, I want to talk about the fans who are just on the edge—the greenhorns who are (without surprise) drawn to the copper and blue but need some guidance.

In my opinion, being an Oilers fan is not an exclusive club.

We should view the presence of fair-weather fans and unknowledgeable blokes as opportunities: an opportunity to convert the heathens and the infidels to the Gospel of Hockey , as written by your prophet Scott Reynolds and faithfully prescribed by an entire Oilogosphere.

We can't all be Oilers Insiders and this means we need to bring along any fans who are new to hockey or the Oilers and help them adjust to living among us in the shrine among shrines—Rexall place.

Teach them about the exploits of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Fuhr, Coffey, Linseman, and Lowe.

Explain the close-but-no-cigar years of Weight, Smyth, Guerin, Salo, Mironov, Hamrlik, Grier, and Marchant.

But more importantly, make sure they're up to speed with the current team—the team that has been built progressively since the cup heartbreak of 2006. The team that went all the way, just to come all the way back.

Don't leave out re-tellings of the Pronger, Nylander, and Heatley stories—they are important too.

Leave no fair-weather fan behind; leave no potential Oilers fan untapped.

With some work, they will no longer be "the most annoying fan."

With some work, they will simply be a Gospel-toting Oiler fan.

So bring them the Good News.

(Thanks to Scott R for inspiring this piece.)