Oilers down, Roloson out

2006 Stanley Cup Final - Game 1
Hurricanes 5, Oilers 4
Carolina leads series 1-0

Well, Edmonton Oilers fans' worst fears have been realized.

The thing is, this team's longevity in these playoffs has depended all along on the health of its 36-year-old goaltender. And now, with Dwayne Roloson guaranteed to miss the remainder of the series with a knee injury, even some of the most ardent Oilers fans are conceeding the series. (Others, as you'll see in the comments, are blaming yours truly for the bum luck.)

In the face of almost endless optimism from the Edmonton faithful during the Anaheim series, I'd joked about the possibility of Roloson going down, but never did I think events could unfold as cruelly as they did tonight.

Edmonton made a lot of mistakes tonight, but I think one of the biggest was coach Craig MacTavish's call to have the overwhelmed and underplayed Ty Conklin as his team's backup goaltender. As is noted at The Battle of Alberta, MacTavish's 'players' coach' approach of alternating Conklin and Jussi Markkanen on the bench might have been the difference here, given that Markkanen is generally considered the more solid netminder.

Conklin's play on the Hurricanes winning goal also left a lot to be desired.

It's no secret the Oilers' goaltending situation was a concern all year, as both Conklin and Markkanen were near the league-worst in save percentage (.880). (In fact, of the dozen or so Edmonton regular-season games I saw this season, the waived Mike Morrison was stronger than both.)

The smart money from all interested observers has Markkanen starting Game 2 on Wednesday.

Opportunity lost
One of the guys on the desk tonight remarked that Conklin must be devastated after blowing the game on such a critical play, but the Oiler who was truly be done in by the events tonight was Roloson.

A feel-good story the past six-plus weeks, the loveable curmudgeon was finally getting his due as a front-line NHL goaltender and was well on his way to both a Stanley Cup and strong consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

This series was an opportunity Roloson's career had seemingly built an entire lifetime towards, but ended in an unavoidable goal-mouth collision. A day that Roloson undoubtedly began on top of the world, starting in goal in the biggest game of his life, finished with him alone, in tears, on a trainer's table in Raleigh, N.C.

It's tough stuff to take, even as only a fan of the guy.

There goes the series?
The most disappointing thing as a non-Oilers fan about this whole Roloson injury business is that, as long as we've waited for this Stanley Cup final — nearly two years — this year's might turn out to be a complete dud.

Tonight's game was a joy to watch just from a purely 'popcorn' perspective, and even as what looked like the inevitable overtime approached, I was already looking forward to a long, hard-fought series.

Before Roloson went down, that is.

Now, I'm not saying the series is over, but it's certainly not going to be the type of clash I'd expected. This is going to be a serious uphill battle for the Oilers, if only because of how they played tonight.

The injury heard round the blogosphere
Sans hyperbole, the Edmonton Oilers portion of hockey blogdom is by far the strongest and most well-represented group out of all NHL teams. I'd go as far as saying that three or four of the top 20 hockey blogs are Oilers themed, which is rather impressive.

That said, what type of a post would this be without some input from those wild, fire-startin' Edmontonians?

Covered in Oil:

Is this the end? It's tough to say. Well, no: it's not tough to say when it comes to Conklin. That idiot is done. If he ever plays another game in the NHL, it'll be a miracle (or as a backup in Vancouver). Considering how the chips of public opinion were so unfairly stacked against him already, just letting in the winning goal would have been a death sentence; what philosopher could have fathomed the depth of Edmonton's hatred for Conklin now, after he gift-wrapped the winning goal so beautifully, in such a singularly perfect manner? Was there ever any way else we could have lost? Could God himself was created a more nightmarishly delicious ending to a night full of positives?

And again:

But it's hard, people. It's hard not to feel pain right now, to have ridden so far on such perfectly unstoppable chemistry only to realize that, contrary to the number of shorthanded chances for the Oilers in the second, these players are not algorithms in some glorious EA Sports simulation, but men. Men that are mortal, and men that break.

Sports Matters:

Karma is a bitch, and Edmonton has turned into a ghost town. I'm 300 kilometers away, but I just heard a chorus of inebriated cheers from Calgary.

The Battle of Alberta:

[UPDATE]: Mac-T just announced that Roloson is out for the rest of the series. This is horrific. Jussi has to be the man, now. Most of the following was written before this tragic news.

The Calculator:

Mirtle has gone all Jon Landau on us and declared that he has seen the future of Canadian goaltending and its name is Cam Ward. While I think it's cute that James apparently believes Team Canada to be a meritocracy as opposed to a system based on seniority and cronyism, he kind of overstates where Cam Ward is right now.

(Ahem, and who was CBC's first star of Game 1, my friends?)

That's far more than enough from me for tonight. I've just got my fingers crossed that there's still as much fight in the Oilers as there's been all spring.