McDavid is an Oiler, and it’s good. Get over it.

Settle down.  McDavid is going to be an Oiler.  Get over it.

I get it, the Oilers don’t deserve him. They’ve been so bad, and such a mess for so many years, and they’ve just been handed a get out of jail free card.  All of it, their own doing.  They’ve had four #1 overall picks in six years.  I get it.  They don’t deserve to have Connor, I agree with you.

But… Let’s rewind a few months here.  You want to talk about McDavid going somewhere deserving.  Well, Outside of Edmonton… the greater possibilities were Buffalo, Arizona, Toronto.  Can you really tell me those teams are “worthy” of the kid, equally or more-so than Edmonton?  Not a chance.

Buffalo traded both of their starting goalies, for no reason other than they were keeping them in hockey games.  They had fans show up to their games, and celebrate when they were scored against.  They did everything they possibly could to secure the highest percentage.  If my memory serves me correctly, I recall an interview with Connor in the fall, and he’d been asked about his thoughts on teams tanking for him… his response, those are the teams he wouldn’t want to play for.  No kidding.  So… We can cross Buffalo off that list of teams deserving.  Not to mention they have ultra-douchebag Evander on their team.   The Jets didnt wan’t Kane anywhere near their pool of rich prospects coming… So why would we want McDavid with that guy?

Then we get to the landscapes of the city… Yea… Ok,  Edmonton is far from Carolina, or Scottsdale. I get that… I’m from there.  It ain’t the prettiest, or warmest place I’ve been either.  But… something about that city, helluva lot character.  I rip on Edmonton lots, being from the area.  But, I have a lot of pride in coming from there.  When people ask, ya I live in Calgary but I’m from Edmonton.  It’s a shithole, I know… but there’s something about that shithole.  But… Tell me Buffalo is more of an attractive city than Edmonton?   No…. it’s not.

Arizona, well… my first few comments on them are same as they were above.  Did all they could to secure that extra few percent, and had their own fans, the very few of them celebrate defeat.  If I recall, Maloney even made some stupid comment “tanking” and attempting to justify it.  Aside from the obvious tanking down the stretch, or down the last forty games.  Do we really want a potential player of Crosby calibre to end up in Arizona?  Come on…  The teams a disaster, no one goes to games, I’m not sure they even have a fan base…  I’m sure McDavid would fill a few seats.  But, the team is equally as much of a mess as the oilers are off the ice, just for different reasons.  So… McDavid helps keep a team in Phoenix relevant for another few years.  No… Cut your losses, and move to Seattle.  Also… They are the most boring team in the league.  They have the worst uniforms in sports.  They don’t even deserve to exist in the Arizona, so how the hell do they deserve a saviour?

Toronto…  I’m not even going to bother justifying why this train wreck is not worthy of the second coming of “the kid”

Carolina… I want to watch McDavid.  Other then when Carolina plays Toronto on Saturday.  When was the last time you watched the Hurricanes?

Fact is… None of these teams deserve 97.  That’s why they are in this position, and that highlights the flaws of the NHL Lottery System.  Tanking, and total incompetence is rewarded.  Which, is why a few months ago, I wrote why the NHL needed to change their lottery system, and despite being an Oiler fan with a massive… ahhh ummm…  for the next few years, I still think this system needs to be altered.  But, if we are going to sit here and try to justify which teams deserve Connor McDavid, and which don’t…  Fact is, the teams that “deserve” him are all playing hockey right now.  Detroit deserves him.  They’re made the playoffs how many straight decades?  They develop players like no other team, and draft as good as anyone in sports.  They deserve McDavid. But guess what…  They are ineligible, playing in the playoffs.  So… No team has a chance at him, that would “deserve” him, so don’t tell me there are other lottery teams that are more or less deserving of this player than any other team.

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But… Here’s some things to consider before the envious hockey fan snaps again about how McDavid is going to be destroyed, and the Oilers don’t deserve even a pinecone, let alone a generational player.

1. Rewind to when AZ and Buff started tanking… what did the Oilers do?  The complete opposite.  If you actually watched them, majority of those games… Looked like they were doing all they could to get the hell out of the double digit percentile.  They put in some real good efforts down the stretch.  Just ask the Flame, and Canuck fans.  Remember the day they helped you clinch by beating LA?  Those two are now beating the wheels off each other in what’s been a great series.  Some thanks to Oil. Would have been real easy for them fold the tents, like in years past, and like the Sabres & Yotes.  Bet you the Boston Bruins wished Edmonton was playing Pittsburgh last week, instead of Buffalo.
2. The Fans.  Come on.  There has not been a more dedicated, loyal, passionate and true fan base that has stuck with their team throughout so many years of complete crap.  If nothing else, the fans deserve the kid. For the most part, Oil fans get it. They aren’t ignorant, and delusional like Canucks fan. They don’t pretend to be some kind of thug warrior like the Van crowd does.  They exist a helluva lot more than Phx… and, well, Buffalo fans taped a Coyote logo of the Sabre logo of their own jersey… so… you tell me.  They aren’t seasonal fans.  They almost foolishly are optimistic and excited for every season.   Didn’t matter who the Oil played, what the weather was, how bad they were doing… People still went to games, and supported them.   If they weren’t at the games, they were at pubs watching them, or at home.  Guaranteed.  Cause I was one of them.  Knowing the Flames will thump the Oilers, it will be a complete snoozer… but I couldn’t wait to watch anyway.
3. Crosby is in the east, OV is in the east, Stamkos is in the east.  Why not have him in the West?
4. The team is young, and potential remains through the ceiling…  I keep reading how McDavid’s career is going to be ruined now that he’s an Oiler. Sure, some of the development of their young players has seemingly stalled, or is painfully slow. But… can someone please tell me, which Oiler has had their young career ruined?  Is it any of the three that are off playing for Team Canada right now?  If you watched any of the last 25 games, surely Yakupov is a new player with a real coach, and is on the right track.  So I sure wouldn’t say he’s been ruined… and what Ryan Murray doing anyways?  Can’t be Marincin… I mean wasn’t he playing at the Olympics not long ago? Klefbom?  Again… If you watched last 25 games.  The goalies? Ok…. You might have a case… but don’t believe any of their goalies really had much of a career prior to?   Give your head a shake if you’re the Munson saying his career is already ruined, or is going to be ruined because he’s an Oiler.  I can’t think of one player that the Oilers have completely ruined, so to say McDavid is next in line. You’re an idiot. Plain & Simple.
5. Monahan, Bennett, Gaudreau vs. McDavid, Nuge, Eberle… Come on!
6. Canada.  We always hope for these Canadian teams to get into playoffs, we were all so happy to see 5 of 7 get in… well, McDavid going to Buffalo, or Arizona certainly doesn’t help our odds.
7. They need him more.  I think the Sabres, and Yotes will still find their way and be competitive teams again.  I don’t know if the Oilers would have.  Now we have a bit of hope.  So if they don’t “deserve” him… they damn well need him.
8. As an Oiler fan… I truly believe this will shape the team up. I think his arrival is going to give a new sense of life to these players, it’s going to make them work a little bit harder. They are going to be better for it. Remember, great players make other players better. That’s the difference from a good player, and a great player.   To say, that guys like Hall, Yak are going to pissed off that McDavid is going to come in and steal their thunder. No. These guys are hockey players,  not selfish prima donna NBA players. I bet you the only people more excited than the rest of “Oiler Nation” … is the Oilers.
9. Finally, unless you are a psychologist… you can’t tell me how devastated, frustrated, or upset Connor was in his interviews knowing he was an Oiler.  The kids extremely mature, very well spoken and composed.  What were you expecting?  Him to jump around like a baboon? No.  His reaction I can assure you would have been no different if he was an Oiler, Sabre…etc.

So… Connor is an Oiler dumb luck. No need to hate on the 18 year old kid.   Wish him well, and hope the Oilers can get straight with his arrival.  Better for the game.

Get over it.

What Makes You Happy?

What Makes You Happy

 

I haven’t written in a long time, part of me felt like it was maybe because I’ve been doing better. I haven’t been feeling as depressed. My life had seemingly come together, even if just the slightest. I always told myself that when hockey ended, I was going to become an author, a literary wizard; I was going to write every day now that I had a bit more time. Well, hockey’s been over for about six weeks, and I am just starting to write at 10:56PM Easter Sunday.

Sure, I’ve been busy with things in the meantime, but if anyone knows me, busy, is not an excuse. If you want something bad enough, you’ll find the means to do it. Busy doesn’t exist in my world. It’s not because I don’t ever do anything, in fact, that’s probably quite the opposite. I probably have more going on than most folk. Actually, I could almost guarantee that. I just don’t feel the need to let everyone know how I preoccupied I am. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. It makes me sick when people say they are too busy.

Why? I remember years ago, my sister tried to chat with me through Facebook, through simple Internet chat… and, I recall looking at the messages, the message read something along the lines of hey, call me when you got some time, want to know how college is going. I looked at it, thought, meh; I’ll call her later… I am busy. I never called her. And, I don’t know if I ever talked to her again. She committed suicide a couple of months after, and I’ve never been too busy since.   So when people tell me, they are too busy. It doesn’t sit well. At all.

So, to say that I haven’t been writing, because I have been doing well, or because I have been doing poorly… I don’t even know the answer. Sometimes life has a tendency to just happen, and just leave me trapped in the motions that I just can’t comprehend the appropriate emotions, and feelings.

I know that writing provides me with the single most joyous experiences of my life. So, you would think it’s easier to do so. But… for some reason, it’s been getting more difficult, and for the first time, I feel like my writing is actually good. In the past, all I did was write about how I felt. That’s it. There was no scientific method to it; there was no English specialty behind it. Simply, just how I felt. I have such a difficult time re-reading my pieces, for a variety of reasons… mainly because I feel such a huge disconnect with the person who wrote that very piece, but also because… I think it’s shit. I looked earlier, and I have posted 47 entries to GAB. This being 48. I can honestly say that 1 was of quality, Your Move Chief. So, as much gratification as writing brings me… I don’t know if it’s from the actual writing, or the feedback. As pathetic as this may be, I seek so much approval, and accreditation, from… whomever, predominantly from my mom, and from my fiancé…. It’s pathetic, if I don’t hear anything within a day or so, I am texting those two asking what they thought… It drives me crazy that I do this. But… I do. And, I can probably recap every single compliment, or piece of positive feedback I have received from my blog. There is truly nothing, and I mean NOTHING more gratifying than when I hear about people who have read my blog, and find comfort from reading. Whether, I know them or not. I spend so much time wanting to write, then I spend such little time actually writing, and I conclude with spending even more time looking for approval on my writing. From, my family… my fiancé… my best friends… my friends… strangers… When, I receive this, it’s pure happiness. Joy. Elation. You know that feeling where you just can’t wipe that smile off your face. This is the only time I’ll feel it. So you’d think I’d write more, with this being the case. But, truth is… I think I have become a bit scared. My unrelenting life standards have once again trapped me with failure. Where, I need simple accolades. However, that’s slowed down significantly. I don’t know if it’s because my writing has gotten stale, or the content has. Or maybe, I am just without the random viewers from Europe. Or, perhaps, the people who have already graciously patted my back don’t feel like they need to tell me good job every single fucking time. Though they shouldn’t. However, I feel like, unless I get that… I am failing. I want to know what every single person thinks of my writing, even if they think it’s complete crap. I just want to know… because; I think it is too, I can’t even find myself appreciative, and satisfied with my own work.

So, in getting to the point of this entry… the great folks at Mind Your Mind proposed the question, what makes you happy? I thought about it for a long, long time. There are so many things that I enjoy, so many. But, to label them as something that makes me completely happy would likely be false. I think at any point, doing makes me happy. Regardless, of what it is that I am doing. I think sometimes you can find temporary joy in that, and I do. But, I tried to really think of something that makes me truly happy. True joy. I almost couldn’t think of anything, till I thought about writing, then I thought about all of the positive feedback I have received over the two years, and the people I have been able to help, if even just to help them temporarily. This has brought me pure joy, and continues to do so. It’s the only thing that allows me to feel self-pride, and self worth. Regardless, of the success I have at work, or in coaching sports, or my daily life even. I always seem to be stuck wanting more, and eventually get a place where good just isn’t good enough. But, with writing, that’s different. Even, if I receive two notes about my latest post, to me it was a success, and it provides that feeling. That feeling where I can’t stop but smiling, even if it’s a random stranger at an arena that says, “hey, you’re the guy that writes that mental health blog” … Yes, I guess so. These are the things that keep me ticking, and continue to remind me just what it is to feel joy, and to feel good.

You just hope that somehow you can find a way to enjoy, accept and appreciate your own bravery and work. Sometimes there is just far too much pressure on writing purely for the audience, and hoping to help them find joy, and hope. I need to find my own first.

Rest easy, and rest happily Max. I hope you can still find some time to read my blog, and I hope that you’ve found true joy.   I know you and Jen are hanging out as we speak. Listening to music, watching over us, and laughing at us.

B