Chin Up, Soldier.

Listen up people, I know it sucks to watch your team lose. Last nights loss to the Wild and tonights loss to the Flames were very hard to swallow. However, it's important that we maintain our perspective through these tough times. First, we played very well vs the Wild. The only difference between a win and a loss was they capitalized on their opportunities and we didn't; it's as simple as that. Second, despite the fact that it was on the road in a tough building, tonights game in Calgary was certainly our best performance in a back to back game this year. You could tell the boys didn't quite have their feet under them in the first, yet they still managed to stay competitive.

I am confident that if we continue to play at this level for the remainder of the season, we will not only make the playoffs, but challenge for the division. At game 45, our top 3 lines are now just starting to find some chemistry. Moreover, for the last few games we have remained competitive despite having 4 rookie defensemen in our line up. There was a point in the season, somewhere around the loss to the Ducks in Edmonton, that the team was really struggling. At the time I was starting to think that we were going to have a real hard time being competitive this year. However, what I've seen on the ice since the Florida game leaves me far more optimistic.

So, keep your chins up fellow Oiler fans. Tough times may be upon us, but no one knows it better than those guys in the dressing room. They played hard the last two nights, and I think they deserved to win at least one of the games. It's unfortunate that things didn't work out that way, but it's important that we not lose our perspective. The team is playing well right now; and if they continue to do so, the points won't be far behind.