I see this Edmonton Oilers/Ty Conklin situation going one of two ways: Either the Oilers are going to rally and win the Stanley Cup, and Conklin will be a hero with a statue going up next to the Great One’s in front of Rexall Place . . . or he’s going to be the reason the Oilers lose.
I really don’t see a third way, in which Edmonton doesn’t win the Cup and Conklin somehow isn’t blamed.
No matter how well Conklin plays the rest of the way, if the Oilers don’t win, the natural reaction from Edmonton fans will be, “If only Roloson wasn’t hurt, he would have made that save or won that game.”
When the season began, Conklin was the starter. That went so well the Oilers had to go get Dwayne Roloson at the trade deadline or they might not have even made the playoffs.
After Roloson arrived, Conklin played one game the rest of the season and not one second in the playoffs until coming into a tie game with five minutes left Monday night.
If Conklin can pull off what he is being asked to do by the Oilers, it will rank as one of the greatest playoff feats in NHL history.
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ON THE NET
– Read more from Bob Foltman at www.chicagosports.com/nhl
