GENE'S BLOG: Playoff Position

Every time I hear the word playoffs, I can't help but think of Jim Mora. It was November of 2001 and Mora was the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, who'd just lost to the San Francisco 49ers by a 40-21 score. Peyton Manning threw four interceptions and Indianapolis' record dropped to 4-6.

Post-game, Mora was asked whether he felt his team would have to win out the season and finish 10-6 to make the playoffs. His response went viral before there ever was such a thing:

"Don't talk about—playoffs?! You kidding me? Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!"

Well, the coach wasn't far off from being right with his rant. The Colts won two more games to finish 6-10 and yes, they missed the playoffs.

The Edmonton Oilers expect 'Mora' of themselves, so after Zach Hyman recorded his third hat-trick of the season and Evan Bouchard had a hat-trick of assists on Saturday night, the team is now in a playoff spot – a goal they had in mind from the moment they arrived in Edmonton for Training Camp.

Here we are, almost three months later, and the Oilers can say they'll be in a playoff spot going into their game Tuesday night in Chicago. It's not the end of their playoff path, but it's still been a long road to get to this point. Points are what they have – 41 of which have them deadlocked with St. Louis and Seattle, but Edmonton has two games in hand on the Blues and three on the Kraken as they and others battle it out for the second wildcard spot.

When Edmonton made a coaching change after a 3-9-1 start to the season, one of the things Ken Holland said at the time was they "couldn't afford to wait any longer". If they had gone another week or two with the same results, it might be too late. He was right.

It may not have sounded that way on November 12, but fast forward 23 games and it all makes sense. The Oilers have just now made it into a playoff position, but to get there, they had to rip off an eight-game winning streak and what currently is a seven-game winning streak. Overall, they have put together a 17-6 record to sit at 20-15-1. That is an amazing run.

However, imagine if they were 14-9 – still a strong run. They would be six points out of a playoff spot and languishing 14th in the West and 27th overall in the NHL. Instead, they sit 20th and are climbing.

I never fully understood what the Oilers GM meant at the time they hired Kris Knoblauch, but I do now. The work is far from done, but the toughness of the task has lightened just a little thanks to what Edmonton has been able to do on the ice.

Saturday morning before the game against Ottawa, Connor McDavid was asked if he could understand what Ottawa was going through. They were struggling and they also made a coaching change. The captain was clear on his method of thinking. Of course, he understood because he felt his club was still trying to get out of what they were in despite what Edmonton continued doing with a 3-1 win on Saturday night. The hole might've been deeper than anyone outside the locker room had imagined.

Monday is a travel day for the team. They have also travelled up the standings. The journey isn't over. It continues with a three-game road trip and much 'Mora' fun to come in the chase for the playoffs.

And yes, I'm talking about playoffs.