There was always going to be a moment when reality caught up with the Edmonton Oilers. Two Stanley Cup Final appearances in two years built an institutional confidence, not just in the building, but around the league, that this was a team that knew how to find another gear when playoffs arrived.
When it mattered, they would show up.
And now they stand here, one day after getting eliminated in game 6 by the Anaheim Ducks, realizing that that's not how Stanley Cup winners operate.
"We were an average team all year," said Connor McDavid. "An average team with high expectations, you're going to be disappointed."
It's also just true, surprisingly honest coming from a player who spent the majority of the season discussing his team's unshakable belief in their ability to get the job done, and also the conclusion most people watching this season had already landed on.
The Oilers spent the better part of the year unable to win three games in a row. They were inconsistent and propped up almost entirely by the belief that none of it would matter once the bracket was set, because they were the Edmonton Oilers, and the Edmonton Oilers would find a way.
The Colorado Avalanche beat them 9-1 at home earlier this season. That's what an above-average team looks like. This wasn't that, and somewhere deep down everyone knew it.
"That's a real hockey team over there," added Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Ducks. "They have some good players. But at the end of the day, we've got to find ways to keep the puck out of our net. It's not just a couple of guys, it's everyone."
And here's more honesty that can only be revealed now that their season is over.
"It's a bit of a theme through the season."
Because it was. The turnovers, lack of effort, defensive breakdowns, the penalty kill that never quite found its footing, the stretches where the Oilers looked like they were waiting for something to happen rather than going out and making it happen, were never new. It was there all season, filed away under the assumption that playoff hockey would sort it out.
"They played very fast, and we weren't very fast," said McDavid. "We weren't very good on the penalty kill. Our power play didn't get off to a good start, but found its way into the series. But we struggled on the PK all year, too. We've been searching for consistency there, too."
To their credit, the Oilers were managing a great deal of injuries, likely from players fans assumed were perfectly healthy and definitely from players who came back before their time.
"We've got some guys with some fractures that were playing through things that made it really difficult to play at their best," explained head coach Kris Knoblauch. "But I certainly love their effort and how they dug in."
The Oilers did fight their way to game six, having played a strong and dominant game five, but a team can't spend eight months being average, point to what they did in previous springs, and expect the playoffs to smooth over all of it.
Two Finals appearances are remarkable, and nobody is discounting that. It's just not a permanent line of credit. It doesn't carry over to the next year and the year after that or the year after that.
The Ducks were faster, more consistent, and frankly hungrier across six games than the Oilers managed to be for most of the regular season. It's uncomfortable to sit with, not that they lost, but that the loss made complete sense.
Maybe this is what was needed to happen. Maybe this roster needed a hard stop rather than another deep run that let everyone feel okay about the cracks underneath. The Oilers still have two more years with McDavid, but the old formula of showing up and letting the talent handle it clearly isn't enough anymore.
Average teams with high expectations get disappointed eventually.
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