Teams stick together. Apparently no one told that to the Edmonton Oilers. During Ryan Smyth’s emotional retirement announcement, only a few Oilers actually attended. The rest of the team was mysteriously missing.
https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/454731920287354880
https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/454732772788039680
It’s nice to see some of the talented youngsters were in attendance, but where was everyone else? Why wouldn’t you support your teammate? Where’s the respect for an NHL veteran?
Edmonton clearly didn’t make attendance mandatory, but they shouldn’t have to in order to get Smyth’s teammates to show. Smyth has skated in the NHL for 19 seasons and his current teammates don’t have the respect to show up to his retirement presser. It’s embarrassing not only for the players who weren’t in attendance, but also for the organization as a whole.
The whole situation speaks volumes of what’s been plaguing the Oilers for quite some time. If a team has a special bond and respect for one another, they’re going to play better than one that simply tolerates each other out on the ice. That’s not to say there’s tension in the Edmonton dressing room, but it does cause fans to raise an eyebrow when Smyth’s conference had such a poor display of team support.
You could write page after page about the troubling mentality in Edmonton and how the organization will continue to struggle until they can find a way to change it, but the display at Smyth’s announcement sums up things nicely.
