Now that the Edmonton Oilers have won the NHL draft lottery for the fourth time in six years, it’s time for this club to get serious about winning once and for all.

There are many fans who are excited about the Oilers winning the pick in Saturday’s lottery, but there are many more who are not happy with the front office who was awarded it. Those fans are fearful that they’ll let another young prospect’s career go to waste as they’ve felt with their prior top picks in Nail Yakupov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins,and Taylor Hall.

The Oilers have the chance to draft Connor McDavid, considered to be the best prospect in hockey since Sidney Crosby, and if they do, they need to build a more successful product on the ice. This team has not made the playoffs in nearly a decade, much of that is attributed to a lack of quality free agents coming to town, bad coaching decisions, frequent turnover in the coaching position, and a front office who has not cared much if the team wins any games because the team sells out games whether fans show up or not.

If this team has any obligation to anyone, it’s McDavid to make sure that he has a fighting chance to have a good career in an Oiler uniform. I’m sure the fans,who have been long suffering for far too long,would appreciate that.

It seems to me that Joe Thornton wants out of San Jose, unless of course coach Todd McLellan or general manager Doug Wilson get fired in the near future.

In a locker room clean-out session on Wednesday, Thornton went out of his way to voice his displeasure with McLellan.

“I have no idea,” Thornton said when asked if a coaching change was needed. “Todd has to talk to his family. Maybe he should talk to this family as well in here. We’ll see what happens.”

It’s unknown whether McLellan will be brought back for his eighth season with the team next year,neither he or the Sharks have specified.

Thornton is not afraid to be critical of his employer, last month he was critical of Wilson after Wilson had explained to fans why he was stripped of his captaincy.

Thornton responded, “I think Doug just needs to shut his mouth.”

It seems to me that unless changes are made with the coach and general manager as well as the culture in San Jose, Thornton is probably going to want out of there. While I understand his frustration, it doesn’t make sense to me to bite the hand that feeds you. It never ends well for anybody and makes you look bad. I get it, the Sharks should be contending for a Stanley Cup with the loads of talent on their roster, but to be vicious with your comments like that won’t win you much pity.

If you’re wondering why I will never again in my life wear a jersey to a visiting team’s stadium, this incident is further proof.

Katie Kerrick, a 19-year old Ottawa Senators fan now living in Montreal and her 23-year old sister Annie attended the Game 2 of the series between her Senators and the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Both sisters wore their jerseys to the game and were harassed as usual, but something else happened.

A man who was at least 10 years older than her hit the two sisters with a towel, threw beer on them and called them derogatory names. The man even went as far as to follow the two out while they went to used the bathrooms and hit them with a towel. She asked the man the stop and then he had this to say:

“And he said, ‘Fucking whore’ and continued to do it,” said Kerrick.

When they attempted to get a Bell Centre attendant to make them stop the abuse, they told her “So what do you want me to do, give them a mean look?”

After the Canadiens scored the game winning goal, the man who hit them with his towel decided to rub the victory in the girls’ faces.

“His first action of celebration was to lean over his two friends, who also leaned back so he could do this, and throw his beer onto us — and it was a pretty full can. I was pretty soaked and so was my sister,” Kerrick told CBC News

Kerrick went on to say that several others witnessed the events that took place and nobody came to their aid.

That kind of thing right there pisses me off and is why going to a game, whether you’re cheering for the home team or the road team, is becoming less and less worth it. I’ve been that abused visiting fan before and it was not fun,it was humiliating,it was a nightmare,and it was dangerous. So dangerous that seven years later I have yet to be a visiting team’s fan at any stadium,and I don’t think this will change anytime soon.

I’m very sorry these two ladies were not able to enjoy a great playoff game in a safe environment, but I’m sure they’ll get to soon. The Ottawa Senators heard of their bad experience in Montreal and will be special guests of owner Eugene Melnyk in his private suite at Game 3. 

The Canadiens have contacted Kerrick sending her their apologies and are looking into the situation. I,for one,hope they find the people responsible for this incident and are charged with assault. After all,that’s exactly what Katie and Annie Kerrick experienced that night.