Something is rotten in the State of Confusion

The bloodletting in OilerLand this week has been a fascinating study in how NOT to handle things.

I will say that the hockey team is entitled to make any changes to their personel, at any time, provided they feel it will make them a stronger franchise. I'm with that. But I have a major issue with how they've executed their executions.

Kevin Prendergast, Ken Lowe, Barrie Stafford and Sparky have been Oiler employees for well over 20 years. That should count for something. In fact, Barrie Stafford is more decorated than any other Oiler... including Gretz, Mess, Lowe etc. He's won Stanley Cups, World Hockey Championships, Olympic appearances plus Gold Medal, CIAU/CIS titles etc. Anyway, all of these gentlemen deserve thanks and a gold watch on the way out the door for my money. Especially considering all the extra hours they put in after the rich guys have left for the night.

What I don't get is why the club has been so slow to release the information to the masses. The Trainer/Equipment dismissals appear to have happened a few days ago, and yet, here we are late Friday night, more than 24 hours later and the team has said DICK. Even the Prendergast dismissal was botched up and only a hurried release went out once the Journal got a sniff of the story. However, if the team is announcing a season ticket campaign, they're very quick with the releases. Are they just hoping that the paying public and media isn't paying close attention to a 30th place club? In Edmonton- ain't gonna happen.

All of these guys deserved better treatment and it saddens me to see that their departure has been so poorly handled on the PR side. For guys who've bled the Copper/Orange/Blue and Gold for over 20+ years it's extremely disappointing and almost criminal in nature.

Does nobody give a damn about long term employees any more?