What Is the Oilers Insider?

Happy Sunday. After a day filled with 18 holes of below average golf (my score of course being the below average part), a few adult beverages with some close friends and the build up of an eagerly awaited season premier of "Entourage", today was a good day.

In my attempt to relax and wind down, I had the chance to go through some reader feedback. Thanks to some time on the web and folks like Wayne Gretz at Oilers Nation (kudos), what we write on the Oilers Insider has not only started to find readers, but strike a nerve (both good and bad) with our small, but hopefully growing audience. Our hope, is to continue to write both interesting and unique pieces, adding even more readership and as a result, envoking even more response, good or bad. After all, we love talking about the Oilers.

With that in mind, one reader got me thinking. Because of this one ... well let's say "insightful" (note the sarcasm) comment, I realized that we've yet to explain to the readers what the Oilers Insider site is all about. At first, I found it a waste of time to even acknowlegde the response, but then I got to thinking...maybe I can see where he/she is coming from. We've not introduced ourselves, nor given any indication as to what we hope to accomplish with our articles, or even more why we call it the Oilers Insider.

I suppose the name itself is a tad misleading. Sure we research like crazy and have a couple of sources in interesting positions that can supply us with news about the Edmonton Oilers that the average fan might not be privy to, but those "scoops" will be only a part of this site. Our ability to write would in fact be quite limited if we chose to restrict ourselves to only "the scoops" that this reader was hoping to find when he/she starting reading the Oilers Insider for the first time.

Instead, we'd like to examine our team and yours, the Edmonton Oilers from the "inside" out. With articles and blogs focused on stats, player motivation, education, 29 other teams and their relation to both the Oilers and the NHL, perhaps we can give readers a unique perpective from a couple of educators and writers, who see hockey and the Oilers as more than just "scoops". The "scoops" are good, but we hope so is a little humour, questioning and thought provoking ideas, that get us to think outside the box.

Our "Waiting for the leftovers" series is a perfect example. Does it "scoop" the other many blog sites out there? No. But that was not the intention. What we set out to do, was take a view of those teams in cap trouble and how maybe; just maybe, the Oilers can take advantage of some situations that lend themselves as options. In some cases, a hidden gem or two (like Edmonton's interest in two forwards from The Flyers) stands out, but more so that these options exist when as fans many become frustrated at the Oilers lack of change in the days after free agency.

Whether you agree or not, we hope you keep reading and we encourage all feedback that adds value or gives us something to think about. What some find obvious, others do not. What some find boring, others find interesting; and comments, should they add to the conversation, we'd love to see. After all, isn't that the point? Information, speculation and conversation about a team we all want to talk about -- the Edmonton Oilers?

So let's put up a poll. What do you find the most interesting? Vote away.