from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

One life to live just became no life to live for the Edmonton Oilers.

The 12th-seed Chicago Blackhawks burst the hub city home team’s bubble Friday, kicking the malfunctioning Oilers to the Stanley Cup tournament curb with a 3-2 win in Game 4, and really, the Oilers didn’t even get to the playoffs which is 16 teams on any other year. Not 24 teams.

The Oilers didn’t even last a week; there was no hubba, hubba headline because their overall game was nowhere near as pretty as it looked for much of regular-season.

More commotion than emotion, never a good thing in the playoffs.

Oiler defenceman Darnell Nurse said the Oilers never got the intensity level up to where it was, say, against Calgary in the tournament tune-up. Their battle-level was in and out against a Chicago team that has a toolbox full of skill but isn’t big and doesn’t play tough, but has Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brandon Saad, who know how to win.

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