from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun,
In the bookend interview to start the season, Holland told your correspondent it was “Elite Eight or bust.”
It was not Elite Eight.
But it definitely wasn’t bust.
After a 5-2 loss Sunday afternoon in Columbus, the Elite Eight is now a mathematical impossibility. The Oilers sit 13th overall — basically where they ended up the last two seasons.
But Holland says he wants everybody involved to realize and recognize what they’ve become heading into the playoffs is everything he hoped they’d be.
“Our goal was to be a top-eight team in the regular season because in the 16 seasons since the salary cap was implemented, 12 of the Stanley Cup-winning teams came out of those top eight teams.”
Top eight can wait for next year and the rest of the seasons Holland believes can be the Roaring Twenties for this franchise going forward, if this team can achieve playoff success.
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