Like sands through the hourglass, Steve Tambellini did an interview with a friendly face as soon as the grumbling from even the most ardent of Oilers fans has given up. For someone looking for a sign of hope, the most interesting passage has to be his take on the Oilers goaltending:
"The first month and a half of this season showed our capabilities. It wasn’t an illusion, not to me. If you look at our team when our defence is healthy and our goaltending is the way it was then, that’s the type of hockey I think we can play."
Through the first 45 days of the season, the Oilers even strength save percentage was .932. Steve Tambellini thinks the type of hockey Nikolai Khabibulin and Devan Dubnyk can play is equivalent to the sixth-best goaltending in the NHL.
Rather than a deep understanding of percentages, luck and goaltending talent, the General Manager believes that Nikolai Khabibulin should be playing at a level he's not seen in 12 years. There remains a real problem in the front office in Edmonton.