Tambellini's Firing Foretold - 1 Samuel 28:3-20

Now MacTavish was gone, and though Edmonton mourned his passing, they wanted nothing more than to bury his memory in a flood victories. For it was with MacTavish that Tambellini began to expel the Old Boys Club from the organization.

When his enemies prepared for an attack on Edmonton, Tambellini gathered his men - Quinn and Renney, Khabibulin and O'Sullivan - to defend the city. But when Tambellini saw the skill of his enemies, fear filled his heart. For three long years he cried out to Yahweh, but Yahweh would not answer him. Tambellini then went to his scouts and said, "Find me a member of the Old Boys Club, a man with no less than six Stanley Cup rings!"

His scouts replied, "A man fitting this description is having dinner at the largest home in Oil Country."

So Tambellini disguised himself (he had been instructed never to go near this place) and waited in the bushes for Lowe to emerge from the house.

When Lowe finally came out, Tambellini said, "I need to talk to the man I fired. Will you call Mac for me?"

"For the record," Lowe demanded defensively, "Craig stepped down four years ago. You didn't fire him. That said, the guy can't stand you. Why are you trying to get me in trouble?"

But Tambellini swore an oath saying, "As surely as God lives, nothing bad will happen to either you or Mac if you'll just call him for me!"

Just then, a knowing smirk came across Lowe's face, and he said, "Probably so, Tamby. Probably so."

"So call him! Bring him back!" Tambellini replied.

When Lowe called MacTavish, he said simply, "I want you back!"

"You made that call with great poise! How does he sound?" cried Tambellini as Lowe was trying to listen.

"He sounds like a god compared to what I'm used to."

"And how is his compete level?" Tambellini asked.

"He is an old man," Lowe chided, "practically on his death bed."

Tambellini grabbed the phone, but couldn't say anything because MacTavish was already speaking: "...get you for that. But seriously, why are you bothering me with this call? You went with the dithering fool, now you can deal with it."

"Look, Craig, we need your help," Tambellini leveled. "I'm in deep trouble here. Teams like the Islanders are doing better than us, and God isn't answering my prayers for deliverance. The fans are getting restless, and so I have called you so that you can tell me what to do."

Craig was astonished and said, "Why would you ask me for help if you know that Yahweh has become your enemy? It sounds like the God of the Oilers is acting just as he told me he would. He is tearing this team away from a post turtle in order to hand it over to a silver fox. I will journey with you over the next several months, but don't blame me when the team you build is inevitably terrible. Yahweh is going to hand you over to your enemies, and before the season is done, you will be gone."

Tambellini dropped the phone and looked up, paralyzed by fear, muttering, "BAM! Stanley Cup" for hours on end, waiting for the day when MacTavish's prophecy would be fulfilled.