The Best And Worst Of 2012-13

Over the course of the past month, we've taken nominations for the best and worst of 2012-13 and other Oilers-related questions. Your nominations and answers have turned into fan-driven surveys and those surveys yielded some obvious results and a few surprises.

We kicked it off with a question about Edmonton's version of Don Waddell:

Which single move move, whether it be trade, signing, waiver claim, waiver move or call-up or assignment was Steve Tambellini's worst during his five seasons as General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers?

"Dithering" led the way with 26% of the vote, followed by "Losing Sheldon Souray" with a stunning silver medal at 22% and "The Nikolai Khabibulin contract" at 19%, the only other entry in double digits was "His lack of due diligence" at 10%".

The Souray response is fascinating. Considering how negatively the core fans reacted to Souray and how they stood by Tambellini through sending him down, loaning him to Hershey and eventually buying him out, it's a shock to see Souray that high on the list. Of course, Souray's subsequent success in Dallas and Anaheim might have something to do with the results.

As for the winning response, Tambellini's gone and rather than flog a dead horse, I'd like to remind everyone that the key takeaway from the Tambellini reign is how vocally and vehemently the sports writers around the Oilers supported everything Tambellini did. They vociferously defended his moves for 4 years before they finally saw the writing on the wall.

Because there were no expectations for competence from Tambellini, he was ineligible for the following question:

Which Edmonton Oiler disappointed you the most during the 2012-13 season?

Kevin Lowe led the way with 26%, but hot on his heels was Ralph "put the 4th line out for a defensive zone faceoff after a commercial break" Krueger at 24% and " Bob Stauffer and all the other paid Edmonton Oilers s[c]hills" at 17%. In a bit of a surprise, Daryl "I only show up when there is a draft podium near" Katz garnered 13% of the vote.

When 80% of the respondents go after management and the writers who carry their water, there's been a change in the fanbase and complete incompetence is no longer tolerated.

Now that we've taken care of the ugly, on to the good stuff.

We asked who is the Oilers' biggest Cult Hero?

I thought for sure Rem Murray would win this one, and Murray jumped out to an enormous lead in the voting, only to finish 2nd at 21%. He was chased down by Igor Ulanov at 27%. Reijo Ruotsalainen grabbed the bronze at a distant 13%.

Which Edmonton Oiler surprised you the most during the 2012-13 season?

The biggest surprise involved the closest vote of any of our surveys. Nail Yakupov won with 24% of the vote, narrowly edging out Justin Schultz at 23%. But Taylor Hall at 18% and Sam Gagner at 15% were not far behind.

What was your highlight from the 2012-13 season?

This one was never in doubt:

Nail Yakupov's celebration after beating the Los Angeles Kings in overtime ran away with the vote at 36%. The only other double-digit vote was Edmonton's 8-2 win over Calgary.

Yakupov highlights accounted for 4 of the 10 nominations and 54% of the total vote.

Not including Ryan Whitney, what were the worst things about the Oilers in 2012-13? Steve Tambellini and Ralph Krueger. What was the best thing about the Oilers in 2012-13? Nail Yakupov. The 2013-14 Oilers jettisoned the former and expect to see plenty of the latter.

YakCity - everybody's gonna leave their seat.