Could the media coverage be any more over the top leading up to Ryan Smyth's return to Edmonton?
Everywhere you turn, someone is pointing out the obvious.
Hey, newsflash: Rexall Place is going to be an emotional cauldron when #94 steps onto the ice for the first time wearing — gasp — Colorado Avalanche duds. Pass out the hankies and wait for the flood of tears.
Grown men will weep and children will shriek as if Santa's sleigh was t-boned by a 767 at 30,000 feet. Or so one would think based on the media overkill.
Gag. Talk about hyperbolic.
Now, I know what Smyth meant to the fine denizens of the Alberta capital, but, unless I've lost two decades somewhere, this isn't 1988. Wayne Gretzky isn't gearing up in the visitor's dressing room.
I'll admit the city of Edmonton and Ryan Smyth had a special tryst going on. So, on that note, maybe it's time for the faithful out west to get a little proactive.
Hear me out, Edmonton.
Instead of weeping like a bunch of schoolgirls tonight, throw away the tissues and let's see a little venom directed at the guy who shipped Smyth out of oil country. Never mind being passive. Call for blood. Cause change.
You won't have to look far.
His name is Kevin Lowe. This evening, in a private box in the upper reaches of Rexall, he'll be the guy avoiding eye contact with pretty well everyone.
Forget the crocodile tears. It's a hockey game. Nothing more.
But if you're incensed, kick 'em where it hurts, Edmonton.
Express yourself. Let Lowe know he spit in the faces of Oiler fans everywhere when he shipped Smyth off to Long Island last spring. Run him out of Alberta.
This wasn't Chris Pronger. We're talking Mr. Freakin' Oiler himself, one of the few players who actually wanted to stay in town long term but ended up being jilted by Lowe.
He's gone because Kevin Lowe played hardball with a guy who wanted to remain an Oiler.
You have your platform.
So let Lowe have it tonight, Edmonton.