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Hello and welcome to Oilumni, a blog about past, present and future Edmonton Oilers, and other items of interest related to the world of hockey. I hope you find these musings -- sometimes grave, sometimes irreverent -- interesting and I look forward to getting your comments.

The Worst Nightmare...

I'm a firm believer in the old maxim "Once an Oiler, always an Oiler", although I will admit there are times when that approach is put more to the test than others (as will be seen in the moment).

Like most Edmonton fans, when the hometown squad is out of the running my attention shifts to cheering for former Oilers in hopes that they'll get their names engraved on the Cup. And the NHL's Final Four in 2007 gives us a great cross-section of ex-Oilers for which to cheer. From Anaheim there's speedy Todd Marchant, a good company man for a decade in the City of Champions. From Detroit you've got Kirk Maltby (a previous Cup winner, but you can never have your name on the Cup too many times) and Daniel Cleary. From Buffalo there's a hat-trick: Jochen Hecht, Ty Conklin and Jaroslav Spacek. And Ottawa offers Dean McAmmond and former coach John Muckler. Solid citizens all.

So what's the problem? The possibility of an Ottawa / Anaheim Stanley Cup Final, that's what. Oh, the quality of the competition would be superb, and having visited both cities numerous times I can attest to the wonderful virtues of each community, although it's a close call as to which city has the greater spectacle: Disneyland or Parliament? But how could an Oilers fan pick a side to cheer for when Ottawa's line-up features Mike Comrie (Public Enemy Number 2) and Anaheim's roster includes Chris Pronger (Public Enemy Number 1)? It's like choosing between murder and suicide...

One can only hope that Anaheim continues to self destruct against the Red Wings, or that Buffalo pulls off the miracle in the next three games, and I'm spared making this Hobson's Choice.