Early in his NHL career, Wayne Gretzky appeared on the soap opera, The Young and the Restless. He played a mobster out of “The Edmonton Office.”

Gretzky was a big fan of soap operas and was thrilled when he was asked to be on the show. In the 1980s, being on a soap opera was a big deal. I’m not sure how popular daytime soap operas are anymore, but I remember Days of our Lives, Another World, General Hospital, All My Children and One Life to Live. I had a huge crush on Jennifer Horton on Days of our Lives, and I knew Nathan Fillion in high school. He played Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for best young actor in a drama series.

In my early 20s, I found myself watching Days of our Lives fairly regularly. It was comically cheesy, with more drama than you’d ever need, but when Marlena became possessed by a demon, I said goodbye to daytime soap operas. It was a fun run, but as I watch the Edmonton Oilers’ coaching search unfold, I can’t help but feel like this is a bad soap opera.

The Oilers’ season ended on April 30th when Anaheim defeated them 5-2 to win their first-round series in six games. The Oilers expected to play longer, but injuries to all four of their centres and an inability to kill off penalties cost them. Early in May, I wrote the main thing the organization should do is not overreact and panic. A week later, the coaching saga began, and it has had more unexpected twists and turns than a John Black, Marlena Evans love story. IYKYK.

May 12th: We find out the Oilers sought permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy about their head coaching job. Kris Knoblauch was still the Oilers head coach. Vegas blocks the Oilers from speaking to Knoblauch.

May 13th: An in-depth look at recent coaching hires/fires outlines how the Oilers decision to reach out to Cassidy, before firing Knoblauch was normal procedure in the off-season.

May 14th: Knoblauch is officially fired.

May 14th: Vegas eliminates Anaheim from the playoffs. John Tortorella doesn’t speak post-game and Vegas doesn’t open up their dressing room to the media.

May 15th: The NHL fines Tortorella........

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