EDMONTON

Just when you think the bar can’t get any lower in Edmonton … it gets lower.

Some Oilers fans are now actually cheering for losses.

A city that once followed Mark Messier’s lead is now giggling about finishing last and weaseling into a better draft lottery position.

Seriously, Dishonour for Connor isn’t funny. It’s embarrassing.

That’s not what sports is about, it’s not what Edmonton is about.

This is a sporting culture built on dynasties and a commitment to excellence, from the Edmonton Grads to the Royal Glenora figure skaters to the U of A Golden Bears to the Oilers and Eskimos.

Edmonton sports fans insist that their teams compete hard and win, that they be the gold standards in their leagues, the team other teams aspire to be on and off the field.

And now a segment of the fan base is actually cheering for the Oilers to lose, celebrating roster moves that might ensure a 30th place finish in the misguided hope that Rebuild III, centered around Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, will somehow undo a decade’s worth of bad management, poor scouting and losing culture?

Wow. Have the Oilers really sucked that much life, that much heart, that much fighting spirit out of this city?

We’re reduced to begging that players be handed to us like food stamps so we don’t have to address the real problems plaguing this franchise?

Again … wow.

Ask the NHL what it thinks about this. The league finds it so distasteful it changed the lottery rules, TWICE, to prevent teams (Edmonton) from using draft-day welfare as the cornerstone of their franchise.

Think Montreal Canadiens fans would ever cheer for the Habs to lose? Think they’d be content with a season and a future based on nothing more than, as Brian Burke once described it, “winning a God damn lottery?”

Nope. They don’t have to. They’ve had two picks inside the top 10 (third and fifth) in the last 13 years, yet they’re the best franchise in Canada.

Which brings us to the second and more important element of the argument: Connor McDavid won’t fix anything here.

So called “generational players” alone are a very small part of a championship equation.

We’ve seen this formula before: Generational player + losing culture + weak management = Washington Capitals.

The Caps tanked it, drafted Alex Ovechkin and expected a turnaround to just happen, without addressing scouting or management issues. They’ve never made it past the second round.

Tampa drafted a generational goal scorer in Steven Stamkos SIX YEARS ago. They’ve missed the playoffs four times and been out in the first out in round in another.

Pittsburgh, the ultimate best-case scenario? With two first overalls and two second overalls in a four-year span — with Sidney Crosby AND Evgeni Malkin — they won ONE Stanley Cup and have only made it past the second round once in the last five years.

Great teams win championships, not great players.

The L.A. Kings haven’t picked first overall since 1967, and during their down time only picked as high as 2nd, 4th and 5th. But they addressed fundamental issues within their organization and now they’re loaded with big, strong, skilled, disciplined players they drafted in later rounds and developed themselves.

Chicago Blackhawks? They did it with ONE first overall pick. Patrick Kane. But by the time he got there they had already drafted Duncan Keith (54th), Adam Burish (282), Brent Seabrook (14), Corey Crawford (52), Dustin Byfuglien (245), Troy Brouwer (214), Bryan Bickell (41), Dave Bolland (32), Nik Hjalmarsson (108) and Jonathan Toews (3). Andrew Shaw (139) and Brandon Saad (43) came shortly after.

The Detroit Red Wings know a thing or two about winning and they’ve only had two picks inside the top 20 (15th and 19th) in the last 15 years.

The Oilers? They have Jeff Petry and fringe player Anton Lander to show for 10 years of drafting after the first round.

Two guys. In 10 years.

Connor McDavid can’t fix that.

It’s more important that the Oilers address the scouting and management shortcomings that have crippled the franchise for nearly a decade. It’s more important that under Todd Nelson they start competing harder and playing the game the right way, doing whatever it takes to win, not whatever it takes to lose.

Because losing is a habit that is almost impossible to break.

And cheering for losses is shameful.

If first overall happens, it happens. And a first or second pick is obviously better than third or fourth. But it won’t fix the Oilers problems.

If you want a winner, then demand of the Edmonton Oilers the elements necessary to build one, because fans in this city should be holding ownership and management to a higher standard, not a lower one.

Follow me on Twitter.com/sun_tychkowski

robert.tychkowski@sunmedia.ca​