"A Gun Or A Good Poem?"

Edmontonoilers.com snagged an interview with Tyler Seguin at the 2010 NHL Combine the other day and picked his brain about the Combine and his experiences heading into the Entry Draft (video here). It's all pretty much boilerplate until Seguin gives a bit of insight on the interview process. Commenting on the types of questions he's received, he said the one that stood out the most was "What do you like better: a gun or a good poem?"

This is a question the Org could very well be asking themselves.

With Draft Day a scant 24 days away, the higher-ups are inspecting every minute detail about Hall and Seguin. But the big picture remains the same... A gun or a poem? The Brawn or the Brains? A natural goalscorer or a playmaker who can check? A flashy winger or a two-way centerman? Hall or Seguin? HALL OR SEGUIN?!

While Ales "Starscream" Hemsky has long been looking for a gun on the wing, will Taylor "Megatron" Hall be the right fit? How durable is he? Nothing's worse than a gun jamming on you when you're in a pinch, but if it's firing well, you can do some major damage.

A good poem is a thing of beauty: intelligent, thoughtful, subtle-- these are among the qualities of the greatest pieces to have been scribed onto a blank sheet. Good poems touch us at the deepest level, but we might not understand them until years after our first reading. But they can also be trite, silly, contrived-- a total waste of poesy and inspirado. Is Seguin a sonnet or a corny limerick? If the Gun comes into the league a-blaze, will a masterpiece in 5 years be worth passing on Hall?

According to Seguin: "Well I think guns are destructive, so I guess-- I'm not very poetic-- but I'd say a good poem over that." Of course, Tyler is trying to give the "right" answer, but he's touching closer to home than he thinks. This looming decision, balancing on the hairbreadth of a razor's edge, will decide the future and direction of the Org and will be the fulcrum of any Oilers discussion for the forseeable future. At least until we see the kids on the ice.

So, Stu, the Gun or the Poem?