Goalie Roloson's season spoiled

The Oilers' goalie suffered a season-ending injury in Monday's loss to Carolina.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Dwayne Roloson's last appearance in the Stanley Cup finals wasn't supposed to go like this.
Then again, nothing about the Edmonton Oilers' playoff run has really followed a plan.
The limp created by his injured right knee was evident as Roloson climbed the stairs to face what might have been the toughest interview of his eight NHL seasons. He took some sips from a water bottle, placed his elbows on the table and prepared to discuss how his improbable postseason run abruptly ended in a painful moment.
"Unfortunately for me it's the wrong time," the 36-year-old Roloson said Tuesday. "You can't really feel sorry for yourself."
The opening game of the finals was tied 4-4 Monday night when Roloson went down. Soon after, the Carolina Hurricanes took advantage of a mistake by replacement Ty Conklin and were celebrating an unlikely one-goal victory.
It coincided with the time Roloson found out his series was over. Until then, he had played every minute of Edmonton's 18 playoff games and was a big reason why the Oilers were the first No. 8 seed to get all the way to the championship round.
Collision
After he was bumped and banged through series wins over Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim, Roloson was done in by a collision caused by teammate Marc-Andre Bergeron.
Andrew Ladd raced toward the net, and Bergeron chased him from behind to cut off the path. Ladd was met with a hard hit that sent him crashing into Roloson, who got pinned against the post. The net came off its moorings but there wasn't enough give to protect Roloson.
"I don't know exactly what happened. I didn't watch the replay," Ladd said. "It looked like I didn't have my feet on the ground when I hit him."
The result to Roloson was a damaged knee ligament, a banged-up elbow, and a conclusion that had anything but a storybook feel.
"You can't blame Marc-Andre at all," Roloson said shortly after undergoing an MRI exam that revealed the same bad news he heard the night before. "He was playing his position and trying to do his job. It doesn't matter who it was, whether it was Chris Pronger or Jason Smith or any of those guys, it would've been the same thing.
"Just because it was Marc, guys are pointing fingers at him. It's not his fault whatsoever."
Sting still there
That did nothing to take away the sting.
The Oilers weren't expected to still be playing. Now it's hard to believe they can accomplish anything without him.
"That's the falsest statement that you can probably make," said Roloson, who managed to crack a smile as he wondered aloud whether falsest was a word. "I'm sure the guys are going to be rallying and doing whatever it takes to win hockey games. The spirit in our room hasn't changed."
In the Western Conference finals against Anaheim, the flu ran through the Oilers and forced some players out of the lineup. That didn't stop them -- but it looks trivial compared to losing Roloson. Edmonton will now have to rely on seldom-used backups Conklin and Jussi Markkanen to carry the team the rest of the way against the Hurricanes.
Those options weren't nearly good enough in March when the Oilers gave up a first-round draft choice and a conditional pick to the Wild to pry the former All-Star away. Roloson became expendable in Minnesota once the Wild gave goalie Manny Fernandez a three-year, $13 million contract.
No great market for him
There wasn't a great market for Roloson, who was 6-17 with a 3.00 goals-against average before the deal after posting two good seasons prior to the NHL lockout. He won eight more times as the Oilers sneaked into the final postseason spot in the West.
The playoffs became his time to shine.
He went 12-5 and cut his GAA down to 2.33. When he was helped off the ice with 5:54 left Monday, Roloson had logged 1,160 postseason minutes.
"We all feel bad for him," Conklin said. "He's been outstanding. It's really unfortunate. You'd love to see the guy finish what he started here in the playoffs. But that's not the situation anymore."
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