The Edmonton Oilers fired Jay Woodcroft yesterday. A season that has swayed between troubling and virulent added a healthy dose of desperation with the addition of coach Kris Knoblauch. If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup next spring, surely this move will be the genesis of a turnaround. I suspect the real issue wasn’t the coach, but rather bad luck, goaltender regression and injury. What a truly strange season.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: What Oilers management must reckon with in roster construction
- New DNB: Edmonton Oilers’ transition of power happening in real-time and the stakes couldn’t be higher
- Lowetide: Are the Oilers suddenly able to develop their own goalies?
- Lowetide: Do the Edmonton Oilers have enough value contracts this season?
- DNB: Edmonton Oilers’ crisis shifts to embarrassment after loss to the Sharks
- Lowetide: What if the Edmonton Oilers end up in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery?
- Lowetide: 6 ways the Edmonton Oilers can improve in November
- Lowetide: Oilers already leaning on a push from the AHL. Who could be next?
- Lowetide: Can Connor McDavid come from behind to win another Art Ross Trophy?
- Lowetide: Will Edmonton Oilers redeem themselves after baffling October?
- Lowetide: Can the Edmonton Oilers make room for Raphael Lavoie?
- DNB: Oilers rewarded for their season’s most complete game in Heritage Classic win
- Lowetide: Oilers top prospect Xavier Bourgault is spiking in an important area
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ injuries already a major story in 2023-24
- Lowetide: Can the Oilers count on any short-term help from AHL Bakersfield?
- Lowetide: Can defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer help the Oilers?
- DNB: Connor McDavid’s injury only adds to gloom for Oilers
- Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers’ third line showing promise but not scoring yet
- DNB: Oilers, in early-season disarray, left searching for answers: ‘It’s just unacceptable’
WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER
- At home to: DAL, NAS (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-2-0)
- On the road to: VAN, SJS, SEA (Expected 1-1-1) (Actual 1-2-0)
- At home to: NYI, SEA (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: TBY, FLA, CAR, WAS (Expected 1-3-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- At home to: ANA, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: WPG (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
- Actual November results: 1-4-0, 2 points in 5 games
- Oilers in 2023-24: 3-9-1, 7 points in 13 games
YEAR IN HELL, PARTS ONE AND TWO
I have always connected events (and people) to stories and songs. It’s a thing I picked up as a kid. For some time, I have believed that Daryl Katz is the fictional Krenim scientist Annorax come to life. Annorax built the ship to cause “temporal incursions” to be used to erase events from history to strengthen the Krenim Imperium. One of those incursions killed millions, including his wife. For 200 years, he obsessively tries to get the exact calculations in place in order to right a ghastly wrong. He resets. Over and over again.
Daryl Katz is a eruptive owner. He is the opposite of the Molson family of my youth. Katz is involved, too involved, and these events that produce media avails where the CEO and GM contradict each other are commonplace. The fan is left to wonder what might have been with the Molson model.
Jay Woodcroft is a fine coach. He was an innovative one and then drifted toward traditional. The roster problems, added to injury, have us here today. I don’t believe ripping Kris Knoblauch is especially productive, he seems a solid if inexperienced choice. I think Paul Coffey in the Dave Manson role is asking for chaos but we’ll see as time goes by.
I suspect this is a pivotal point in Oilers history and the script as written so far is fraught with danger. To watch the Daryl Katz era role out is to witness breaking a butterfly on a wheel over and over again. Where an experienced touch was required, the man brought a hammer.
Can Katz win a Stanley Cup? It’s possible. I think he has this year and next, and after that the butterflies will be free.
A REQUEST
My family is facing a tough couple of weeks and I need your help. I understand people get upset about things and arguments online happen often. This weekend, I was shocked at the level of verbal used on this blog. My wife Jo-Anne died Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022. The anniversary is 10 days from now.
I understand things can get heated here. I get it. However, I also think we have a community of caring people and sometimes things go too far. Cancer is a terrible thing, please respect those who have it and their loved ones. That should be a given, but it happened yesterday. I don’t think the individual who wrote it meant the post to be as upsetting as it was, but wanted to remind everyone that words can cut deep, not just the target but those who read it, too. Please take care. Thanks.
At noon today, we’ll go heavy on the Oilers talk, both the fallout from yesterday and the game tonight. Jason Gregor will join us and we are working on a guest who can fill us in on the new coach. The Oilers are never boring. That I will say. You can reach me in the comments section, @Lowetide on twitter, or text us 1.833.401.1440 directly.
Day late, dollar short
Absolutely brutal you had to write that last paragraph, LT, gutted to find out that the blog took a dark turn, way too far..
C’mon folks, if anything, this disaster season should be a wake up call, nothing is promised to anyone, and it’s just hockey, bad hockey, really bad hockey too much of the time.. Ease off the throttle, lads, time to invest in other interests, the hour glass sands for this era are diminishing quickly..
Check out Hitch’s Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech on youtube. First third is heavy on Edmonton content. Whole speech is good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6itky7D18kk
Coffey’s defense causing some silent seething.
I heard there was even some frothing & foaming
Too many frothy, foamy coffees will cause seething. It’s the caffeine and sugar.
Oilers ran a 28.5 xGF% at EV tonight.
Bend but not break.
I happened to be just looking at that, but it said 50.65%.They were sucking hind tit till the third period though.
edit: I was looking at 5v5. Just shows you how much a sample can be moved by the three minutes difference in the game states.
True yup, I stick with EV cause it gives you the largest sample size but it can be thrown a bit if you have a really lopsided 4v4. But that’s part of the story too.
I didn’t think they played a bad game, but they definitely sagged in the 2nd.
No harm no foul.
Oh LT, man after my heart with an obscure Voyager shout-out. Oh Lordy I love it.
i often need to remind myself that while this community is anonymous, the usuals here usually have a very healthy give and take that includes respect and measured disagreement that is usually only seen in-person (when you can look the other in the eye). That’s what keeps this blog in a special place in my heart. I hope it stays that way.
Pretty good game by Skinner tonight. There were points in the first 5 mins where things could have gone off the rails with missed assignments + weak goals. Tonight, the G made the stops. And here we are.
win streak!!!
Great game Oilers. Skinner and Leon played really well.
Jason Gregor
@JasonGregor
“They presented me with the game puck and then I went to leave and they told me to stay. They arranged a special moment with my wife on the video screen in the room after the win. It was nice to hear from her,” Knoblauch on his first win.
His wife and two teenage children will stay in Hartford this year. He mentioned it will be difficult not seeing them regularly.
So…goaltending!! Am I right?
4 GF.
And really solid play by everyone through the lineup. Solid team win.
Team defense.
Zack Hyman – what a fantastic interview. Really impressive Zack.
And what an impressive two games.
But yeah, great interview. He’s expressing my fears at this coaching change. I think the squad really liked Woody and there’s a material chance this doesn’t work. They assuaged my fears somewhat tonight though. They showed up and worked, played a careful,smart game.
Caught up on the pre and post game chats today.
Oilers brass is playing with Nitro. They just fired two guys who the players clearly loved playing for. No shots at Knoblauch, he’s just doing his job and I’m sure he’ll work hard to build relationships. But they fired a guy who the players thought shouldn’t have been fired. They fired a guy they liked battling for.
The Chicago Bulls dynasty didn’t have to end. It ended because the Jerry Krause was tired of being the little guy. He was tired of being upstaged by Jackson, Jordan and then the Trophies.
Allegedly winning cures all. But man these are dangerous times, dangerous times.
My biggest takeaway from the game was their calmness. Nobody panicked when we got scored on outta the gate. Stuck to the plan and took the game back. I could get used to boring games if they add up to wins.
The work ethic.
Yep. Work ethic but it also seemed like they understood what their job was and where to be. They’ve backed each other up more time in this game than the last 5 combined, to my eye. Amazing what a kick in the pants and a few directions from a new voice can do. Now we wait to see if the lesson sticks. I hope it does cuz this is how you win games consistently in todays game. Work hard, work smart and take advantage of mistakes. It’s not flashy but it’s wins that count, not style points…
Couple of observations from tonight.
McDavid is not right. He is one and done in every puck battle. He usually wins 80 percent of those.
I still don’t understand why the Oilers never claimed Engvall a few years ago when the Leafs put him on waivers. Big body, great skater, decent hands. He’s never going to score a ton, but he would look good on the 4th line.
Lots of posters here wanted to trade for Mayfield last summer. He looks like a poor man’s Desharnais to me. Doesn’t skate as well as Vinny and he might be a worse puck handler as well.
Lavoie looks like he’s having trouble keeping up through the neutral zone. He might eventually be a strong cycle and net front player, but the games looks a little quick for him right now.
The Oilers kept getting better all game. Lots of Islanders left alone in front of the net in the first period, but the Oilers seemed to tighten up as the game went on.
At 1.000 Knoblach passes Woodcroft for best Oilers coaching win % all time.
First home win of the year for this club if I’m not mistaken. (Aside from the heritage classic)
I thought they played a lot looser tonight, just much more relaxed. Knoblauch himself is a very even keeled guy on the bench (based on the few shots I saw of him).
Good on the Oilers; they gotta keep the wins coming.
First come from behind victory as well.
For an emotional guy in front of the cameras, Knobloch was like a block of granite behind the bench.
97 and 29 under 20 minutes of ice time is good to see.
Despite there being “3” powerplays, there was only 1:09 in pp time. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep their ice time under 20 minutes in a game with a more normal amount of powerplay time.
EV TOIs look to be less than a shift off the average.
Lavoie within 15 seconds of his season avg.
Probably won’t move that much cause well the Oilers aren’t far off the average in the league.
That quick bump out from the slot to one-timer on the first PP by Drai, was nice to see. We’ve been standing still way too often this year, trying to make those same difficult one-timer passes.
Congrats to Kris Konblauck on his first win as an NHL head coach!
McLeod playing better despite his no contact clause.
Lavoie some good shifts. Saved a goal in the first due to his backcheck. Lavoie should benefit from new coach
Holloway is concerning.
Boring game but we’ll take it.
First back-to-back wins of the season.
So far so good.
Congrats too KK for his first win.
Solid win! Hopefully the schnide has been offed.
Congrat to Knoblauch on his first Oilers win!
That EN goal is big.
Hockey sure is weird sometimes.
Skinner’s regained his form for the last two.
This game could definitely have gone either way though.
Glad to get the win, whatever the backdrop.
I was thinking the same thing. Multiple shots in the first 5min where I expected them to somehow bounce in. Skinner stood strong and they rarely made 2 errors sequentially thereafter.
Congrats to Coach Knoblauch, may this be the first of many.
Very nice.
Very well played game. Boys played more aggressive.
Seeing an entire team of guys who ALL shaved this morning is weird.
Too early to credit a win to coaching. More likely:
Skinner plays well
Tighter defensively
Leaders get on the board
The first two were applicable last game as well – Seattle had 3-4 high dangers.
And special teams.
First shortie of the year!
Lavoie and Hamblin out there with 5 minutes left defending the 2-goal lead.
Its not a one-goal lead, I know, but last game they saw under 4 minutes total in a game the team had a 3 or 4 goal lead for over 40 minutes of the game.
Liking the balanced D TOI too.
The 4th liners got between 7-8 minutes. Not bad for a game that was played pretty tight for a good portion. I actually noticed when Hamblin and Lavoie were out there.
Oilers looking like world-beaters right now – standing up at the blue, pursuing like mad. wasn’t sure that could happen….
Well actually two pretty solid games in a row. Much better commitment to playing D. Skinner has also had a solid game. If Islanders had scored a second goal to go up 2-0 it might have been over as team has been pretty fragile. Long ways to go!
Did the Oilers start the season a month late?
A month late at the start, so they can go two months late at the end.
The PP is 2 for 3, technically, but its really 2 for 2 given the first PP was 3 seconds (and it wasn’t because the PP took a penalty).
Well that will be it for the 4th line. 8 seconds from the faceoff and 2 HDs
hmmm – 4th line sighting at 5 min left, even got a SOG!
Meet the new coach, not the same as the old coach.
Wonderful pass by Drai and nice hard shot by McDavid
that was a weird goal, looks like Sorokin pulled it back in as he closed up. Either way, sh% regressing to the mean and nice for the other G to let in an ugly one
The old ground ball through the shortstop trick
The damn is breaking – what an outlet pass.
And all the angels are weeping.
…and the tide has finally turned….a dribbler rolls over the line..!!!
what an alley-oop by the GM… er captain!
that pass and shot never touched ice.
That was a beauty of a PP goal.
HUGE GOAL!!!!!!
That’s what they needed.
Big, big, big goal.
PP.
Now that is a quick strike PP
oh thank you baby Jesus
Hyman!!!
I like this version of the Oilers more than what Woody was doing. They’re more active/aggressive in their zone, and I think they were being too flat-footed before, leaving too many easy lanes for seam passes.
Knoblauch couldn’t have changed much of anything in two days in charge. This is the Woodcroft / Manson Oilers… at least what they were trying to achieve. I suspect it’s the result of the players playing more loose and relaxed, getting shaken up by the firing.
We’ll see what the team looks like once Knoblauch puts his stamp on the team.
KK specifically said the defensive zone system would remain the same zone, but to start he wants the players to be more aggressive in the zone, they will expand as they go. That jives with what I saw 🤷♂️
Lavoie, Hamblin and Foegele went quite awhile between shifts. Ryan, and McLeod seeing some love.
Down to 11 forwards.
I know. Makes it even more baffling doesn’t it? Should be more minutes available but the coach either had some trouble remembering some players or organizing some time on the fly.
Pls Knobby tell them low blocker is not allowed anymore
If CMD goes cheddar there it’s in
Take it to the net McLeod, your shot is nowhere near good enough to score from that far out.
Maybe not to score put pucks to the net can cause chaos in any situation and it kinda did, no?
It was better than his standard, circle the net…..
For sure, being aggressive to score is a step in the right direction
Except that was hardly aggressive. Being aggressive would have been to use his speed to take it to the net, to pressure the Dman
He didn’t button hook and stop up along the half boards. This is progress!
This looking like a 2-1 game. Need to get the next one.
Oilers need to score to get the Isles to open up a little bit.
Gotta get a greasy one.