This is Luna. Of the four pets who run this house, she is the quietest and the lowest maintenance. Luna loves the sun, treats, the big dog Clifford and wet cat food. She’ll come visit me a few times a day, from about 6:30am to about 4am, if you know what I mean. If there’s a crashing sound in the middle of the night, it won’t be Luna. It will be Nimbus. It’s easy to look past Luna, to think she’s living a less interesting life than Nimbus (who basically tolerates the humans and flies through the air with the greatest of ease).
The big contest for the cats is attention from Clifford. Luna won that race miles ago. She doesn’t jump like Nimbus, but she never misses out on treats, sleeps beside Clifford and lays on Karen’s chair even though she’s not supposed to. Luna is the velvet fog. She gets her way, no one makes a fuss. She just goes and does what she wants and makes very little noise doing it.
We have plenty of time to talk about Kris Knoblauch and his time as Oilers coach, but where does he rank among the group who have held the job? I suspect none of us will agree on the ranking, but here is mine. I’ve observed all of them, even the WHA fellows. Here is my ranking:
- No. 1 Glen Sather four Stanley Cups
- No. 2 John Muckler one Stanley Cup
- No. 3 Craig MacTavish one Final
- No. 4 Kris Knoblauch two Finals
- No. 5 Jay Woodcroft optimized the offense
- No. 6 Todd McLellan had a winning record in playoffs
- No. 7 Ron Low had a terrific run, late 90’s
- No. 8 Ralph Krueger, brilliant but didn’t have the horses
- No. 9 Dave Tippett good regular seasons, poor playoffs
- No. 10 Todd Nelson would be higher, didn’t get much chance
- No. 11 Kevin Lowe was surprisingly vanilla as coach
- No. 12 Ken Hitchcock was not the coach for the time
- No. 13 Tom Renney didn’t move the needle
- No. 14 Dallas Eakins he had too many good ideas
- No. 15 Ted Green A friends of Glen hire
- No. 16 George Burnett he was too young
- No. 17 Pat Quinn He lost his fastball
- No. 18 Bryan Watson He was overwhelmed
I will forever link three coaches (Dallas Eakins, Jay Woodcroft and Kris Knoblauch) together. They were young, mercurial and brought with them creative solutions to problems that presented themselves. I should include Ralph Krueger in that group, but somehow he belongs to a category all his own.
Sather was the best, he was a brilliant evaluator and an emotional powder keg. He was a ‘respected Dad’ to the young group that romped through the 1980’s.
John Muckler was about numbers and deployment. He was the kind of coach the Oilers need today. Someone who has the strength of will to bend minds to a singular goal. The kind of man who might make a sign that says “check your ego at the door” and then place it at the dressing room entrance.
The kind of coach who will use Draisaitl on a hard match line, challenge McDavid to play more like Macklin Celebrini in terms of awareness and attention to detail defensively, fade Darnell Nurse when he is playing poorly, game plan for the next Zach Hyman injury, pressure management to find a goaltender who can lead the team to Stanley. I believe that man is Bruce Cassidy. Apparently, so do the Vegas Golden Knights.
On the Lowdown today, our feature guest will be Bagged Milk from Oilers Nation. We’ll chat about what went wrong for Kris Knoblauch, and what his future might look like. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.
In other good news, the Avs for next season have 17/23 contracts and a projected 101M cap hit. Or in other words 2.979M to sign at least 4 players. 2.291M in dead cap. Of better players guys needing a contract for next season there’s Drury, Kulak, Burns, Blankenburg
And after next season Makar, Lehkonen, Ross, Roy, Wedgewood also need a new deal. Hee hee
They will let Drury walk and he will be replaced by Gavin Brindley who is already under contract at $875K
Blankenberg is an AHL player filling in for injured Sam Malinski who is already under contract.
If Burns returns it will be on another $1M deal with bonuses pushed to the following season.
Kulak could stay if he accepts a $2 million extension.
The following season, the AVs have $37.7 million in available cap space to handle Makar et al.
Easy peasy.
lol, why would Kulak sign for $2M.
I just want to know how many draft picks the Oilers have to give the Vags for asking about Cassidy. ???
1st and a third, plus the rights to Robin Kovar.
I presume this is a joke, given the past, but, just in case its not, the NHL abolished the compensation for hiring fired GMs (2nd round pick) and coaches (3rd round pick) after the Oilers had to “pay” each for Chiarelli and McLellan…..
Yea, this was one of the dumbest rules implemented in the NHL.
Ryan McLeod continuing to be faded by Ruff – like last game, through two periods, the lowest TOI among forwards (at 5 on 5 and overall). 10 seconds on the PK, 1 goal against.
Ryan McLeod is a very nice NHL hockey player but this is every playoff season in his career so far – just crushed at 5 on 5.
Yeah it’s kind of crazy how much worse his playoff numbers are. I wonder if he is injured this year? Such a massive drop in production/performance.
The drop off in performance is now a yearly thing with him in the playoffs.
I mean, his last year as an Oiler he was 39-30 goals in the regular season and 4-12 in the playoffs.
Alex Tuch, many an Oiler fans’ wet dream, is pointless and -8 against Montreal.
Not very good.
Of course, one poor playoff series is not equatable to four poor playoff seasons (with multiple series played in each such season).
Shocking. Tuch being poor defensively is very unusual. I do wonder about injury
not at 10mill plus x 8 yrs he isnt my dream.
Muckler belongs in the Ring of Honour.
Does anyone else watch these colorado, carolina, and even the habs/sabres series and wonder how the oilers could even come close to competing? It seems to me like theres a lot of work to do.
Yeah, the west has been very good to us the last couple of years
Man oiler fans have short memories…
You mean the Colorado first round exits? … that were looking at how they could ever beat dallas? Luckily they didnt have to this year…
Im being tongue and cheek. But i am always amazed how oil fans always see it greener elsewhere.
Oilers team was walking wounded. Not making excuses. What I am saying is we were a far better team that what we saw in the playoffs this year. The only team with more playoff round wins theblast 3 years (so i read but could be off?) was Florida going into this playoffs. Its not like the oilers are a bunch if bums who has been punted round one for 5 straight years or something.
Anyhow, maybe I am.just less negative. I think the oilers remain a contender. A new coach is needed for change. But I do not fear col or car. A healthy and rested and hungry connor and leon are going to come back far stronger this next year.
And I believe cassidy or whomever is going to give the reset. (Oilersnation show today discussed the stats regarding the myth the oilers could not defend the past two playoff runs…not true)
I wonder if the last two years col fans were saying “we cant even beat dallas..how do we ever beat the oilers let alone flo?)
Colorado fans were patient while their team was being rebuilt after winning a cup and running up against cap.
They added:
2C
3C
4C
5C
1RW
2LW
4LW
4RW
2LD
2RD
3LD
3RD
1AG
1BG
They last won the cup 4 seasons ago and should they win another this season they would certainly have won more than their share.
Patience. WTF is that?
Good points. I just never felt like they had it this year for whatever reason. I’m not really talking about any other year than this. But i would also say that i usually do temper my expectations because i want it so badly. Regarding Colorado, I do remember MacKinnon saying, after losing last year, “i dont know what we’re gonna do”.
i dont really have negativity to next year, BUT, i would say that some kind of change is needed. Coaching was likely a good start. as many have said, and i agree, they need to stay away from silly July 1 signings, but i wouldnt mind seeing a big trade or two.
lastly, my comment was really about how GOOD colorado looks. I dont really think theyre beatable…..this year anyway.
Yes I watch almost all of the games, no I am not worried that the Oilers can’t compete.
People have forgotten how quick and aggressive, and good, the Oilers were the last 2 playoffs.
I dont forget. I’m just not sure they can get back there without significant change. Im talking personnel a bit, but also system.
Also, each year is so different. Are the Avs of this year the best team we’ve seen in the last decade? I watch them and sometimes find myself in awe of how good they look.
Cassidy was on the NHL Network today – saying he’s waiting for Vegas to grant teams permission to talk – he knows a few teams have reached out. He was respectful and acknowledged. that Vegas had the McNabb situation to deal with etc. but he’s waiting and want to coach.
Legally, why can’t he just go to Edmonton and say “I see you fired your coach, I would like to apply for the job”. He was fired so they can’t stop him from looking for work. Right.
If he had no contract for sure, but he is under contract. Apparently there is a standard coach contract like for players. They should change it
It’s strange that one is fired but not fired.
I’d sure feel different about this if i had only just found out today as opposed to Frankie spilling the beans two days ago.
LT, you were asked on air about whether coach candidates might question the wisdom of taking on the Oilers. You waxed optimistic about how prospective coaches would welcome the opportunity to work with the talent here, write themselves into Cup and Oiler lore. Then you went on a bit of a fantasy, imagining Cassidy as the guy to do it, the guy who’d tell McD that “there’s a teenager in San Jose” who plays a better two-way game.
I say fantasy because I don’t get the Cassidy attraction (other than shiny new toy, and we’ve got to move on so it might as well be this guy…)
Cassidy’s Vegans won a Cup several years ago. Didn’t make the Western Conference finals after that. Were handily (5 games) out coached and out played by Knoblauch’s Oilers last year. His team had worse 5v5 defensive numbers than the Oilers this year. Please, tell me, what is it about Cassidy you like for this Oilers team? I cannot see it.
ps. I do get the “move on to next shiny object” thing.
Me, I’m feeling gut punched by this coach firing. Same feeling I had when Skinner was shipped out. It’s the wrong move, done to appease a thirst for churn in Oilerville that likely has its roots in the Gretzky sale and later, DoD. That is the only reason I can see for the “sky is falling” panic I’m seeing. But I’m new here. Many things I don’t know.
pps. I found Bagged Milk’s concern over growing locker room issues, a la Canucks worrisome. I’m not sure the guys wearing letters have the leadership chops to deal with that.
If you show up to a gun fight with a slingshot and manage to win the entire thing thats great, the Oilers are bringing an automatic weapon and manage to loose. The fact their results to date are so poor is a reflection on the players, the management, and the coaches. One of them is easier to change than the others. There was a great article a couple of days ago that spoke to poor use of players (over reliance, tactics and misuse) i believe that is on KK.
The results include making the playoffs year after year after year and, in the last five years years, playing in the following number of playoff series:
3
2
4
4
1
Those are the best results in the NHL in that time frame.
Yes, I know, no cups but lets not downplay the success this org has had on-ice so materially, right?
If there are locker room issues, isn’t that all the more reason to hire a smart, experienced hardass as coach?
I wouldn’t put much into what the former owners of ON say. Unwarranted damage created. They are funny but not funny
As I listen to radio off and on, I am hearing a lot that says changing coaches is bad, the teams that win don’t. The Steelers were mentioned – last SB win 2008
I agree just making a coach the fall guy is not good. If you know you have a good coach, a top coach, let them build. Mike O’Shea was mentioned and he went on to win Cups. Great coach. The thing is first you have to have that person in place
In hockey, Rod and Cooper have long tenures. They also put up excellent results and metrics most or every season. Because the trend lines are good, it allows the GM to take into account factors like health, luck, roster etc
The Canes have not had enough at the top and often goalie issues. Great team play, because of the coaching. The GM and owner now are trying to add what was missing. Going after Rantanen, keeping Hall, Ehlers
Cooper has had injury issues repeatedly, Hedman out these playoffs. Vas has had some wobble in a few years. But the coaching for both teams was at the top of the range. That can’t be said for most coaches, not the Oilers’ coaches. So changing under those circumstances is probably the right way to go, when you don’t have any more seasons to waste
I agree.ive thought Knoblauch was above average in his time here but not much suggesting he needs to be the guy long term like Bednar/Rod/Cooper. The terrible starts and indecision every year dont help.
CaNt see any of those teams above tolerating the starts we see every October/ November. There’s no standard set for it here.
Colorado has had some rough patches and early exits. But, Bednar won with a good deep team and they took his horses away. And I’m sure there were other factors. Now he has a deep team again and they’re rolling
Bednar was stymied by Colorado running up against the cap after a successful run for a cup.
The Avs had to reload and needed to trade Rantanen to finish the task.
Lost in all this who’s gonna be the next coach here, remember Jessica Campbell? She left Seattle to pursue “ other “ coaching opportunities in the league. I don’t think she would be a leading candidate here but…….
Yeah, NO!!!!
While they’re at it, why not change their name to the Edmonton Moose?
Knoblauch, Bowman, Jackson.
The one fired is the only one who has any chance of working in another NHL city.
Seravelli reporting that Sebastian Cossa will be moved by the Wings.
Omark for Cossa. If Stan doesn’t make this trade he is an incompetent and should be fired immediately.
Probably need to add the 3rd that the oil get from Toronto signing KK
“The rights to Omark and a 2nd”
Get it right
🙂
You are right.
I guess I imagined the Oilers re-signing Omark to start the year on a line with Frederic for another patented pump and dump!
Howard for Cossa just makes way too much sense.
Doesn’t really makes since for the DWR though. They need help on the defence, they have more than enough scoring wingers on their team.
Detroit needs centres, not wingers. Sam O’Reilly would have worked.
Except Detroit needs NHL players and its highly likely that it will be a year or two until O’Reily is ready to impact in the NHL.
He’s a prospect.
Yes, Howard is still just a prospect but he’s already had a massive development year in the AHL and is NHL ready. O’Reily is ready to graduate from kids to men.
You have no clue what O’Reilly’s trajectory will be.
10 players from his draft year are already on NHL rosters.
The player drafted 1 spot behind him, Igor Chernyshov, was a regular in the San Jose lineup in the second half of the season.
Of course I don’t know.
I know what is likely thought.
Neither do you.
Curlock was on with Bob today and said SOR is unlikely to be a contributor in the NHL next season, and that he’s a couple years away.
I’ll take Curlock’s track record of player evaluation over yours every day and twice on Sundays.
Of course I don’t.
Curlock doesn’t know either.
Apparently this DSF guy and this harpers hair fella had no clue either compared to you.
P.s. holy crap is that easy and going to surely be hilarious.
I don’t necessarily think that’s true.
The Oilers need Howard – he’s going to be massive value on an ELC for two years.
Detroit has to move Cossa as he would have to clear waivers next season.
The question is do the Oilers have something (other than Omark and a 2nd) that would appeal.
You can argue with some credibility that Detroit does not have leverage, everyone knows he has to clear. A competent GM should be able to get a deal done.
Detroit could also have him as the 1B to Gibson – both Postava is waivers exempt and, of course, so is Austin.
If he’s not good enough to be 1B in Detroit, is he good enough to be 1B in Edmonton?
The Sedins announced as co-POHOs and Ryan Johnson as GM in Vancouver.
Considering the Canucks have done nothing but miss the playoffs (but for one year) and have internal strife sine the Sedans starting working for them off he ice, I’m all for this.
Working in skills development doesn’t lend itself very well to solving locker room issues.
Having said that, the job ahead of them is massive.
It’s okay, they hired two people to do one job. That always works out well.
Their IQ is about 300.
300 IQ in Player Development and scouting and they let Podkolzin slip through their fingers.
The Swedish invasion. Alex Steen in St. Louis. Mats Sundin in Toronto. Daniel and Henrik in Vancouver.
Let’s hope they fire Kevin Dean 😃
Was reflecting on it and, if I’m to distill down what EDM lacks, it’s “fire”.
Aside from his choice of def/PK coach, that’s probably the biggest thing that led to Knob’s firing. His own lack of fire was fine when the team had youthful energy in Holloway, McLeod and Broberg or when it had firey veterans like Perry, Kane and Brown but, in absence of them, Knob’s profound lack of energy was all the more apparent. A veteran team waiting for the “real season” needs a few guys with spirit, and that ought to come from both the players and the coaching staff.
Cassidy seems like he can be a solution to that, but how about players? Howard has moxie to him and Dach showed he could be a part of that solution. Does Kapanen bring this enough to re-sign him? Could Hamblin or Jones bring some as an extra F? What does Berezhkin have to offer? If you could, would you bring back Perry?
A few names I’d put out there: Bunting (coming off a down year and DAL can’t afford him) and Cousins (always adds spice down the lineup) among UFAs, Eyssimont could perhaps be crowded out of BOS, and both Zellweger and Krebs are RFAs whose teams could be tight to the cap.
Bunting McDavid Savoie
Podkolzin Drai Kapanen?/Berezhkin/other
Howard RNH Hyman
Frederic Samanski Perry
Dach UFA C
Infuses some more youth and fire into an otherwise calm core. Would bring out the best in guys like Draisaitl, Hyman and hopefully even Frederic IMO.
I don’t watch bunting but his stats and reputation as a shit disturber remind me too much of Mangiapane
which might be good at 2M, not 3.8M
Gets inside more often in my view, too, but I guess so did Mangiapane earlier in his career. Aside from that, he draws an obscene number of penalties compared to what he takes (generally) and he has had success playing with elite players in TOR before.
Yeah he sounds good we just gotta start giving these guys 2-3M not 3.5+
I’d be all in on zellweger. Not sure what that looks like but he sure looks like the real deal. A second pair of zellweger Kesslering would be… eventful. I’d take the chance on two puck movers over the non puck moving pair nurse/ Murphy. With a safe third pair of Emberson/ekholm.
If EDM were able to pull off a Zellweger offersheet, I’d hope they’d have moved Nurse and then run:
Ekholm Bouch
Zellweger Murphy
Walman Emberson
I’d then throw Walman out for a few shifts per game with Bouchard to help reduce Ekholm’s TOI or to simply push the offense. This layout would also spread the minutes around nicely.
But if Kulak was too expensive at 3LD how does Walman work?
This is, of course, contrary to Bob’s assertion that they need a coach with “gravitas.”
I’m sure Bob’s been wrong before.
Strange. Knoblauch had lots of dignity. If he said “balls” it might be more correct and along the line of “fire” as suggested here. I do think coach was very tame. Very, very tame and when you can only punish on the power play in playoffs, its not enough.
“Challenge Mcdavid to play more like macklin celebrini”
The last several years talk has been Mcdavid needs adjust his game to play more like Yzerman.
What a compliment it is to Celebrini that Mcdavid needs to play more like him.
Completely accurate I’d say!
Wait. In Olympics I seen McDaved exit the zone with the puck, transport the puck, gain entry to offensive zone, do some shit, the find Celebrini for a shot.
Nobody else in the league would say “lets get McDavid” and then “lets turn him into a defensive player”
When you have the best, turn him loose.
Are there recent examples of a team having playoff success without their top C being at least average on the D side of the puck?
97 was well below average in the D zone all year. I look forward to Cassidy prioritizing improvement in this area
KKs travel itinerary with a one way trip out of Northern Alberta, was booked when 97 glossed Coopers coaching on Team Canada.
I am doubtful that wasn’t a calculated offering from the captain.
I think he wants a coach that can make lemonade from lemons, re systemic bottom 6 where the product is greater than a sum of its parts.
KK demonstrated he didn’t have that tool in his chest, and connor surmised Cooper does.
And this was placed into stone when a vet coach beat Knoblauch’s squad by deploying a fourth line with a mission who delivered, and there was no answer in Oilersland. Not even a bad answer. Just none.
Season was a death spiral feel and he was likely feeling heat too many times.
I found the handling of jarry coming back from injury where that gravy boat homestand was disintegrated was pretty damning of coach grasping at any straws that didn’t point at him over properly steadying the ship by calming water around new player to team.
Even the comment he made when putting ingram back in after a decent jarry backstopped win…desperatem
man hoping for magic to save
him from likely becoming a deadman walking without much thought past next 60 minutes regarding the 1 goalie he was guaranteed to have returning.
Playint ingram was fine. Saying much of anything that could shade jarry uneccessary.
As soon as he started saying in press conferences that his team was basically Connor and Leon and nothing else…I mean even the most ardent defenders should have seen that as completely untenable.
There was one specifically – I’m trying to remember which player the reporter gave credit to but it isn’t coming to me – they’d just had a very good game and the reporter asks the question, Knoblauch immediately goes “well Connor and Leon…”…just wow.
Yep. KK had no plan for a robust “B” game when injuries hampered the top end and or the roster was little short.
Team sure hummed when it was a Ferrari with fresh tires though.
T
Frederic represents the play of an uninspired, underconfident, confused player who never found his way so far in Edmonton.
Frederic was given all sorts of opportunity up and down the lineup with almost every forward on the team.
KKs only mistake there was not HSing him more often
I encourage everyone to take a listen to the Colby Cohen spot on Oilers Nation Everyday from yesterday – he played for years under Cassidy and one is likely to come away materially informed on Cassidy as a coach (and likely excited about the potential of what he could do with this team).
Made me hopeful for Kevin Dean as an assistant as well!
Ya, for sure – I had never heard of him before yesterday I don’t think.
Doesn’t sound like he’d be available as it would be a lateral for him and Vancouver would be unlikely to let him go if he’s note getting a promotion.
Make him associate
I don’t disagree with letting go of KK, however I think the axe needs to find both Stan and Jackson before it’s too late as well. Next summer is arguably the most important summer of the Oilers history. Do you really trust Stan and Jackson to navigate that well?
A decision on Mcdavid will need to be made next summer. I don’t envision that this team, regardless of coach, will be able to compete with the more well-run organizations for Stanley next year.
Like Draisatl said, they are headed in the wrong direction. Stan has done good work bringing in players outside of the draft but these guys are not real difference makers at this stage, maybe never (Podkolzin aside).
I just took a look at Carolina’s cap structure and was shocked to see what some of their top players are getting paid. THey have real value throughout their roster. The Oilers are on the opposite end of that spectrum. This is NOT a coaching problem.
I predict (and I really hope I am wrong about this) the pattern to repeat. Coach gets replaced. Team gets a bump but not enough to win it all. Ownership realizes (too late) that the bigger issue is with roster construction, so the GM gets replaced. This occurs at a very dangerous point in time, where a decision needs to be made to trade or keep McDavid for the final year of his deal. While that replacement is being found, Jackson is running the ship. We all know how that turned out last time.
I doubt Jackson would be missed.
The danger moving these guys is the whole down chain is affected with many roles being changed out due to “my guys” coming in.
Hockey in general has a problem with this.
It’s a valuable skill to be adaptable to working with a variety of people. These guys should have all sorts of resources to get them trained up to get the most out of each other. This whole have to have put in your dues and be a hockey guy thing is so OBC.
I suspect one of the reason Sather tops the list is he was also the GM.
I think it’s very difficult for HCs in this era to sustain a demanding culture with the necessary work habits and structure, when the power balance is so heavily tilted in favour of the superstars.
Mark Messier missed a flight once because he went to the wrong airport and when he finally got to the right one, Sather had left him a ticket to the minors. Can you imagine trying that with one of the Oilers’ core nowadays? Impossible. Everything is a negotiation now and an effort to constantly sell each and every player on the value of what the HC is trying to build.
William Nylander basically quit on Craig Berube this season and the whole league could see it. But what could Berube do? If they tried to healthy scratch Willy or send him to the minors, he would have immediately gone public and demanded a trade. That is the reality now for modern coaches. Now more than ever, they are hired to be fired, because committment to sacrifice has a short shelf life in today’s NHL.
Sather had an interesting career. He was player-coach the last 18 games of the WHA, then promoted to GM when the Oilers joined the NHL, hiring Brian Watson as coach only to demote Watson to assistant when he took over coaching duties as well part way through that 1st NHL season. Couldn’t get away with some of that nowadays
A good reminder of how much the league has matured over the past few decades. I can’t even think of the last time a GM also served as HC. Even on a brief interim basis.
Not to mention player/owner. It’s unfathomable now to imagine any active player holding equity in the team they play for.
Didn’t MacT spend some time on the bench while GM around the Todd Nelson hire?
Yes, good call. I can’t remember if MacT ever served as coach between Eakins’ firing to Nelson being promoted from the farm, but I definitely recall him on the bench with Nelson to help his transition.
Well we have one year to keep McDavid. At the moment we don’t need a long shelf life. We need the medicine right now! Even if we don’t want it.
So true.
This is true, but when Sather was ‘parenting’ those guys they were all very young. Going to the bars to make them go home etc. Messier was so wild when he first came in that might even happen today, or he might lose his shot
I’m sure getting the players he wanted directly helped, but as a coach he was light years ahead of the rest. As in re-invented the league because he saw how they could play, he had the 2nd change the entire way the game is played guy to come along after Orr and recognized it
They began blowing the league away. Back then even Oiler fans thought Gretz was too small, wouldn’t be able to handle it, they’d destroy him, etc etc. They did try, didn’t work. Most NHL coaches at that time would not have done the same
Many rules were changed to slow them down – has any other team caused so many rule changes designed specifically for/against one team?
I’m not diminishing Sather’s abilities as a coach at all. Motivator. Tactician. Innovator. He was the full package. I’m just saying it’s a lot easier to use the stick and have it be effective when you’ve got the GM title to back it up.
Now HCing is 95% carrot and 5% stick because the team will just tune you out if you push them too hard or too long.
Stauff in Spittin Chicklets putting out it not being a bad thing if Bérubé ends up in Edmonton (and Knob in Toronto).
I don’t understand this – Berube just coached the leafs to their worst season in a long time and was playing Matthews in the Dickinson’s role.
for me it’s either Cassidy or Laviolette, mean Cassidy strongly
One can only hope this is team mandated misdirection for the media
I sure hope so. Might as well enter the modern era with a coach and hat uses analytics. That would be going back again to a McLellan Tippet type
KK’s time was up, but respect for coaching the Oilers to 2 SCF. They would have won in 2024 if Leon was healthy.
JJ’s should be polishing his resume too.
It was messy because of the press leak but the way it went down tells me the Oilers brass did value a coach who’d taken them to the dance in every season he coached.
They clearly wanted to verify in an interview process that the next bird was actually better than the one they held in hand. There’s a bit of “wanting to have your cake and eat it too” with this approach. But it is certainly more prudent than tossing Knoblauch only to find the much hyped candidate(s) are not an obvious upgrade.
And it’s a helluva lot more professional than MacT falling in love with Eakins when he was supposed to be interviewing him for Ralph’s Assistant. That was the biggest hiring/firing bungle in Oilers history. A total embarrassment.
There was also the George Burnett vs Shayne Corson debacle and the Souray to Hershey move. The Oil have had a few HR nightmares in their history.
100%. There’s tons of chatter that the Oilers need to be more ruthless and less loyal with their decisions like VGK. Under this thinking, going out to see if there is a better option than their current coach while still leaving the option of retaining him would be considered good process. And the potential negative of having it leaked really just affects Coach KK who you are likely moving on from anyways. Ideally none of it gets out but the risk is very much worth the reward IMO
That souray move was so insanely petty and counter to any sensible direction of team winning or asset management
Bruce Cassidy is very into the analytics. And not just lip service you can tell he loves this stuff and it helps him win. Two great articles from 2022.
https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2022/04/25/inside-the-collaborative-partnership-between-bruce-cassidy-and-bruins-analytics-staff
https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2021/09/02/bsj-qa-bruce-cassidy-1-1-increasing-influence-analytics-removing-stigma-sports-psychology-challenges-ahead
Thanks. I find that very encouraging to read if it’s him. I like that he uses analytics to game plan and I imagine he does for his system. It’s needed
From the second link:
Q. Is there anything in-game when it comes to hockey that analytics has changed your thinking on?
“For us, defending the blue line when we wanted the stats to back it up, because we did change that when I took over to be more assertive there on entries. It was out there that controlled entries lead to more scoring chances. So, well, let’s try to minimize control entries. But right now, rebound recovery last year was down for us in the offensive zone. I think that’s why we didn’t score as much five-on-five. Why is that? Is that personnel, because we’re not maybe as big as we need to be or we’re not as quick enough to get in there? What is it? We’re not shooting enough? So there’s different things that you can analyze once you get those numbers.
“But it was definitely down and showed in our five-on-five. So we continue to work on that as the year went on. Some of it was offensive blue line — are we getting our defense involved enough? In the second half, we did and then some of the numbers went up. So I think there’s absolutely value in analytics. I think you do have to be a little bit careful. No team is going to excel in every area, or typically, they won’t. You’re always going to have some level of deficiency that you’ll have to keep working on. You can’t sort of forget about — what is your identity? Because there’s an area of analytics that shows that you’re not as good at it. So there’s usually a trade off somewhere along the line.”
Man I hope they get him. Thats how you use analytics as a coach. And adjusting to improve in season is beauty
In the South arm of Algonquin Park, pretty chilly and wet but hooked up to Starlink and just got the news, it’s like the Keystone Kops lol
I think the Edmonton press needs Kleenex and counsellors to get over their despair today. From a group that is usually quick to attack, their crying today can be heard down in Calgary. My lord i almost turned off the radio. Glad I did not because Frank Seravalli came on to wade through the nonsense with a dose of logic and reality.
Of course Knoblauch is a nice person. But all kinds of problems this year. Paul Coffee has to step in? This was not good. Players second guessing – not good.
Have an excellent core hockey team getting further away, not closer to championship, what are you going to do? Obvious choice.
He also threw in – Jackson should be long gone.
I certainly wouldn’t call losing in the first round a crisis for this organisation at that moment. However, changes needed to be made. The coaching staff clearly needed a change. I am not saying it had to be KK, but considering that the coaching staff had Coffey forced upon them is a tell that Management was not content.
However, there are professional ways to handle these situations and the management team did not handle this in a professional manner. If, after your post-season audit, your management team decides that it needs to change the head coach, then do the professional thing and relieve him of his duties. Then go about a proper process to find and hire your next coach and their staff using the intel and information from that audit.
If I was the owner, I would be firing my management team not only on past performance, but their handling of this whole situation.
This was not a crisis moment. It was a set back for sure, but this was not a full blown crisis. However, management’s handling of the situation made it one. How can you trust this management team to handle an actual crisis or important decision (e.g. McDavid asks out) in a clear, coherent, professional manner? You can’t, because they treat all fires the same way.
Leon mentioned in his exit presser, several names. Ceci, McLeod, Foegele, Desharnais that he felt were missed.
Interesting because he was of course “in the room” and he is judging based on character, not statistics.
These players were not viewed as the best and upgrades were pursued. But the “give a dam” factor was not at high as those going out. Also, you can see these guys had a more defined role, even though they were support roles, they were important.
I do think this was part of the step back.
That’s a big part of the ‘24 PK that was 95%. The losses in FA were fine (Foegele, Desharnais) but they should have stopped there. Should have kept McLeod and obviously should have kept Holloway/Broberg if they could.
just the logic of intentionally creating so much turnover on a team that was so close is crazy to me.
They lost good PKers who were big or fast or big and fast and played defensively and knew their role. I’d have kept McLeod and Foegele, Ceci needed to go but they needed to find a better 2RHD and 3RHD instead of so many LHD that Broberg didn’t even want to be here.
McLeod’s playoff GF-GA for us and for Buffalo show us exactly why he was traded.
His 50+ pts are partly from playing 2C. He wasn’t playing 2C for us anytime soon. (And the same is true of Holloway.)
100%
A big part of the success of players who left is tied to the opportunity (and resulting development of the player) they got which wouldn’t have happened here because we had better players to put into that spot.
Yup. McLeod in the playoffs (66 games):
5v5 GF: 16 | 5v5 GA: 35 | 5v5 GF%: 31.37
This year was about breaking new players into key roles.
Podz, Savoie, and perhaps Murphy and/or Dickinson will be part of that new wave of support, with Howard and Smanali having taken at-bats.
A year ago the roster was old and needed to be churned. Kane, Perry, Brown, and Arvidsson appeared to have given us their best. A year later the Oilers sacrificed success but got younger. It cost us but may offer a brighter future.
Change was necessary. Stan and the new coach need to get the group to gel.
That would seem reasonable if all of Nuge, Hyman, Dickinson, Janmark, Nurse, Ekholm, Wallman and Murphy were not on the wrong side of 30.
None of the additions you mentioned are likely to counteract the effects of aging.
Arvidsson obviously did not give us his best. Look at his stats in Boston. Some of the best GF% in the league.
Arvidsson suffered KK PTSD. Moved all around, never given a chance to develop any chemistry, gets hurt, comes back, continues to bounce all around the lineup (and gets healthy scratched in the playoffs).
Not saying was going to score 30 again, but, he never got untracked under KK and that’s on both of them.
Probably Leon was meaning exactly what he said when referring to those players. Could a similar situation exist now?
Lots of talk through the disappointing playoffs about certain players not being effective. Players that seem to be popular teammates. Fred, Walman, Savoie, plus some vets Nuge, nurse.
Maybe holding on to the players that you know will improve and are popular teammates is Leon’s preferred way?
…. doubtful nurse will improve.
I’m not too worried about the process with the firing. Brian Lawton told Bob this happens all of the time, people in the league get it. Unfortunate that someone leaked it. It was either Vegas or Cassidy’s agent. There is no benefit for anyone with the Oilers to do that
I think as some have said Knoblauch probably had been told he was done, and they were waiting to hire Cassidy and do it all at once or close together
As for due diligence, when you are looking at high profile coaches, which isn’t a bad way to go, what do you need to know that isn’t widely known? Talk to make sure there is a fit with vision, make sure the guy has his life together. How wide did the Ducks look?
It’s another thing if the person isn’t high profile, sure do lots of background work. Gregor was saying interview lots of people and get ideas from them. I think that is unprofessional and dishonest. If you want their input hire them as a consultant. Bringing them in to interview with no intention of hiring them to take their assessment for free is bad business
I actually suspect that it was someone on the Oilers side. No way that KK didn’t know from someone that they were doing this so someone internal wants to force the Oilers hand and embarrass Vegas makes sense.
This all strikes me as using perfume in an overflowing outhouse. Cassidy might be great, but so was Knoblauch, until he wasn’t. The origin of the infection lies elsewhere and many posters have flagged that.
I’m on record as advocating for Knoblauch’s dismissal even before the playoffs started, but always felt he is a good man and was just becoming ineffective. It’s a shame he takes the brunt of this when others should be shown the door with him. Good luck to him, he will hired elsewhere, I’m sure.
Sadly, McDavid’s time in an Oilers uniform lies in the balance, so I will begin adjusting my expectations to a time when he may no longer be an Oiler. I mean, answer the question. If you are him, would you not look back at your career and see how poorly managed this team was over his years here and lose patience? In saying this, he should not be excused for his poor defensive play or apparent refusal to adjust
The Edmonton Coach Killers management team needs to take a real hard look inside the dressing room. There are a few things that are consistent across all the coach firings that cannot be overlooked.
Yep, I’d just specify that the players need to look hard in the mirror in the dressing room.
The tail can’t wag the dog any longer, this mutt is tiring
Clever thinking. JMO, but this is missing the entire picture
THIS all day.
Man, I never thought of that?! Good, let’s show 97 and 29 the door, right? is that what you mean? I jest, or are you going to hold management accountable as well at some point
Oh I should have thought of that! I’ll just ignore all day every day the great championship level management this team has mustered and the fact that the coach killer management team brought them to 2 consecutive SC finals in spite of President and GM incompetence….so, with respect, you’re zeroing in on the players only captures part of the issue. Of coarse the players are accountable. But have fun with it. Of coarse, JMO
“… he should not be excused for his poor defensive play or apparent refusal to adjust”
McD may not be a good fit for this team or this market. Why? Too much expected of him? No leadership/mentors?
The panic about “the window” becomes too much for anyone to bear, it seems. The coach with “gravitas” isn’t grave enough to calm the hysteria.
If he really is refusing to adjust, this is not the place for him?
Your nuanced take is interesting, and challenges my thinking. Thank you
Colby Cohen played for years under Cassidy. He was on ON Everyday yesterday for apx 30 minutes and I would posit that whoever listens will come away with a much better knowledge of Bruce Cassidy as a coach (and likely very excited about what he might be able to do with this team).
Let’s not forget, Friedman says the Oilers and Cassidy’s top choice and we know Fridge does not put that out there without full verification.
I will also note the reference to getting McDavid to play more like a noted teenager – a tough tough opinion, but one with real veracity.
I wish that I could convince myself to cheer for another team.
Have you considered cheering against the teams you don’t like? 😁
I wish the owner or his kids had more Steinbrenner in them.
That presser should get Bowman fired into the sun. Won’t happen.
In my opinion, KK did plenty to get himself fired this season.
1 In a year where we turned over half the roster and were holding open auditions in a number if key spots, he showed a lack of a plan for how to break in and support new players in a structured way. We needed new guys to grow into and grab spots on the roster, and he buried them time and again in favor of vets who were playing poorly.
2 The team’s tactics were a mess. Basically no plan for how to play in the neutral zone, we either just fired a stretch pass and hoped for the best, or let the other team carry it in and went into “defense” mode. The PK was atrocious, in part, to overly passive play. We are supposedly a fast team, but everyone seemed so static all the time, and any time that played an even slightly aggressive style ate our lunch.
3 Deployment was all over the place leading to a lack of identity and chemistry. On the one hand, I understand trying different looks to prepare for when players are lost to injury, but he took it to the next level. There was no point in looking at lines at the start of the game, because 100% they would be blenderized half way through the first period.
4 The leaders on the team were openly questioning the coach. This signals a rift in the room, possibly due to poor communication or lack of leadership on KK’s part. Makes me think all the way back to McDavid’s comment about trying the same thing over and over. KK tried to innovate, but at the same time seemed too inflexible to adapt to the situation in front of him in a timely fashion.
5 The lack of linematching to optimize matchups, when your team has just acquired a tough minutes defense-minded center with limited offensive upside, shows an intellectual laziness to me. Even then, if you’re going to roll 4 lines then I guess you could call that a choice, but as soon as the going got tough he just started playing the snot out of his top guys. Which makes it feel like rolling the lines was more of a lack of awareness/understanding than a conscious decision.
6 Alluded to above, overplaying the top guys due to a lack of planning/perceived alternatives. Every Oilers coach seems drawn to this eventually, but most fans were calling this out after game 1, and it never changed. Even elites are human, they need rest to perform at their best. Everyone knew that the condensed schedule would pose a risk to players’ durability, and by the end of the season you could see the toll that it had on them. Maybe not 100% avoidable, but could have been mitigated with some workload management.
It does make you wonder what a more experienced coach could have gotten out of this roster in 23-24 and 24-25. All hindsight, vut I hope our next hire is a but more inspired than McDavid’s former coach from juniors.
I think we found out this year how much Guluztan (and Coffey) had been doing.
Kris Knoblauch, Jeff Jackson and Stan Bowman are on a a sinking life raft in the middle of the ocean surrounded by Great White sharks(fans and media). Jeff and Stan push Kris into the water who is devoured instantly. The sharks are too many and are now circling at a more aggressive rate unsatisfied with their appetizer. The raft has now sprung a new leak with the pushing of Kris in and all the thrashing taking place. The sun is close to setting now and the scent of fresh blood has added even more fins to the horizon…
there was a Spittin Chiclets episodea while back where Ryan Whitney talked about a couple funny stories of Pat Quinn that Horcoff told him about.
He said one night when Quinn was head coach they were getting shelled like 5-1 by Detroit going into the second with 3 powerplay goals scored against them in a row. Quinn didn’t say anything to the team so Horcoff went into Quinn’s office to ask how they should change up the PK, and when he walked in he saw Pat with his feet up watching the Brier.
I (sadly) remember Coach Quinn in a post-game interview referring to “that fast kid on the wing.”
He forgot Andrew Cogliano’s name.
Whitney told another story from Horcoff on how Horc and the other Oiler captains tried talking to Quinn about something and he told them to “take it up with the team leaders”.
one other funny one I heard when he was coaching team Canada and was pissed after a loss and said something like “Hernandez is playing net next game” and walked out of the room. The team shrugged and guessed he was talking about Marty Turco.
Matty straight up asks Bowman if the reports that Bouchard played with a concussion are true and Bowman says no, they are not.
Hmm. Woodcroft’s season just ended.
Are they not playing game 6 tonight?
Oh jeez. I got ahead of myself.
Ducks forfeit in memorial of Knobber’s coaching that led them to the second round.
Truly the only honourable way to commemorate his achievements
Having your commentator ask planted questions is so bush league. Good gawd this org is embarrassing.
Stauffer continuously bringing up playing McDavid and Draisaitl together, tells me this is a directive from the management not the coach.
WWF Jack also read a script…I mean asked a question.
They better get a centre then. Dickinson or RNH at 2C will be a predictable disaster.
But Dickinson and RNH will play more! Don’t you get it
Jack Michaels works for Rogers/SportsNet – not the Oilers.
If you’re going to insist on being this way, how about spending 5 seconds to search before you speak?
https://www.nhl.com/oilers/team/jack-michaels
I am excited for the change and coming season. Maybe the new HC can get the team to start on time (October). That would be a nice change. Commit to a structured team game. That would be nice. Balance ice time for individuals and lines. Would be nice.
If all that can be done, perhaps the goalies show better. Perhaps a Division Title.
and all that adds up to HOPE.
“We hoped for the best but it turned out like always.” -Chernomyrdin
(Chernomyrdin was like the Yogi Berra of Russian politics. He also further observed, “This has never happened before, and now it’s happening again,” plus “We have accomplished all items: from A to B,” and “I will not speak much, otherwise I will say something again.” There is a park in his home town of Orenburg festooned with all of his famous sayings.)
The most ridiculous and illustrative thing I heard yesterday: radio hosts complaining about the scratching of Trent Frederic and saying this was somehow a coaching failure.
They really don’t know what they’re talking about.
Now, trying to play an injured 3rd liner (at best) with your 2 big stars and stubbornly sticking to it..,THAT is a coaching failure.
Im not sure I understand.
You mean he should not have been scratched in playoffs? Or against Calgary?
The first i agree with, the second was questionable.
He should have been scratched most of the season.
The radio commentators were arguing that he needed to be playing, and that not playing him was a coaching flaw.
The flaw is the idiot who put this guy on your roster and gave him 8 years of NTC.
You don’t play him into being a contributor. That’s not how this works.
He’s saying that the hosts think scratching Frederic was a mistake and disagrees
I don’t care anymore. Babcock.
What about Babcock appeals to you?
He knows hockey. Gets results. He’s the biggest dick in hockey, I know but we might only have 1 year left of 97.
What results? What about him gets results, because I don’t see any that are all that impressive on my end.
Babcock has only made it out of the first round 3 times in the last 11 seasons he coached. He has made 3 finals (Knoblauch has two).
Knoblauch’s worst season had a .567% points percentage. Babcock’s worst was a .567%… if you ignore the two seasons he failed to make the playoffs.
He knows hockey, but doesn’t understand people. The book is out on him, and he is the biggest dick in hockey. Like prevent Modano from reaching 1500 games big. Like ostracizing the rookie Marner big. Like convincing players to waive their NMC and uplift their families in exchange for the promise to play… and then getting scratched for 17 games big.
Babcock never had the quality of roster that KK did so I don’t think comparing winning percentages is useful here. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Like I said, this might be 97’s final season here. Let’s finish it with a bang. Vegas brought in Torts with 8 games left. Toronto hired Chayka. I’d be cool with a 1 year contract for Babs.
It is a tragedy the Oilers didn’t fire Knobber last May and hire Coach Q.
While we were in the second round?
Think outside the box!
There was a lot of talk right after they hired Bowman that he should/would hire Quenneville right then or have him as a backup plan if KK stumbled. Hiring him as an associate would have been a solid move though.
Gerald Gallant?
Go Oilers!
Tychowski pointed out the average lifespan of an Oilers coach since DK bought the team in 2008 is 134 games.
It’s a billionaire plaything. As long as there’s drama, the money keeps rolling in…
I think it’s fair to ask why the Oilers hired McDavid’s junior coach in Year 9 of McDavid, in the midst of our Cup Window, if not to please McDavid. That is an interesting question and wasn’t really ever asked by our feckless media.
But for Spector to lay the blame for this at the feet of McDavid and Draisaitl, who have 2 of the highest PPG in the playoffs in the modern era of hockey, who both have won Hart trophies, and are first ballot HOFers, is just ****ing unbelievable diarrhea.
The media loves to blame the players, going back decades, which is especially rich given how many coaches and GMs this organization has been through.
Knoblauch was very good for two years.
Had a run of 24-3 when the Oilers were in utter despair to begin the ‘23 season. Oilers played a mature defensive game to get past Dallas in the WCF two seasons in a row.
It was not a waste to have had Knoblauch for those two playoff runs. It would be a mistake to have him as HC going forward.
Cassidy will demand an honest and diligent approach from the team’s leadership. This was a problem this past season, but it hadn’t been previously.
Knob was great in 23-24. I think losing McLeod was tough on knob. He lost his 3C that he trusted and the bottom 6 never recovered after that. Then that has a ripple effect on the entire bottom of the roster.
Our bottom-6 depth won us the series against LA last season.
Connor Brown, Henrique, Perry, Kane all contributed… even Podkolzin had 4 assists.
Bottom-6 was terrific last playoff.
I saw someone post in pre-season 2024-25 about how the PK that was so dominant in the 2024 playoffs had been dismantled and it would bite the team in the ass. Fast forward to 2026 and the PK sunk the team vs. Anaheim.
Their playoff 2024 penalty killers in order of PK time: Ekholm, RNH, Ceci, Janmark, Desharnais, Nurse, McLeod, Brown, Foegele, Ryan
I liked KK’s record and had modest faith in him until last spring.
The second SCF was an absolute fail on the part of the head coach.
We did not see that anything had been learned, anything new applied, between the head to heads with the Cats.
This season past was terrible. Whatever KK’s merits as a leader, teacher, strategist or tactician, anyone tuning in could tell he had lost the room (he had lost McDrai).
100% agree
Knob didn’t have the answers this year and it’s time for a new bench boss
He and others lost McDavid because McDavid gave up quite a few million to try and better the team.
Of course, we know the McDavid had nothing to do with the Knoblauch hiring – he was a Jeff Jackson hire, a guy Jackson had been talking about as a head coach in the NHL for years. McDavid did not have an ongoing relationship with Knoblauch after junior.
These facts have beens stated and out there (and I have provided them to you multiple times in response to posts like this). You don’t refute them or discuss them but ignore them and then post agains the facts again.
Do you refute the facts?
Gravitas. They’re in the Swedish Elite League, right? 🙂
Bob Stauffer
@Bob_Stauffer
My belief is that the @EdmontonOilers will target an Experienced Head Coach with Gravitas who has had a history of having structure and process in his team’s game…and has won before!
Someone mentioned Laviolette yesterday.
Starting to wonder if the Cassidy kerfuffle is/was a smokescreen.
I think they know that if Vegas plays hardball and they really want Cassidy, they may lose out on both and be stuck wondering if Manny Malhotra might be good.
Ah, crap. I just realized we’re getting Berube……
That same thought crossed my mind earlier and then I thought about grabbing a bottle of Writer’s Tears for breakfast. And I quit drinking a long time back!
If it wasn’t for the Oilers… I wouldn’t have ulcers.
While the Oilers definitely have had their fair share of gong show moments and bad moves, some of the claims of incompetence of management and coaching is a bit hyperbolized. It is only fair to compare them to all other NHL orgs and you will see most have their fair share of incompetence but fans are biased to cherry pick to confirm their opinion (a very natural bias humans have).
And to compare against other Oilers eras like LT is doing, I really this current crop of coaches and management are better than the average post-Sather. I still think Coach KK should go because it appears his message has worn out (I think the leadership group isn’t getting talked about enough to be honest for why this is the case) but grilling the org for going through too many coaches or firing before the extension kicks in doesn’t make much sense to me. Coach KK lasted the average life span of a coach and the Oilers flexed their financial muscles to make sure they had the guaranteed option of keeping KK for next year. Literally a no risk move that works well for both sides (a $10M severance package is 10x what some people make in a lifetime).
Spector is talking about it today. That means it’s now out in the open.
I’m not a fan of Spector but kudos to him! Kinda makes me reconsider my opinion now though…..
Spector is a weird combination of loud/quiet and right/wrong. Every once in a while he strikes gold but it’s just so random and he’s very stubborn too.
Well put. If the delivery of his opinions and questions were more nuanced and personable, he’d be much better received
Less than two years ago we were just eliminated by the panthers and I was so excited for the future of this team. With the Stan plan we’re talking about dismantling the team less than two years later
If I’m Cassidy, I’m getting a 5 year contract or I’m not coming to northern Alberta. This whole front office might be turfed within the next 2 years. How often in his career is he going to be the belle of the ball, and have this many teams looking for a coach at the same time. He should lean into this moment and hit a homerun.
—JJ “ok owner, yeah we’ve got our guy. But his price and term went up. Weird I know. He wants $8 x 5”
— Owner : “didn’t we just start the clock on the coach you hired for 3 years who you advocated for”?
— JJ: “yeah but this guy is way better, so shiny. . We got this. KK wasn’t going to take us to promise land. Cassidy is the one we need”.
Toronto would probably do $7M X 5yrs if he’s their guy. Kings and Canucks probably not, but there’s going to be competition.
Toronto under Pelley is weird. He’s so focused on profits you can have dinner in the locker room but also fires the coach/GM with time left on their contracts. They could go super cheap or super expensive. Who knows?