Follow @SMaloughney
Of the many promises and remarks made by Chiarelli when he first took the reigns as the Oilers GM; one which made most fans hopeful was that he would build a team to compete against the Pacific.
For many years the Oilers were battered and bruised by the top teams in the Pacific. Anaheim, LA, and San Jose were forces to be reckoned with and dominated Edmonton in almost every metric. To his credit, Edmonton has performed well against it's own division.
Last season despite all it's woes Edmonton went 16-9-2 against it's own division. The prior year when the Oil made the playoffs the team went 20-3-3.
There are still plenty of Pacific games left, with a good portion of them this month, and so far Edmonton is not taking advantage of the four point swings. Edmonton fans are wringing their shirts knowing that there is a very real chance the team could be out of playoff contention before December...again.
---
These first few paragraphs were what I wrote before news broke that Todd McLellan was relieved of his duties and replaced with Ken Hitchcock. There is nothing now in the way between the loaded gun and Peter Chiarelli.
I feel for Oilers fans. For those hoping that Hitchcock can right the ship I would say keep believing. Hitchcock cannot fix what ails this team, nor could any coach in the NHL. This is a grossly flawed roster.
For those expecting Puljujarvi to suddenly be up with McDavid it ain’t going to happen. Hitchcock is another coach who puts his trust into veterans and isn’t likely to be focusing on Puljujarvi or Yamamoto at this time. Hitchcock is the antithesis of a players coach. He has clashed with elite players in the past and does not tolerate poor play. I am looking forward to how he views some players I will not mention in this blog.
Ken Hitchcock will be behind the bench tonight for the Edmonton Oilers. As of right now the lineup remains the same but it will be interesting to watch how quickly Hitchcock starts playing with combinations as the game progresses.
SHARKS
1) Welcome The New Boss. Hitchcock will join the team before the game starts and will get his first look at the Edmonton Oilers. As far as the game goes we will see the same lines, powerplay, and penalty kill. For the Oilers this is essentially a job interview. Hitchcock will see how this team plays together and figure out how he wants to proceed.
2) The Flood Gates Have Opened. Erik Karlsson finally scored his first goal as a San Jose Shark. Karlsson thus far has been solid if not underwhelming in the points category with 12 points in 21 games. Now that he has the monkey off of his back he will be focusing on potting some more.
3) A New Starter. As of right now Cam Talbot has lost his starting position. Yes the team in front of him has not done him any favours but Talbot has not been nearly good enough. Koskinen has a .917 SV% and will start for the team tonight.
4) Maybe Use A Timeout? One of the many things that frustrated me with Todd McLellan is how he never seemed to use a timeout...especially when things started to spiral. Too many times this season the Oilers have gotten caught in games and overwhelmed, usually letting in a couple goals in short succession. The coach needs to calm his team down and get them back to playing their game. Will be interesting to see how Hitchcock handles this bench.
FILM OF THE DAY
On a positive note, Todd McLellan no longer has to work for a corporate organization that is caused him nothing but grief. To commemorate this I picked the best movie about getting fired, Office Space.
------
ORIGINAL BLOG
Wow.
As I sat here writing today's Game Day blog the Oilers pulled a stunner, relieving Todd McLellan of his coaching duties and announcing Ken Hitchcock as the 15th coach in Oilers history.
Fans were excited when McLellan was announced as head coach and it was a move heralded by all as a good decision. McLellan and his team had one of the leagues best power-plays consistently in San Jose and had success with young players.
Over time however fans became infuriated with some of his decisions. His constant unwarranted trust in players like Lucic while flat out hurting the development of budding talent like Jesse Puljujarvi. He continuously forced an ineffective powerplay and penalty kill in Edmonton without ever seeming to change things.
At the end of the day, McLellan was given a roster with Connor McDavid and little else. I will fondly remember the 2016/2017 playoff run and wish him the best in his future coaching endeavors.
Hitchcock strikes me as an interesting choice and not necessarily in a good way. His years with the Blues and later with the Stars were coaching big physical teams that play a stringent D and I don't think Edmonton has the pieces in place to play that type of system.
The best news for Oilers fans out of this is the way has finally been cleared for the firing of Peter Chiarelli. He has already made a trade this season to try and shake things up and now has fired his coach. Should the team continue to struggle there is nothing left for him to hide behind.
I'll update this blog in a couple of hours with the Game Day.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»