Edmonton changed coaches again – what if the problem is with the core players?

In the NHL, coaching jobs have traditionally been considered windy jobs. The position is sought after and highly paid, but the work may end at any time.

The coach’s job in Edmonton can be considered particularly windy.

I follow my own reservation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has represented the Oilers for thirteen seasons and during that time played for ten different head coaches. The reading does not really flatter the management ladder more than the club culture.

– It’s been like a toilet seat, GM Ken Holland comments on the head coach’s ball at the Oilers in February 2022.

At that time, the club director assured his trust in the then head coach Dave Tippett. Holland added that you can’t keep kicking the coaches.

However, for one reason or another, Holland has done exactly that – most recently on Sunday.

Holland, who is retiring in the summer, has hired three new head coaches during his four years in Edmonton.

The NHL’s fifth winningest coach got the boot in the last three seasons Jay Woodcroft. A replacement was hired from Hartford’s AHL team Chris Knoblauch.

After being hired in Edmonton in May 2019, Holland assured that he would not act as he has done.

– I believe in permanence and loyalty. I believe in a good plan and sticking to it. I’m going to implement these things in Edmonton and decide who will be part of this plan, Holland stated at the press conference where he was introduced as the Oilers’ GM for the first time.

Nothing changes

Edmonton’s situation is still about much more than an individual club manager. The most important of the questions is probably why Connor McDavid’s during a nine-year NHL career, no head coach has truly taken control of the team and committed to the laws of winning hockey? It’s definitely been tried.

Once respected and now currently piloting Los Angeles perfectly Todd McLellan was fired at the end of 2018, the Edmonton Sun assesses the situation as follows:

“McLellan got the boot because Edmonton lost six of the previous seven games. The Oilers lost games because of the goaltending Cam Talbot returned to last season’s level and was miserable. And because GM Peter Chiarelli failed in strengthening the defensive equipment, developing young players and strengthening the winger department.”

After McLellan, Ken Hitchcock and Dave Tippett, who approached the game through defense, had gotten the boot, Sun started to highlight the responsibility of the players as well. The gameplay issues were very similar back then to now:

“McLellan, Tippett and Hitchcock, the trio that won more than 2,000 games in the NHL in total, were unable to get the club to the next level. So this now also affects the players. They can’t run away from this, especially not the leading players. Tippett, known as an organizer of the defensive game, couldn’t get this team to play 3-2 hockey. Maybe I’ll get a new coach. Or then not. Superiority attacks on your own or the opponent completely free in a dangerous goal position. No defense whatsoever. It goes to the coach, but definitely also to the players.”

How many coaches does McDavid need?

Connor McDavid, Leon DraisaitlRyan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse are Edmonton’s leading players. Is it really the case that the fault has always been with the coaches? Could Kris Knoblauch, a completely inexperienced AHL pilot at the NHL level, really be the wizard who opens all emotional locks of the collective?

– Does a person change when the boss changes? People don’t change, or at least it’s damn hard, ‘s ice hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen says.

– The big push now has to come from the players. Guys have to start demanding that each other do small things well. So far, the guys have only taken care of their own box there. The players have to start demanding from each other the right world of hockey and sportsmanship.

Not much has changed in Edmonton over the years. Game-wise and soul-wise, the team is just as unreliable as during the previous pilots. A few successful player acquisitions will not change the big picture if the culture is not nurtured by the players.

Edmonton’s previous GM, Peter Chiarelli, hired two coaches for McDavid and co. Holland has hired three.

What if there are no results with Knoblauch, is it the coach’s fault again? Of course, the club management also plays a significant role in building the team.

– Don’t come and tell me that Woodcroft was a bad coach. That he doesn’t know how to organize special situations, opening or defensive play. It’s an endless road if the coach has to solve everything and do it himself. The best leading players are tough and blunt. “Leading players have the courage to take a hard line even on difficult issues,” Lehkonen says and praises their character.

– My message to that group would be very simple. I would ask if we have the character to start playing 2-1 games. If it really has character, that should be found out.

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