Confirmed with Link: Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson fired - no more Woody during NNN - Kris Knoblauch hired, Coffey as assistant

[Cloned]

Random fun fact of the day: Knoblauch played with Jarret Stoll in the WHL.

Stoll is definitely gonna be on the Oilers staff one day.

 

[BlackDogg]

Shit, I've been calling frank chuck.

 

[Oilhawks]

Jackson is a Katz guy too imo. Make no mistakes.

Katz is running a gong show. No other NHL franchise is run like this.

Aquaman in Vancouver had (has?) some sort of similar wacky shit going on there too. I guess now that they’re on a big PDO heater the narrative that he’s meddling in everything has died down a bit. When the Oilers were successful there was less talk of Katz meddling as well (but he always had some crony - ex Bob Burgers)

Canucks roster is beautifully balanced and Alvinn created an identity for them imo. That horvat trade looked odd, but given the direction the club headed Miller was who they needed. I would take the canucks management over ours 10000x

Nevermind, just saw this, I think we disagree on the owner meddling bit then. They immediately came to mind for me. Nepotism runs deep in most orgs though. Sometimes you’re lucky and get a good batch of nepotism for a bit

 

[Cloned]

I’m kinda pulling for Coffey here.

It’d be hilarious if he was the member of the OBC to actually be consistently good as an NHL executive.

It’d be some nice personal redemption for him too. The guy that left the dynasty early for money and was persona non grata to the Oilers for so long comes back and saves the organization.

This board would probably implode from the shock.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I think this stuff happens a lot in hockey honestly. And not just the Oilers. I think the Owners and their advisors mettle in things all the time. GM obviously has a lot of say but they are similar to a coach where they are the fall guy at times.

It happens a lot in the world. If you're running a successful office without undue conflict you're trusted to handle affairs. If on the other hand You're being Ken Holland you start to be watched and monitored closely and your phone doesn't work, login doesn't work and all you know is you're still getting paid and the money is good.

I was reading Hollands mind through this. "I'm making 5M for this shit"

 

[LeonDraisaitl29]

Campbell .826 in the AHL but woodcroft was the problem...lol

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Thats a rather positive perspective on Coffey.
Being that he is a close friend of Katz this presents itself as a move with very questionable optics.

I think pretty highly of Coffey. I felt this team needed a head coach with Cup experience and poise. They went the other direction with a green banana with a lot of head coaching experience but not at NHL level. Think the coach but also the players will positively lean on Coffey's experience. So much of the issue is between the ears for this team. I'm hopeful Coffey can help tap into this support.

The Katz relationship makes it murky for sure. But Oil determined Manson needed to go as well and no way they were going to find a d-coach willing to do an interim basis until end of year. Coffey was available and know this team's personnel. Martin St. Louis went from coaching Pee-Wees to NHL players. I feel Coffey to assistant coach is reasonable, all things considered.

The second point I make in what you bolded is a belief that coaching is a smaller piece of the puzzle. There have been rotating good coaches here and results are temporary. The malaise is largely a player issue imo (almost always is versus the disposable coaching voice).

 

[Mr Positive]

This might be the biggest factor in what's causing a lot of disjointed play from us. Actually I would say it definitely is, the inability of our defencemen to move the puck out of our zone efficiently, usually due to being too slow.

However, it has been that way through numerous coaches. This is the NHL, and no coach is asking them to hesitate, and no strategy is being employed anywhere on earth where a defenceman is being asked to move it faster.

I fear the reason this is happening is because most of our D are simply incapable of thinking the sport at a high enough level. We know Bouchard is a great offensive mind, but go back and watch his junior highlights. He has always played in slow motion with the puck, yet makes it work. Ekholm has never been a breakout pass, offensive type. None of our D have. Nurse has always tried skating the puck out or smashing it off the glass. This is an issue with personnel, not coaching.

If they were capable of moving the puck out quicker, they already would be. You notice this with opposition as well, some of their D don't process the sport fast enough to make nice quick passes out of the zone with the timings of forwards. There's a high barrier for entry to be able to do that it seems league-wide, especially as the game gets quicker. Unfortunately it seems like all of our D don't have it in them. Periodically we see a nice one, but not nearly enough. Contrast to seeing Quinn Hughes, just as one example. It really is night and day.

There are different possibilities for why our D suffers from this problem. If there is a fundamental issue with our defense, that is unfixable in the short term, or even the medium term.
It is also possible that this is a gap in the Woodcroft/Manson coaching group. So many are saying that it wasn't on them, and I'm not saying it was, but it might have been.

Most importantly, changing the coach is extremely easy and doesn't cost us assets. We've seen with our team and others that a coaching change can spark a team to go on a run as well, so there is that side benefit.

When it comes to coaching changes, or any changes, a lot depends on what is the plan for after. Maybe they talked to Knoblauch and they liked his plan. Maybe Jackson already knew him really well and didn't need to talk to him.

 

[MoontoScott]

Well let's see who the replacement is. Hopefully Manson and especially Schwartz are gone as well. Bonus points if Holland gets the f*** out too. Maybe we can get a coach that knows how to help our team be a better 5 v 5 team.

Woody is gone but the GM should be too. Woody wasn't the guy who was in charge of finding a goaltender.

 

[FlameChampion]

I agree. Dont get me wrong because I think Woody was exactly what we needed when he was hired. Hes a smart guy and was a great communicator with the media. I just don't see the same coach anymore. When Jay started he had buy-in from the depth guys, didnt run mcrdai together for 25 minutes a night and did a better job of protecting our blue line.

Woodcroft has this team firing on all cylinders after the deadline. I think his inability to make adjustments and coach in the playoffs was his first strike. At no point did the Oilers have control over a series and barely made it out LA. Playoffs are a different beast and I dont think Woody prepared his team well enough against their specific opponents. Ridding Skinner over Campbell at the time was baffling not to mention his involvement in keeping VD instead of bringing in another veteran.

The second strike was his inability to coach the new system. Now I dont know who made the decision to change to a zone defence but at the end of the day he failed to implement the new system. It's hard to blame the players when they came weeks early to learn the new system. It's obvious guys didnt know where to go. Maybe he would figure it out but how much rope do you give him? This is a results oriented business and going 2-9-1 is unacceptable. You have two Ferraris in the garage that are both capable of stealing games. Neither guy looks good under the new system and that's alarming. So if they arent changing the system they need a coach that can find success.

The third strike is the accountability. Players that make mistakes just get put back onto the ice. Bouchard makes a brain fart but still plays 22 minutes. How hard is it to bench a guy for 5 minutes? Why arent the veteran plays held to the same rules as the rookies and depth players?

Dont even get me started with the 11-7. It's hard to blame the "4th line" of two players who dont know who their linemates are, when they are going on the ice, etc. Playing VD, Broberg, Erne and Holloway 5-8 minutes a night doesnt help build anyone's confidence. You have to give your guys a chance and let them get their feet wet or send them to the minors if they arent ready.

I do get the feeling that his big head wasnt fitting through the door. I do get the feeling that the fun is no longer there. Like let the guys go out and play the game they enjoy. It's just the regular season.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Similarly, I don’t see the same coach who started here versus the one that left. I just wonder why he changed? I got similar vibes as Tippett when he left. Are the players playing the system the coach wants? Or was it just Woodcroft arrogance. Guess we will never know.

 

[Mr Positive]

Woody is gone but the GM should be too. Woody wasn't the guy who was in charge of finding a goaltender.

Holland might be gone already, and just a figurehead for the time being.

Isn't it odd how Knoblauch is Jackson all over? If I would guess, Holland is not quite powerless yet but if the results don't show up soon, that's it. So Holland will be working the phones for a goalie, but of course Jackson has to sign off on any move, and Jackson might be phoning too.

Or maybe it's Jackson already.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

So one thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet.

Woodcroft’s first game as head coach was against the Islanders.

Knoblauch’s first game as head coach here will be against… the Islanders.

Did we win?

Edit. We did 3-1.

 

[Oilhawks]

Campbell .826 in the AHL but woodcroft was the problem...lol

He certainly wasn’t the solution though. Another soft preseason, refusal to adapt, overplaying top players and inability to give role players an actual role (even though he did it his first season and much of last season). Overplayed and overworked Skinner even with Campbell seemed to be a viable option. Campbell sucks but having the coach tell a headcase that he has no confidence in him and getting these results isn’t all that surprising to me

 

[Cloned]

Did we win?

Hopefully yes to both.

 

[MoontoScott]

He certainly wasn’t the solution though. Another soft preseason, refusal to adapt, overplaying top players and inability to give role players an actual role (even though he did it his first season and much of last season). Overplayed and overworked Skinner even with Campbell seemed to be a viable option. Campbell sucks but having the coach tell a headcase that he has no confidence in him and getting these results isn’t all that surprising to me

Let's hope the new coaching staff are good at stopping pucks too.

 

[Oilhawks]

Let's hope the new coaching staff are good at stopping pucks too.

The goaltending is a problem, no doubt. But the lack of commitment to two way play and garbage defending aren’t helping any goaltender

 

[MoontoScott]

The goaltending is a problem, no doubt. But the lack of commitment to two way play and garbage defending aren’t helping any goaltender

Am I right in thinking that Dustin got to keep his job or do we know that yet?

 

[RegDunlop]

If Holland is getting phased out and Coffey is now the assistant coach… who’s looking for a goalie?

If the LRT is heading north
And the wind is coming from the east
Which way is the smoke blowing?

 

[brentashton]

So one thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet.

Woodcroft’s first game as head coach was against the Islanders.

Knoblauch’s first game as head coach here will be against… the Islanders.

Cool. What does that mean? Knoblauchs last game will be against the Kracken?

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Cool. What does that mean? Knoblauchs last game will be against the Kracken?

We play the Kraken on Wednesday

 

[RegDunlop]

As far as I can tell Coffey is an advisor to Katz. So this is obviously a Katz decision.
What kind of statement is this on Knobby? Katz's little spy is going to report back to the big guy on whats going on?
This is a joke. Katz hires fools like Bobby Burgers and then he is puzzled why the team isnt succeeding so he has his buddy sit on the bench so he can get intel? LOL

Its embarrassing as hell. Its the kind of crap that Katz was pulling back when he bought the team

Who does this?

We do

Kids at school - that's all they are.

Remember MacT on the bench holding TN hand?

Always another embarrassing moment just around the corner

 

[Mr Kot]

If the LRT is heading north
And the wind is coming from the east
Which way is the smoke blowing?

 

[MoontoScott]

Cool. What does that mean? Knoblauchs last game will be against the Kracken?

Let's hope Knoblauch can motivate some defensive responsibilities and back checking amongst the lads.

If not it won't be long before we hear the "who hired this Knob?" chants.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

Knoblauch is also like the sixth hire in a row to say the Oilers reached out a few days ago and then it moved really fast.

Can we not just have interviews? Please! The entire direction of this organization was decided in the last several months and there was no hiring process.

 

[brentashton]

Let's hope Knoblauch can motivate some defensive responsibilities and back checking amongst the lads.

If not it won't be long before we hear the "who hired this Knob?" chants.

I think KK is a lot like JW. He’s a smart hockey guy that can read and adjust. Can communicate with players and has great potential. JW is not done in this league at all I believe (although I felt he was done here and needed to be changed out). I believe JW and Dave M had their legs cut out from under them from within the dressing room. KK May get a bit more leeway as the cut man is his guy. I am just so disgusted with the management of this org right now. It’s a complete disaster.