Jump to content

Todd McLellan fired, Ken Hitchcock in as Oilers new HC


JR Ewing

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, blocker said:

Most here know something about Hitchcock's wife.

 

Maybe he took the job to get out of the house.

In totally unrelated news the Edmonton retail sector is doing the happy dance. The prospect of Mrs.Hitchcock with new access to NHL money is viewed as a real money "maker"....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I kinda see the Oilers thought process. The offensive depth is so bad, the only clear path to the playoffs (which is exactly what Chicc needs to save his job btw) is to switch to a trap type of defensive shell and hope McJesus comes through capitalizing on mistakes when needed.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Some interesting comments in Hitch's interview.  For one I didn't know he was from Edmonton which probably had a significant impact in his desire to coach the Oilers.    "He knows what is wrong, but it won't get fixed overnight.  Players have to buy in.  Not going to be comfortable at times.  Not going to win with talent, going to have to win hockey games for each other and not with each other."

 

Hitch has the confidence to help lighten McDavid's load.  Honestly, I think Hitch will make a big difference with this lost team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, hf101 said:

 

Some interesting comments in Hitch's interview.  For one I didn't know he was from Edmonton which probably had a significant impact in his desire to coach the Oilers.    "He knows what is wrong, but it won't get fixed overnight.  Players have to buy in.  Not going to be comfortable at times.  Not going to win with talent, going to have to win hockey games for each other and not with each other."

 

Yeah, people around the organization have known him for years and years. He practically lived at Northlands while he was coaching bantam. His day job was selling hockey equipment in those days, and he was the go-to guy before he ended up coaching Kamloops.

 

 

37 minutes ago, hf101 said:

Hitch has the confidence to help lighten McDavid's load.  Honestly, I think Hitch will make a big difference with this lost team.

 

Here's hoping.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

@yave1964 Maybe I'm the dog that's been beaten so many times that I'm just mean for good, but I'm not really that thrilled about it being Hitchcock. They went from an old school coach with an out-of-date approach to an older old school coach. This is a team with guys afraid to make mistakes, and they've been given a coach who, if they lose 1-0 will spend the next practice telling them that their problem was about the goal they gave up.

 

Hope I'm wrong.

 

I can understand how you feel.  Its like him and Quenville are the only answers.  This is why Pegula took a shot with Housley.  To get a younger guy in there, and give an ex great player a shot.  Of course Gretsky got his shot and was not that good a coach.  Average players like Lindy Ruff make better coach's usually.  I thin Ruff would be great for St Louis.  The axe is going to fall there.  Hitchcock gets wins wherever he goes at least.  Good luck.  You have the one man wrecking machine to work and build around.  I understand what Hitch meant by "play for each other rather than with". Something to that effect.   IE sacrifice yourself for your team mate.  The Knute Rockne type of ra ra stuff.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My take on this hiring/firing....

It was pretty clear to everyone that with McClellan at the helm and the roster not so easily changed up in the immediate future, that the same type of season as last was in store for this team.

So, as a quick fix, McClellan gets let go...enter a man who has a track record of results, or at least turn arounds, on franchises that have either been underperforming or need to get out of some divisional cellar.

So by my first two points, Ken Hitchcock should be the perfect hire, right?
Not necessarily.
Again, this seems like a quick fix to me.  I'm not even gonna get into the whole GM/Chirelli screwed up spiel, though I am very well aware that the GM has as much to do with the Oiler mess (ok, ok, the leading cause) as anyone.

No...I will focus on things at ice level and behind the bench.

Enticing a retired coach to take an impromptu position on a struggling team with some very good players is just the short term solution.
The Oilers see this is still a young season, and based on the first quarter of games, it was just so apparent that Todd McClellan wasn't going to pull any rabbits out of his hat with this group.

The Oiler players themselves, I am sure, so tired of the losing culture (especially after experiencing some winning just two short seasons ago) are probably very open, and very willing to listen to a new voice, especially one with a history of positive turn arounds, even if that new voice may be harsher, more demanding, and maybe even more defensive oriented and not as offensively free flowing as many of the uber talented Oiler players would like.

For the short term, I am thinking, the guys in the locker room may very well buy into whatever defensive system Hitchcock will try selling them.
And why wouldn't they buy? Things can't be any worse than they are already. Obviously whatever McClellan was doing wasn't working, so try salvaging the season by following Coach Hitchcock's plan.....no matter how overly defensive, boring, or against the instincts of players like McDavid or Draisaitl it is.

Hitchcock is the type of guy who likes a certain type of player....big, bruising, defensive minded with the ability to score in close or in counter punch fashion after forcing a turnover in their own zone.
Not so sure that overall this Edmonton team is built the way he likes it (and he knows this going in), but again, I think in the short term, he can get even the most gifted offensive players on the team to buy in...if for no other reason than to try do SOMETHING to turn things around quickly and save the season.

Long term?
Eventually, these players are gonna want to do what comes natural to them...and that is play top flight, fast, offensive hockey.
With Hitchcock at the helm now, it will give the Oilers time to figure out who best fits that mold, while in the process, continue to shape the roster into one that would be more competitive with that kind of playstyle.

We've all seen teams with high octane lines (Dallas, Boston, Colorado) do ok, but STILL not be considered amongst the very best in the league, nor a favorite to win anything.
And I would put McDavid, Draisaitl, and whomever else on their line (RNH?) with that group.
Bottom line: they STILL need secondary and 3rd line contributions to make that top line stand even taller.
Then maybe having a guy to stop the puck when needed...boy, would that sure help things move along too.

But that is something to be worked out over the course of the season.
In the meantime, Ken Hitchcock is here.
He will install some sort of playstyle that while not the most exciting, probably gets the best results given what he has to work with.
Guys like McDavid and his ilk will STILL always produce no matter what system you put them in...and I think that is the idea here.

The Oil have a lot of work to do to be considered a stable contender....and maybe the removal of Chirelli is in the offing to that end.
But for the here and now, I think the Oilers did the best thing they could in such short notice, and given the point of the season where they are.

Good short term hire.
But if they give Hitchcock a multi-year contract..... then YIKES! might be a better reaction.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All things considered, Hitchcock is about the only 'safe' choice they can get behind. They may be the only team knowing if Quenneville is indeed going to sit out the rest of the season... One phone call inquiring about hiring him would answer that. Then after that anyone else on the horizon would be a risk to whatever degree to finish out the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What did I say yesterday, about how Hitch discusses problems? The first thing he did was tell Lucic to stop worrying about scoring goals.  lol...

Not saying he's wrong, but he is very consistent in his messaging.

 

So, one thing that I was curious about, going into the game against the Sharks was how Hitchcock would use Lucic, and made sure to pay particular attention. Would he try to match him up with skill? What would he do. He ended up settling on using him as part of a very big and heavy line (Lucic/Brodziak/Kassian) and instructed to forecheck the living hell out of the opposition.

 

Lucic’s most common opponents last night, and minutes played against:
Erik Karlsson 6.75
Brenden Dillon 5.38
Brent Burns 3.88
Evander Kane 3.47
Kevin Labanc 3.45
Joe Thornton 3.27
Marcus Sorensen 3.03
Joe Pavelski 2.92
Joonas Donskoi 2.92
Logan Couture 2.48
Timo Meier 2.37
Tomas Hertl 2.35
Justin Braun 2.02

 

They weren't sent out to battle the 4th line at all. Hitch sent them out against their best, and they were very low event in their 10 minutes. Just 5 shot attempts for but only 4 against. Those are “nobody moves and nobody gets hurt” type of minutes. (4 shots for, 2 against)

 

Unlocking Milan Lucic to be a useful player is a HUGE deal for the Edmonton Oilers, and if he can be part of a group which can grind some of the better opposition players to a draw then that opens tons of opportunities for the team's best player's to play lighter minutes. The Oilers haven't had a coach interested in gaining the matchup advantage in a VERY long time; not since Craig MacTavish was behind the bench.

 

Been awhile.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/20/2018 at 1:28 PM, JR Ewing said:

 

 

There's Taylor Hall. Oh. Wait...

They have Jordan Eberle. Oops...

What about that kid they took 1st overall? Yakupov! Hold on...

 

 

Anyone else feel like the Oilers have "saviour syndrome"? 

(They lean too heavily on one player to try and fix all their problems.)

 

I feel like the mentality in Edmonton was: "Great, we got McDavid! Now he can carry our team to a Stanley Cup! Off we go!"  They put an outrageous amount of pressure on a young guy to come in and be the leader of that team. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

Anyone else feel like the Oilers have "saviour syndrome"? 

(They lean too heavily on one player to try and fix all their problems.)

 

I feel like the mentality in Edmonton was: "Great, we got McDavid! Now he can carry our team to a Stanley Cup! Off we go!"  They put an outrageous amount of pressure on a young guy to come in and be the leader of that team. 

 

 

Yes and no, I think.

 

Problems the Oilers have:

-An owner who has hired his two best friends (Lowe and MacTavish) into key positions in Hockey Ops and kept them there despite a decade of mostly inepttitude.

-An inability to draft and develop outside of the lottery position.

-An inability to properly assess the strengths and weaknesses of their roster, and then shoot themselves on trades. I've watched this team throw a million players under the bus who then went on to do better things for another team (not really including Hall in that group).

-An inability to EVER get a deal signed for less than full dollar.

-A habit of shipping players out without having anything approaching a replacement.

 

All of those things, as you point out, put more responsibility on the shoulders of Connor McDavid (who has responded amazingly, btw) but those are all problems which predate even the hope that he might one day be an Oiler.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/20/2018 at 12:12 PM, Hockey-78 said:

Wasn't Darryl Sutter willing or will he start the 2019-2020 season as the Oilers' head coach?

 

I missed this. My understanding is that Darryl Sutter has moved back to Viking and is retired from hockey. He's happy to just work his farm every day and not deal with the nonsense and hustle of coaching in the NHL. That might change, but that's the word as of now.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I missed this. My understanding is that Darryl Sutter has moved back to Viking and is retired from hockey. He's happy to just work his farm every day and not deal with the nonsense and hustle of coaching in the NHL. That might change, but that's the word as of now.

 

Yes, I found this article. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/darryl-sutter-announces-retirement-nhl-coaching/

 

Although in it he listed Capitals not suitable since it would be so far from his grandkids. Edmonton being next to Viking makes it much more reasonable.

 

Well, just a thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, blocker said:

Hitchcock will bleed the life out of that team.  It may take a season or two, but he'll do it.

 

Well, not sure what that means, but unless the Oilers give Hitchcock a multi-year deal (questionable, due to the coach's age as JR pointed out), I think in the short term, he will teach these guys to win hockey games.....even if its by pedestrian means.

 

I think Hitchcock's track record speaks for itself...of course, that DOES include what I think you are alluding to, but again, unless he is there for a prolonged period of time (I.E. more than just a season or two), I think his presence behind the bench should be mostly positive.

And he also seems like the type of guy who even his own bosses (GM's and owners) may listen to when he says "I want this player or that player...or this player isn't worth the paper his contract is signed on".
He is a results driven man and right now, I think the Oilers franchise could use someone like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...