JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 The Edmonton Oilers have fired head coach Todd McLellan and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock, Sportsnet has confirmed. The swap at head coach will be the only change behind the Oilers bench. The move comes after a poor run that has seen the Oilers lose six of their past seven games, including a pair of tough results this past weekend against the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights. McLellan, 51, finishes his tenure in Edmonton with a record of 123-119-24 in 266 regular-season games over three-plus seasons behind the bench. Outside of a trip to the post-season in 2016-17, McLellan’s time with the Oilers has been a disappointment given the talent the team boasts – most notably Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McLellan was hired in May 2015 by general manager Peter Chiarelli after seven seasons with San Jose Sharks, where he led the team to six playoff appearances and three division titles. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oilers-hire-ken-hitchcock-coach-firing-todd-mclellan/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 "Peter Chiarelli, one step ahead please..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Wow that was quick. For Q I mean. I have been listening to TSN where the talking heads keep saying that Q is going to take a year off, that no team is going to want to sign him knowing they have to pick up part of his hefty contract, all that junk, I just figured that he has a fire, a passion and is a hell of a coach with something to prove. Great move for the Oilers. Proactive. Grabbed an all time great coach who knows how to get the most out of superstars and working class guys at the same time and to identify what they bring to the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 @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 They went from an old school coach with an out-of-date approach to an older old school coach.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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Hitch should really help that struggling offense (eye roll). They have scored more than 3 goals only twice all year on a team with guys like McDavid, RNH and Draisatl. Unacceptable. Chiarelli must have incriminating pics of someone from the front office or ownership. I can't believe he still has a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 11 minutes ago, FD19372 said: Hitch should really help that struggling offense (eye roll). They have scored more than 3 goals only twice all year on a team with guys like McDavid, RNH and Draisatl. Unacceptable. Chiarelli must have incriminating pics of someone from the front office or ownership. I can't believe he still has a job. It's not that I disagree with you, but it must be extremely rare for a GM to not receive one "Fire Your Head Coach" card before he himself gets sacked. For what it's worth, they've scored 4+ goals in 7 of 20 games so far. It's not a rosy picture, either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 4 minutes 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. Oh crap, I thought it was Quenneville. Read it wrong. Yeah Hitch sucks. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 3 minutes 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. Old school or not I think Hitch is one of those coaches that enjoys analyzing the game and his own successes and failures so for the short term I see some success with this hiring. I totally forgot about him as an option as I thought he retired. But all in all, I think the real issue is Chiarelli and this move is merely a bandaid for the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 I don't believe in God, but this team sure makes me willing to believe there's a devil... Ken Hitchcock? At this point, I won't be surprised to hear that they tried to exhume the remains of Dick Irvin. ... I've spent portions of the last few days ranting around my house, and all of the last 15 minutes cutting a promo, and I'm home alone. I'm going to take 15 and cool off, because I don't want to break HF's profanity filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 29 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: 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. And there should be a reason. He just isn't very good with young players...or should i say his patience isn't there when dealing with kids. Or at least he wasn't in Philly. Maybe he has gotten better in that regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 One huge trade the Oilers made and to me seemed to have never recover from was trading Jeff Petry away. Imagine if they still had him in the fold. Was that trade worth it??? @JR Ewing I guess i have to ask you because it seems the return wasn't worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 12 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: One huge trade the Oilers made and to me seemed to have never recover from was trading Jeff Petry away. Imagine if they still had him in the fold. Was that trade worth it??? @JR Ewing I guess i have to ask you because it seems the return wasn't worth it. If you remember, I was building up to a frothing rage over the handling of Petry: Quote Angry JR: ... I've watched this dance again and again and again for the last 25 years: produce a quality player by suffering through the development years, and then ship him off for draft picks or player who hit lower in the order. To hell with these guys... They're not fit to run an NHL team. They actually think they're better off with Petry subtracted from the lineup next year, and a raw rookie in his place. Craig MacTavish didn't even talk to Petry about a contract until two weeks before the deadline, and then offered him the same contract as he was already on, and then did the "Well, there's no place for a prima donna like that around here" thing when he rejected it. He eventually was moved to MTL for a 2nd and 4th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Ken Hitchcock was the only qualified candidate who'd be willing to join without a long-term commitment. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 minute ago, JR Ewing said: If you remember, I was building up to a frothing rage over the handling of Petry: Craig MacTavish didn't even talk to Petry about a contract until two weeks before the deadline, and then offered him the same contract as he was already on, and then did the "Well, there's no place for a prima donna like that around" thing when he rejected it. He eventually was moved to MTL for a 2nd and 4th. Ok i was thinking it doesn't look to good right now. He has played well in Montreal. A 6-3 right hand shot would look good on your blueline. I didn't realize what a good year he had last year on a crappy team. He played all 82 games 12 goals 30 assists 42 points. He could certainly help solidify your top 4. Larsson, Nurse, Petry and Klefbom not to bad. What did you guys do with the picks you got for him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 11 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: What did you guys do with the picks you got for him? The Oilers have the 4th round pick (Caleb Jones, Seth's brother) to show for it. He's progressing well in the AHL, but they really needed a prime-aged Petry much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vis Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Big day for former Flyers coaches. Wonder if John Stevens gets a gig somewhere. Will be interesting to see if he has adjusted to the new NHL. Outside of McDavid, Draisaitl and to a degree RNH, who is a capable offensive player in EDM? I look at that roster and it seems pretty bad up front to me. And what's up with the d-men? It doesn't look terrible, but not great either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 Just now, vis said: Big day for former Flyers coaches. Wonder if John Stevens gets a gig somewhere. Will be interesting to see if he has adjusted to the new NHL. Outside of McDavid, Draisaitl and to a degree RNH, who is a capable offensive player in EDM? I look at that roster and it seems pretty bad up front to me. And what's up with the d-men? It doesn't look terrible, but not great either. There's Taylor Hall. Oh. Wait... They have Jordan Eberle. Oops... What about that kid they took 1st overall? Yakupov! Hold on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 hour ago, JR Ewing said: I don't believe in God, but this team sure makes me willing to believe there's a devil. Instant classic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 No argument about McClellan getting the axe, it happens, coaches are hired to be fired, what I dont get is how Chiarelli kept his job. You could bring in the ghost of Toe Blake and hand him that supporting cast and tell him to make it work, it simply is a bad roster. The GM more than the coach is responsible for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 5 minutes ago, yave1964 said: No argument about McClellan getting the axe, it happens, coaches are hired to be fired, what I dont get is how Chiarelli kept his job. You could bring in the ghost of Toe Blake and hand him that supporting cast and tell him to make it work, it simply is a bad roster. The GM more than the coach is responsible for that. You know how it goes: coaches are first against the wall, GMs are second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 29 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: You know how it goes: coaches are first against the wall, GMs are second. Any chance we could sneak a ref or two in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey-78 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 2 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'm with you on this one. Really mind boggling. I thought Kenny had already announced his retirement plus nothing much to show for in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 minute ago, Podein25 said: Any chance we could sneak a ref or two in there? For them, we need summary execution. Not even a last cigarette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: For them, we need summary execution. Not even a last cigarette. Lol, yes! And no last words either. Can you imagine? That would be the worst! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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