Oilers fire coach Eakins

The Oilers finally did it.  They finally dropped the axe on their head coach Dallas Eakins.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the NHL and the Oilers this season.  The only surprises that should come out of this are that they weren't the first to fire a head coach this season and secondly that GM Craig MacTavish decided that he would take over for the time being (as only he thinks he should do) while they groom the new interim head coach Todd Nelson to step into Eakins shoes.

A few things on the actions of the Edmonton Oilers.  One, MacT should not be stepping into the role of head coach.  He can barely manage to do his job, which is manage. Another thing. How long does this "1980's old boys club" have to continue?
As an owner of a business (Katz), knowing that things have not worked out for the Oilers for the last handful of seasons would you not start to look at the man in charge of it all and maybe make a move or replace him?  Then watch the trickle down effect that it has on the club.   New President of hockey operations etc, and new GM, then new coach, and possibly down to new players.
I mean shit runs downhill.  And currently at the top, there is a huge pile.
I don't mean to sound harsh or hard on the Oilers but there are people who pay hard earned money to go and watch this team play, and they haven't gotten their money's worth over the last few seasons.
So by firing the head coach they have taken a small step in the right direction.  He is the one who is responsible for how the players play.  Special teams, systems, break outs, line matching etc. But if the coach isn't given good enough players or the players are not listening and buying into the coaches ways, then that mostly has to be on the GM. And if he can't manage to gather players via trade or signing, then how come he is still with the club?

Now Craig MacTavish decided that he is going to be the head coach as well as GM, where now he will be under a very large microscope where his every move will be watched and scrutinized by everyone who follows this team not to mention the people that run this team.

I don't think that you will see MacT stay as a head coach for very long, but you will see him behind the bench for a few games at least.  Just long enough for him to get a sense of what these players are like to coach and what he would like to see changed.

As for Todd Nelson getting the promotion from the OKC Barons (Edmonton's farm club), that is probably something that he has been waiting for since they got rid of their last coach Tom Renney.  It's nice to see a guy, who has done well with these same players in a different league, get his chance to show his worth to the big club.  I think that he should do well with these players and you should see some improvement within them.  There were other options that were available for the coaching position (Bylsma, Murray) but they stuck with an internal (so to speak) hire and are hoping that this pays off for them.  I for one think it will. Just maybe not right at the start.  Let them finish off the season and allow the team to grow and understand their "new" coach.

All in all the Oilers are starting to slowly take steps in the right direction by making some moves within their organization.  It may not pay off at the start, but I think that this is finally the start of the turn for them.  There will still be some downfalls, but they should become fewer and fewer as the season(s) move along. And for Oiler fans I think that they can start to smile again.  Or at least stop tossing jersey's on the ice.

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Until next time.