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Chapter 1: What updates are there on the Edmonton Oilers coaching situation?
Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. This is Oilers Now brought to you by World of Spas. Earlier today, Mark Spector from NHL Hockey and Rogers and Sportsnet tweeted out, as of this moment at 11.37 a.m. Mountain Time, Chris Knobloch has not been fired by the Edmonton Oilers.
We are expecting that, says Spector, to happen likely by the day's end. This is on the heels of a tweet yesterday from Frank Cerevalli, which specifically pertained to the Edmonton Oilers' request to...
end up in a situation uh saravali yesterday league sources say the orders have sought permission to interview bruce cassidy as they contemplate significant coaching staff changes to list points uh sources say the golden knights have withheld permission from division rival gamesmanship question mark perhaps mostly unprecedented for the role um
Again, this is a very unique situation, to say the least. A lot of times during the course of the regular season, and I'll take you back to when Chris Knobloch replaced Jay Woodcroft. Jay had had a pretty good winning percentage with the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers had gotten off to a terrible start.
During the 23-24 season, I remember they lost in Vancouver either 6-1 or 6-2 on a Monday night to drop to 2-8-1. And rumors really sort of took off at that point. The New Edders had a team rookie party in Vancouver.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Chris Knobloch's potential firing?
We flew to San Jose on a Wednesday and lost a 3-2 game to the Sharks in which they outshot the Sharks 41-18, lost 3-2. And then it really sort of intensified the scope and the lens on Jay Rudcroft at that point. Zach Hyman got a hat-trick in Seattle on the Saturday, which was November the 11th.
It was the same day, by the way, that the Alberta Golden Bears football program, in a rare appearance in the Hardy Cup, tanked a six-point lead with possession on the opposition 15-yard line in the final minute and a half of the game. Chris Morris coaching the team at the time. The Oilers that night beat the...
Seattle cracking on the hat trick from Zach Hyman and made the coaching change announcement the next day because Chris Knobloch was already in the hopper. This is a different situation. Stan Bowman stated upon the conclusion of the playoffs, a disappointing six game series loss. at the helm of the Anaheim Ducks. Stan Bowman stated that he was going to be doing a full evaluation.
This was on the Saturday. And the Oilers lost in Anaheim. And I think the final score is 5-2. We flew home Friday, got in around, I don't know, 3.30, 4 o'clock.
Chapter 3: How did past coaching changes impact the Oilers' performance?
I jumped in the studio here at 5 o'clock and specifically stated, I did not envision that the coaching staff would remain the same. And we were just wondering, you know, how big the changes will be. And so I think, look, we're not going to BS you here. Multiple reports out there talk about the inevitability of a coaching change. This show is called Oilers Now, and this is where we get squeezed.
We're not just the rights holder. It's our property. And we get it. Everybody in Edmonton is engaged and cares about the hockey club. And this is sort of the crappy side of the business sometimes. You know, people have families. And unfortunately, you know, a story got out. We're not sure where it came from, but it got out. And, you know, don't shoot the messenger.
Reporters got to look into things as well. And we'll just see whether or not Gaelic Spectre, and I think Sarah Volley might have commented on this a little bit later on, whether or not we're looking at the inevitability of the orders pushing out something later today or into the early evening. And some of it might have to do with the fact that some of the senior executives have
made their way back into oil country after the Mother's Day weekend. It's tough business, tough day. We will tell you that Chris Knobloch was given a three-year extension before the start of the season. He is represented, ironically enough, by Gil Scott, the son, or sorry, the father of Edmonton Oilers Assistant General Manager Bill Scott.
So there's lots of different layers to this thing as it takes place. Oilers, 41 regular season wins in 82 games. Went 2-4 in the playoffs, never got to the level that the team got the two previous years. I know there were several people out there that did intense analytics work. to suggest how precipitous the fall off had been in the team play.
But there's others that would say, look, this wasn't just coaching. This was a byproduct of a completely different player makeup from two years ago when the Oilers went to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup.
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Chapter 4: What factors contributed to the Oilers' disappointing playoff run?
I mean, you can make the argument that the 22-23 team, which lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games, Lost to Bruce Cassidy. Jay Woodcroft lost that series. I've got close friends that said to me, Jay Woodcroft got outcoached in that series by Bruce Cassidy. Cassidy went on to guide Vegas to the Stanley Cup Championship. You can make an argument that...
You know, the Oilers had a better team on paper in 22-23 and 23-24 than they did the last two years. And you can also talk about the fact that there have been some trades that did not work out the way they wanted, some bets that did not work out the way they wanted, and the Oilers completely changed the complexion and the makeup of the team.
That they were a speed-based team in the 23-24 playoffs. You know, you had Dylan Holloway emerge and score five goals in that playoff year. Ryan McLeod? He's had a star-crossed run in the playoffs. He hasn't played great for Buffalo this year in the playoffs either. If you look at his advanced metrics, I've always liked Ryan McLeod. But he was traded off that team, and so was Holloway.
Fogle was not returned. They brought in Arvidsson. That didn't work out. They signed Jeff Skinner. He's out of pro hockey altogether. So... And many of you will say, Bob, this isn't just on the coach. This is also on management.
And I'm here to tell you that assuming, again, that the shoe drops here over the course of the next, say, three hours, that we end up in a scenario in which the focus will shift. So what happens next? On a day in which there were some pretty interesting developments. So, again, as of right now,
Nothing out of Oilers HQ, but multiple reports inferring that something is going to inevitably drop maybe as early as later today, early in the evening, and that we're headed down the path that we are. Chris Johnson will join us from TSN and The Athletic out of Toronto. Today, the Maple Leafs fired Craig Berube.
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Chapter 5: Who are the potential candidates for the Oilers' head coach position?
Okay? A guy who won a Stanley Cup. I will say this. Hypothetically, and I think we're all assuming that, you know, the path is the path. Hypothetically, I think the owners have to, you know, if Chris Knobloch is indeed out and all signs are pointing to that direction, I think that a guy that's won a Stanley Cup as a head coach has got to be a prerequisite.
It's got to be a guy that's got a championship. You'd have a general manager that's won three. with three very different type of teams. And I would think that if you are going to, like, and I'll give you an example here. I'm going to circle back to the 12-13 season. At the end of the year, Craig McTavish was the general manager of the team.
He'd just taken over from Steve Tambolini, who had been fired after a four-and-a-half-year run. And Matt, he said at the end of the year that coaching was not an issue. He had Ralph Krueger for all of eight games and said coaching wasn't an issue. And then the orders went to the draft combine, and suddenly Dallas Aikens became the flavor of the day.
And a decision was made to relief Ralph and bring in Dallas. Rookie coach for rookie coach, right? and I think that one was seen as a perplexing move. Now, I will tell you, Dallas has become a lot better coach since then, and both Ralph Krueger and Dallas Aikens got second NHL head coaching opportunities. Ralph with the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas with the Anaheim Ducks.
I would fully expect Chris Knobloch, if he is indeed relieved of his duties as head coach, I would fully expect Chris Knobloch to get another NHL head coaching job. I could foresee him potentially replacing Lindy Ruff long-term in Buffalo. Just file that one away. As for, and again, he's got a three-year contract that kicks in this year. That's the hockey business for you.
And with the assumption that the inevitable is about to occur, Almost as inevitable for me is an experienced head coach after Woodcroft and Knobloch back to back. To me, it's almost going to be a slam dunk that it's going to be an experienced NHL head coach with a championship ring in tow. All right.
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Chapter 6: What role does management play in the Oilers' current challenges?
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Yeah, multiple reports suggesting that the Oilers are closing in on a coaching move here sometime potentially as early as tonight. You're listening to Oilers Now.
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I would think every coach that's looking for a job, you know, if it became available, nobody knows and nobody said that. I like Chris Knobloch. I think he's an excellent coach. But if I were working for the club, I would for sure do the same thing. I don't know how shocked people really should be. It's just part of your duty, particularly in Stan's case as the GM.
In my opinion, he's made the right call.
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Chapter 7: How have player trades affected the Oilers' team dynamics?
It doesn't mean he's going to make a change, but it does mean that it's not going to be a cursory. We had a self-review, and this just happened with a club, and we've determined that we're in good shape. That's a joke. That did happen for a team recently here. They did their own audit. If you ask me, this is more, you know, real world due diligence. How are we going to get better?
Every day when you come to the office, you start with that question. And that's the mode that the Oilers are in now, and it's exactly what they should be doing.
All right, that is Brian Lawton from yesterday's edition of Oilers Now. Do you recall, Aiden, and we'll get to NHL today in a second, do you recall what I said to you the morning when we flew back from Anaheim after Game 6?
Yeah, it was leave the last hour of the show open and you were going to be there. Yeah. Because you wanted to hear from oil country. You believed that it was your job and you had to face the music.
I mean, it's, you know, it'd be nice if you had perhaps greater input on some of the decisions, but it comes with the territory. Like when you work, like today is not an easy day. We're sitting here waiting for this. I've known Chris Knobloch as long as anybody in the Oilers organization. And, you know, when guys like Mark Spector tweet out what they tweet, we're headed down a path here.
And so, and I get it, a lot of you don't have to like what transpired. I would say don't shoot the messenger on Cervalli. Like, it's kind of, it's a strange situation to begin with. But the general manager did say he was going to do an evaluation. And you know what?
If a change gets made, maybe ā and I would have to assume if a change gets made that we will ā I would think, you know, there might be an opportunity for ā and I'm not sure what they're going to do with Stan right now. I mean, I know he's in town, but ā Does there end up being a Zoom call? We'll have to wait and see there. But it's not an easy thing to sort of work your way through.
And it's tough when it's people's lives and people that you care about. For me, and this has been year 18, the coaching change that I kind of looked at and was like, really? Was Todd McClellan. Like, I wasn't sure I was that good of a team at that time. And I think he was only like 9, 10, and 1 or 9, 10, and 2. And I get it. The team had kind of underperformed a bit in 17, 18.
I'll never forget it. 16, 17, we're in Nashville. It's in March. And C-Mac, Chris McFarlane's working for the Colorado Avalanche. And they're having a terrible season. And he goes, Bob, we both had some tough times, you with the Oilers, me in Columbus.
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Chapter 8: What are the future expectations for the Oilers moving forward?
The two guys that they beat are no longer coaching those teams. Right? Bruce Cassidy and Pete DeBoer. How many of you think there should be a change made? as we're waiting for the news. Text us on the Ashley Fine Flores text line, 780-451-8800. It's NHL Today for Elite Promotional Marketing. Your local branded merchandise specialist. Head to ElitePromoMarketing.com. And here is Ian Gannon.
Well, the Toronto Maple Leafs looking for a new head coach after it was announced today that Craig Berube is parting ways with the team. Two seasons in Toronto. His first season saw a second-round Game 7 exit to the Florida Panthers. Then, of course, what happened this year? The Calder Trophy has been awarded, and it was not even close.
Matthew Schaefer wins Rookie of the Year with a unanimous 198 votes. Makes sense, 59 points and a plus 13 on an Islanders team that didn't make the playoffs. One game on the NHL slate today. The Colorado Avalanche look to move on to the Western Conference Final, leading their series 3-1 over the Minnesota Wild. Game five tonight in Denver. And the World Championships in Zurich continue.
Canada played its final pre-tournament game today, beating Hungary 3-1. Evan Bouchard picking up an assist on a goal scored by John Tavares.
All right, we will head it off to an 880 News weather traffic update with Thomas Dyess. Chris Johnston from TSN and The Athletic when we come back in orders now.
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