Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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. ...Chet Studios, the city's southeast side. This is Oilers Now. Today at 8.30, our top story brought to you by Legacy Heating and Cooling, home of no payments and no interest for one year. That's how you build a legacy. Legacy Heating and Cooling, 8.30 a.m. today.
The Edmonton Oilers organization officially announced that they had parted ways with head coach Chris Knobloch and assistant coach Mark Stewart. Knobloch becoming the first coach in NHL history to take his team to the Stanley Cup finals in back-to-back years since Scotty Bowman. Did it as a head coach of the St. Louis Blues. But this year was a year of regression.
And this is a huge two-year window coming up for the Edmonton Oilers organization. We will have plenty coming up from Stan Bowman, the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers in the Oilers Now Audio Vault in about 90 seconds time. We will tell you that Ron McLean will join us from NHL Hockey and Rogers today at 5.05. And Hockey Blogger with the Prospect Report, Bruce Kerlock at 5.35.
We will tell you, you can also reach us on the River Creek Resort Casino hotline, 780-451-8800. The River Creek Resort Casino. Don't miss the musical comedy of Morgan J. It's May 23rd. Tickets at therivercreekresort.com. Excitement, bet on it. And you can text us.
On the Ashley Fine Floors text line, I want to get your thoughts on today's announcement and your solution for the Edmonton Oilers carrying forward as head coach on the Ashley Fine Floors text line. Find the new floors you always wanted, 143rd Street, 111th Avenue, or head to ashleyfinefloors.com for more information. So it's a simple question.
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Chapter 2: What recent news about the Edmonton Oilers is discussed?
Of the gentleman currently not being the head coach in the NHL at this time, Who do you want? Who do you want the Edmonton Oilers to go and get? Who do you think would make the most sense? Again, our top story for legacy heating and cooling. Home and no payments and no interest for a year. That's how you build a legacy, legacy heating and cooling. So the Oilers put it out at 8.30.
You can surmise that Stan Bowman, Jeff Jackson, Chris Knobloch met late into the evening last night. Never easy. And certainly from a personal perspective, as somebody who has watched Chris Knobloch evolve, I saw him as far back as when he played with the Edmonton Ice in the WHL.
In the mid-1990s, he joined the Alberta Golden Bears for the 1999-2000 season and threw the pick on the game-winning goal scored by Russ Hewson in double overtime as Alberta knocked off UNB that year to win their second consecutive national title.
Chris would play four more years at the U of A, a couple with Russ Houston and Ryan Wade, and what was the best line in the country at the time where Alberta was chock full of major junior graduates coached by Rob Dom. Much of Chris Knobloch's coaching philosophies come from his time spent with Rob Dom.
Though I will say this, he definitely did not show Dom's, at times, volatile nature towards officials and His willingness to effectively perhaps challenge and question the officiating that we were watching on a night-by-night basis. Because, you know, there were certainly some criticisms. I mean, the reality of the situation is a strong argument can be made.
that Chris Knobloch was the right coach at the right time for the Edmonton Oilers to come in back on November 12th of 2023. The team had floundered out of the gate. They couldn't score, and they couldn't get a save. And Knobloch... would go on a stretch where he went 24-3, including a 16-game winning streak where you believed, you know what, the Edmonton Oilers can make some noise here.
And he guided them to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final.
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Chapter 3: How did Chris Knobloch's coaching impact the Oilers' performance?
That was 23-24, 24-25. The Edmonton Oilers from November the 9th until February 7th had the best record in the National Hockey League. That's three months, folks. You've got a pretty decent team. Unfortunately, losing in game six of the Stanley Cup final. The subsequent result after Edmonton was lost in game six, Glenn Goldson rehired by Jim Neal, a man who fired him as a head coach.
He hires Gully away from the Oilers, and Paul Coffey does not come back. Chris sort of had a little bit of an inexperienced staff without a lot of juice around him. And you wonder at times whether or not was that a factor in a team being quote-unquote average. Stan Bowman did talk today about culpability also being on some of the decisions that he made involving personnel as well.
So where do we go from here? We will mention that Knobloch has a three-year extension with kicks in this year. He'll be fine. though he obviously would have liked to have still been coaching the Edmonton owners. Do I think Knobloch will get another NHL head coaching jig? Yes, I do. I think that it's inevitable that he will get another one. Who does Edmonton hire?
Many people, Elliott Friedman, again, reiterating today that it's, in his opinion, it is Bruce Cassidy. The Oilers will need to eventually get full permission to interview Bruce Cassidy, who's had some good stints in both Vegas, where the Golden Knights beat the Oilers in the margin in the 23 round two series and saw them win in six games. The Vegas Golden Knights...
currently up in their series against anaheim as well my oh my you wonder what would have happened if the owners would have had a better start and played a better team game against anaheim but they did not so uh you know bruce cassidy's name's out there he coached the vegas golden knights to a stanley cup in 22 23 it's not gone well for him over the last couple of seasons peter labialette
Beat the Oilers back in the 06 Stanley Cup final with the Carolina Hurricanes. Ended up taking a couple other teams, the Philadelphia Flyers, who lost to Stan Bowman, Chicago Blackhawks, in the Stanley Cup final the one year. And, you know, you take a look at some of the other names, right, that could make some sense.
But certainly, Laviolette had success with the National Predators as well, getting them to a Stanley Cup final in a year in which, I may add, Edmonton probably blew a chance in 2017 to get there. I know they were inexperienced, but they were up 2-0 with two road wins at Anaheim in round two. Needed to find a way to win that series, and they would have played the Preds in the conference final.
So Peter Laviolette's name is out there. Craig Berube. is out there as well. Had a very underwhelming performance with the Maple Leafs and was released yesterday by the Maple Leafs organization. You tell me, text us on the Ashley Fine Floors text line. We will return at 4.15 in Oil Country with the Oilers Now Audio Vault.
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Chapter 4: What challenges did the Oilers face during the last season?
You could say, well, then you just change out the players. I guess that could be one approach. But the other approach is, can you find a coach that can get the most out of those guys? And I think that's what we're looking for.
All right. That is Seven Saunders General Manager Stan Bowman. Let's go into the Ashley Fine Floors text line. On the last point, Hodgie, Texas. Bob, I'm not good at math. If a player has 140 points and is plus 17, knowing fully well the power play PK influence on plus minus, how big of an influence is 18 goals over the course of an 82-game season?
If there is a coach, you can develop a system that can prevent goals after blind backhanded passes are turned over at the both blue lines. Both of these elite players have the ability to make the coach look great and any team look average. As a fan who's been consistently awed by 97 and 29, I'm disappointed in the way they threw Knobloch under the bus and all but played him out of a job.
That one comes to us from Haji. Again, you can text us at 780-451-8800. The Plumber says, Bob, I disagree with you that Knobloch gets another head coaching job. Competitive players can never just accept losing and do it quietly. Same goes for the head coach. There has to be some passion. Championship caliber players will never want to play for him. X and O's guy maybe, but he's not a head coach.
Again, you can text us at 780-451-8800. James says, Bob, I hope Jeff Jackson does a thorough review of his general manager. Bowman and some of his trade signings make him culpable as well. Well, Bowman took accountability. He said that some of his moves did not work out and the players didn't perform at the level he thought. He said, that's on me.
And I'd tell you that Jeff Jackson would be the first to tell you that he's got to be accountable for the work that he and Bill Scott did. Heading up the Oilers in between the time that Ken Holland retired roughly June 27th of 2004 and before Stan Bowman was hired in the third week off the top of my head, July 23rd, 2024. Again, you can text us at 780-451-8800.
Bob, the problem with the Oilers is not the coaching staff. They need a top 10 goalie. They could lose Bowman, he says. Obviously, he means lose Bowman. The Spinner says, Bob, do you see Mike Babcock as an option? I think he would be great, says the Spinner. I think Babcock would be a little bit further down there.
I probably think Babcock's a little bit better coach than a lot of people out there. I mean, anybody that can win a national title at the University of Lethbridge where they have since cut their hockey program, that's like winning an NCAA football title at Savannah State. Like, they had no chance.
In fact, there might be some guys here that were actually on that team when Lethbridge won the U Sports Championship in 1993-94 before Babs went to Spokane to work for the Chiefs.
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