The Edmonton Oilers are probably the only team in the league who say they are contenders and want to contend in the playoffs but also don't fire their coach after 13 straight losses.
I understand firing coaches hasn't worked for us in the past, and I'll explain shortly why it probably isn't the entire solution, but it is for sure part of it. To lose 13 straight games in this league on a team who is supposed to be near the top of their division and still having your job is a miracle, and simply speaks to the incompetence of our entire organization.
Since December 3rd, nearly 2 months ago, the Edmonton Oilers have been the worst team in the league. Not with just some advanced stats crap, we have literally been the worst, the least points earned, less than the Arizona Coyotes, and less than the Montreal Canadiens. We are just awful right now.
Dave Tippett absolutely must go, it's crazy that he still has his job. Either Ken Holland is hilariously bad at his job, or extremely stubborn and refuses to fire a coach mid season. I think it's a bit of both which brings me to my next point. Firing Dave Tippett won't fix all of our problems because it's highly unlikely Ken Holland actually makes a good hire. We have an excellent coach in our system, Bakersfield head coach Jay Woodcroft, and also Glen Gulutzan I'm sure could handle the team for a bit, however not a single thing has told me Ken Holland won't just hire another coach who thinks its 2005 with the most outdated system ever and a legacy of failure. So does Ken Holland also need to go? Yes. Will he? Not yet. This brings it to this organizations next issue, which is by far the largest of all. Bob Nicholson. The man in charge of hiring our GM's. He's had the job since 2014... lets go over what he has done.
He hired Peter Chiarelli... without interviewing him! He's a good old well respected guy from Hockey Canada, just like Bob! No need for the interview, he won the cup in 2011, ignore the fact that the Bruins had the pieces to possibly build one of the best dynasties of all time which he mismanaged, he won the cup in 2011... thats all that matters!
Well We all saw how that worked out... I wonder who is next up.
Oh look, Bob Nicholson is conducting interviews this time! The front runner for the job is Bill Zito!
BUT WAIT!
Ken Holland has suddenly become available! Ken Holland? A good old well respected guy from Hockey Canada, just like Bob! Boom, hired with no interview. Who cares if he still conducts his work as if the salary cap doesn't exist, he won the cup 3x, he was the GM of one of the greatest teams ever, it's Ken Holland, Hockey Hall of Game GM! (Just like Jim Matheson is a Hall of Fame Journalist, it's almost as if being well respected and good at your job at one point gets you in the Hall and is completely irrelevant to your work 20+ years later)
I know it wen't wrong with Chiarelli, but pssh, that guy only won the cup ONCE. This is much better! I know Detroits last couple years with him were actually statistically worse than the early 2010s Edmonton Oilers, but no worries, now thats he got a contending roster again, we are destined for glory!
Oh you know Bill Zito I mentioned who was the front runner, he got hired by the Florida Panthers, the #1 team in the league right now who just whooped us 6-0 last night. The best part? It's completely uncanny how similar the Panthers were to the Oilers. Horrible GM who ruined the team and signed brutal contracts, 2 star players who people thought wanted out, and a team who was horrible in the early 2010s and were still outside of the playoffs looking in at the time of his hire. Zito was hired September 2020, made some genuinely great deals, and last season the Panthers were one of the top teams in the league and super fun to watch... and this season they are proving it wasn't a fluke and are actually the top team in the NHL and are again very fun to watch.
It starts with firing Dave Tippett to try and salvage this season, it then moves on simultaneously firing Bob Nicholson and Ken Holland, hiring someone who isn't 70 years old and conducts interviews instead of hiring all of his buddies to one of the most important jobs in the entire team. Then hopefully that person can find a good GM who calls up Jay Woodcroft because that is the obvious thing to do, and maybe just maybe, we can put together a competitive team for Connor and Leon before either of them hit the age of 30.
It's a good thing our owner, the person in charge of hiring and firing Bob Nicholson, loves the team and isn't just a businessman who lost his true passion for the Oilers after purhcasing them- oh. Oh right. Welllllll
