 |
 Adam
Messages: 6963
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
|
|
| CrusaderPi wrote on Tue, 14 December 2021 16:20 |
| Adam wrote on Tue, 14 December 2021 16:02 |
| HamBlaster wrote on Tue, 14 December 2021 15:59 |
Oilers are going to get crushed. They've been falling apart the last five games. This is the game where the wheels finally fall off.
7 - 1 Leafs
|
I'm trying to look at this as a no-lose game. Either the Oilers beat the Maple Leafs, which is always nice, or a sixth straight loss starts to put real pressure on the Oilers to do something about the coach - which would give us a better chance of making it past the first round of the playoffs...
|
I don't think a new coach solves the problem. A new coach would still be saddled with the same management and the same expectations. No matter who the new coach is he would be hired by the same management that hired Tippett and Hitchcock and TM. That part shouldn't be forgotten.
|
I think there's a good chance that Holland, Nicholson & Lowe would look for a coach the same way they looked for the last couple - see what old coach who they've known for 25 years is still available and throw a contract at them. There's plenty of chance that they get it wrong. They have a long history of getting it wrong.
That said, we know there's some serious weakness in how this coach is managing his team, his system and his bench. If he goes, at least there's a possibility that there's someone who does better.
It also takes an arrow out of the quiver for this management group. If they flop and either miss the playoffs or crash out in the first round again, then they're going to fire Tippett and Holland will go hire someone new, they'll hang the season on that darned coach not being any good and then we'll start back again next year.
If they make a change now and the team still falls flat, it reflects more on the management group. This is one of the reasons I doubt they DO make a change. The only X-factor there is Mike Babcock - the braintrust has a long history with him and they may feel he should really get his redemption shot. Doing it mid-season might make it slightly less of a story...
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireLowe #FireBobbyNicks #FireKenHolland #FireKeithGretzky
|
|
|
|
