Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 22:53

Kr55 wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 18:51 Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 19:06 Kr55 wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 18:00 Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 18:56 Kr55 wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 16:42 Adam wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 17:03 Skookum Jim wrote on Sun, 12 November 2023 16:59 Rishaug confirming that Coffey's roll as assistant is only temporary.. which make sense.. I doubt the guy wants to be on the road all year doing an NHL coaching gig at this point in his life... Training wheels!!! When your training wheels probably also need training wheels. To be fair I think Coffey is pretty smart with regards to hockey strategy and defensive systems.. we'll see if there is any impact.. they still have Mark Stuart as D-coach.. I doubt Coffey will be running the show. We'll see how these players handle the shock of an in season change.. .. hopefully its a positive reaction. Its a player re-set.. clean slate.. everyone is re-evaluated.. the favoured and un-favoured start fresh. Not sure if Coffey has actually done a thing at any level of hockey outside his playing career to suggest he has proven NHL level coaching ability. A team lacking defensive structure ... does Coffey's career suggest he is the man to solve that? Is it like Gretzky trying to teach guys as a coach? Think super talented players make terrible coaches a lot of the time because they don't grasp how limited typical players are in what they can process on the ice and what they can do with the puck. Guess we will see though. Same kind of gamble we have made forever with ex Oilers. Did work out here and there with coaches at least in the past. Took the same gamble with Woodcroft originally.. turned out well.. for a while.. Woodcraft was around NHL coaching for over a decade though.. ..although to be fair.. being "around" head coaching isn't the same as being a HC.. Woody was only a HC for 3.5 years while at Bakersfield prior to getting appointed the Oiler duties mid season... He did win a championship while there.. but the AHL is a development league.. rosters skill levels can vary quite a bit.. so AHL team success isn't always a direct comparable for coaching abilities.. a better factor might be if there's consistent improvement of the young players.. not aware how the NYR prospects have turned out after going through Hartford.. but NYR's seem to be doing OK.. Knobber has been a head coach since 2010-2011.. except for his 2 years as an NHL assistant in Philly.. where the HC was Haksol (now with Kraken).. We shall see what we shall see.. it is what it is.. c'est la vie.. que sera, sera.. etcetera ... etcetera ...

Knoblauch could be good. When he was first mentioned as a possibility he barely had any pro-league experience under his belt. Mentioned again after Tippet out, had more experience. Now he's had another 2 years on top of that. Lots of NHL coaches have similar build ups to getting a shot. I think it's safe to say his history with McDavid is the reason he was on the radar all this time, and finally, when we are at max desperation, we finally draw that card. Hail mary for the coach bump, and also the bonus of being one of the most impactful people in McDavid's hockey life. Considering the stakes, hiring a totally inexperienced NHL HC, I think they are leaning far harder to pleasing McDavid than anything else.

Coffey, bleh. Zero in-season pro-coaching experience. Zero management experience. One of the biggest shortcut takers to work their way up of all OBC members. He was sitting next to Katz at the top of the org, and suddenly he's a temp assistant NHL coach. I'm guessing Katz is looking to him to give an assessment of what it happening in the room. Special assignment from the king himself. Similar to what MacT claimed he would do with Todd Nelson, before he concluded David Perron was the poison that needed to be purged to get the team back on track (ending with us drafting McDavid and MacT being fired).

[Updated on: Mon, 13 November 2023 00:00]

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000