Breadcrumb Trail Links
Published Nov 16, 2023 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 4 minute read
Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft at training camp on Sept. 22, 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Photo by Larry Wong /Postmedia, file
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This in from hockey commentator Pierre LeBrun, a notable National Hockey League insider, on Ryan Rishaug’s excellent Got Yet Back podcast, LeBrun’s harsh assessment of the Edmonton Oilers firing coach Jay Woodcroft.
Said LeBrun (before Wednesday night’s Edmonton victory over Seattle): “I think it’s bullshit that Jay Woodcroft was fired when he was. I think he should have been given more time. I think the under-lying numbers suggested a team that was about to turn it around. I do not believe he lost the room. The guys were still playing hard for him. And I would have given Jay Woodcroft more time. Now Kris Knoblauch may end up being the greatest Oilers coaching hire ever. Let’s not take away from him. It might be unbelievable. And then people are going to go back and say, ‘Well, there you go. That was exactly the right move at the right time.’ How do you know? How do you know if there’s not another week of Woodcroft that the Oilers aren’t on a run? I didn’t like it. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong.”
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My take
1. LeBrun is one of the most serious, sober, fair and accurate analysts in hockey. He comes from a reporting background. He’s not one for hot takes or outlandish statements. He’s not exactly Spitten Chiclets material, if you know what I mean. So when he makes a comment like this, I take notice. He feels strongly about this one.
2. LeBrun took care to say he might be wrong, and to make it clear he’s not in any way denigrating Knoblauch. He also framed this as not just being the decision of Oilers GM Ken Holland, without explicitly mentioning new Oilers hockey boss Jeff Jackson.
3. I had no strong opinion on Woodcroft getting the axe. It seemed to me the players, not so much the coach, were to blame here for their horrid defensive miscues, especially against the rush. I had strong opinions about that, not the coach. But, that said, after the loss to San Jose, I guessed Woodcroft was a goner, because that is how things tend to work in hockey, with the goalie and the coach first getting the blame for a losing streak. And I was OK with that eventuality. The intense effort against San Jose wasn’t there. The Oilers had not nearly enough to give.
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It turns out that Oilers management did indeed decided after the San Jose game to replace Woodcroft with Knoblauch.
After the Seattle win on the Saturday, I revised my notion that Woodcroft was a sure goner, as it was the first time all year the Oilers had played an exceptional defensive game. Maybe the coach would survive it after all, I also thought.
But then came his sacking and Knoblauch’s promotion.
4. Of course, LeBrun is correct that we’ll never know if the Oilers turn it around whether or not Woodcroft could have pulled it off. But I see no reason why that could not be true. Even with all their rancid defensive mistakes against the rush, Woodcroft’s Oilers still had a slight advantage when it came to shot quality, not as big an advantage as some will suggest, but a slight one, enough that puck luck and goaltending being equal, Edmonton would have had at least as many wins as losses.
Of course, puck luck and goaltending were not equal.
5. In Knoblauch’s first two games, puck luck and goaltending have gone in his favour, with Stuart Skinner being the best goalie both games and many bounces going Edmonton’s away, in particular in Wednesday night’s thrilling come-from-behind OT win over Seattle.
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No one ever said the bounces in hockey were fair, or that the team with the best players is sure to win. Sometimes it’s all about the goalie and the puck luck. Knoblauch could just as easily have started out with two losses, and Woodcroft could just as easily have had three or four more wins to start the year. Looking at it this way, LeBrun has a solid point to make.
6. The main impediment, as I saw it, to firing Woodcroft was whether or not the Oilers had a better candidate in mind. I wasn’t sure about that. But Jackson has reportedly been a fan of Knoblauch for many years. Jackson thought he had a better candidate in mind, so he made his move.
7. I don’t know any of these individuals. I’m like you, a fan who watches the game at home on my TV. I have no particular loyalty to anyone or anything here, except the Oilers. I have no axe to grind with any of the coaches, and I’m not rooting for any of them, in particular. I also saw that a change in coach was not a crazy thought, not in the least. As a result, I had no great sense of justice or injustice being done with the firing, as LeBrun evidently had. Instead, I felt two simple emotions, sadness that Woodcrodt was unable to realize his dream with this team, but glad for Knoblauch that he would get his chance.
How about you? What is your take?
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