Oilers Fire Dallas Eakins

[Mr. Perfect]

 

 

Feel bad for Eakins. You have a rookie head coach with that young of a line-up, what do you expect? 

How about the coach to continue the progress that had been made before he was hired? Instead he turned Yakupov from a goal scorer into a bust, he turned Justin Schultz from an offensive defenseman into a bust. He made everyone on that team worse. Guy was a product of the Toronto hype machine nothing more. He fooled the Oilers and they gave him a chance and he proved to be the worst head coach I have ever seen. He was the Tim Burke of the NHL he was that bad. 

 

 

You nailed it with the "Toronto hype machine" comment.  He was crowned the "next big thing" in coaching by the Toronto media and I never really understood why.

 

Bull. If Edmonton didn't hire him, someone else would have. Was Toronto hyping him? Sure. Were they the only ones? Not at all.

[New_Earth_Mud]

They should hire Paul MacLean.

[17to85]

 

 

Feel bad for Eakins. You have a rookie head coach with that young of a line-up, what do you expect? 

How about the coach to continue the progress that had been made before he was hired? Instead he turned Yakupov from a goal scorer into a bust, he turned Justin Schultz from an offensive defenseman into a bust. He made everyone on that team worse. Guy was a product of the Toronto hype machine nothing more. He fooled the Oilers and they gave him a chance and he proved to be the worst head coach I have ever seen. He was the Tim Burke of the NHL he was that bad. 

 

Regarding Yakupov, how is that Eakins fault? Nail never adjusted to the NHL. Some players don't transition well to the NHL. He certainly wouldn't be the first. He won't be the last. The track record of coaching failures before him (which includes Pat Quinn - I'm pretty sure he knew how to coach a hockey team as his track record shows) shows overwhelmingly that the issues on the ice go well beyond Eakins. Does he have some fault in the state of the team? Of course he does. Is he primarily at fault? Not even close. To suggest otherwise is foolish. The day Edmonton gets rid of the "Good ol Boys" (When did they last do anything that resulted in a positive on the ice) the better off they'll be.

 

The team has neglected the blue line and the crease for years. They have no size at forward. They're going to get dominated, especially in the western conference. That falls squarely on the player personnel staff.

 

Nail Yakupov came in as a rookie and led the Oilers in goal scoring, led all rookies in goal scoring and was tied for the rookie lead in points. Then they hired Eakins and he looked like he'd never played hockey before in his life. That's how it's Eakins fault. Yeah he wasn't good defensively, but at least he could ******* score goals. Eakins ruined that kid and I hope it's not permanent. 

 

I'm going to educate you on the coaching "failures" as well. McTavish stepped down as head coach, he was never fired but it seems he was smart enough to see what was coming and fled that sinking ship. Quinn was brought in as a desperate move. The thinking was he was a good coach surely he could make chicken salad out of chicken ****. He couldn't, they realized they were up the creek without a paddle so they opted to go with Renney as he was seen as a better move for a rebuild. They're not wrong there and Tom Renney did a lot of good things with that team and had them making progress, especially the young players. Trouble was the organization got impatient and opted not to renew his contract because he was leaning on the veterans rather than giving the young players ice time. So enter Ralph Kreuger (who was an assistant under Renney) He was given the head coaching role primarily because the young players liked him, and he got them to respond. It was a pretty shaky roster because Tambellini was terrible at getting actual quality NHL veterans to the team but he designed a system that worked for the team. Keep everything outside defensively and capitalize offensive on the power play. The possession metrics weren't good but they won some games and looked to be turning a corner. 

 

But then they fired Tambellini and hired Craig McTavish and he didn't like Kreugers philosophy. He wasn't going to fire him but he fell head over heels for Dallas Eakins and he made that move. Really the only coach who failed in Edmonton was Eakins, the others were victims of circumstance and impatience on the part of the management. This idea that they've neglected the blue line is ridiculous. Since they started their rebuild (the year they drafted Hall) they've drafted plenty of defencemen, two of them are breaking in now and looking good in Marincin and Klefbom, they also have Nurse, they signed guys like Ference and Fayne and Nikitin as free agents. They may not be great but they're legit NHL players, they signed one of the hottest commodities in Justin Schultz (who looked promising until you guessed it, Eakins arrived) One of the reasons their drafting appears poor is because they opted to draft a lot of size after their first round picks. Goaltending? Well Dubnyk had a .920 save precentage with Kreuger which is not bad, he's got a .917% in Phoenix this year, how'd he wind up with the super low one last year? Maybe Eakins is making goalies look bad? Happened to every goaltender they brought in. Start off good then get worse the more they were exposed to Eakins. 

 

The problem here is they made 2 mistakes with the coaching. If they'd given Renney more time or simply kept Kreuger and not hired Eakins they'd be a hell of a lot further ahead than they are. 

 

People have this idea that the roster is just sooooooooooo bad that the coach was a victim or circumstances, that's bullshit. The roster now is better on paper than it has been in years, probably almost a decade yet Dallas Eakins was getting less from that better roster than anyone else had got. 

 

Dallas Eakins was the #1 problem in Edmonton. That problem has now been corrected, we just hope that the damage he has done isn't permanent. He destroyed the confidence of that entire group. Let's not forget that Anton Belov when he left to go back to the KHL flat out said the reason was because he wouldn't play for Eakins ever again. The players on that team very obviously hated him and never responded to him. 

[Mr. Perfect]

 

 

 

Feel bad for Eakins. You have a rookie head coach with that young of a line-up, what do you expect? 

How about the coach to continue the progress that had been made before he was hired? Instead he turned Yakupov from a goal scorer into a bust, he turned Justin Schultz from an offensive defenseman into a bust. He made everyone on that team worse. Guy was a product of the Toronto hype machine nothing more. He fooled the Oilers and they gave him a chance and he proved to be the worst head coach I have ever seen. He was the Tim Burke of the NHL he was that bad. 

 

Regarding Yakupov, how is that Eakins fault? Nail never adjusted to the NHL. Some players don't transition well to the NHL. He certainly wouldn't be the first. He won't be the last. The track record of coaching failures before him (which includes Pat Quinn - I'm pretty sure he knew how to coach a hockey team as his track record shows) shows overwhelmingly that the issues on the ice go well beyond Eakins. Does he have some fault in the state of the team? Of course he does. Is he primarily at fault? Not even close. To suggest otherwise is foolish. The day Edmonton gets rid of the "Good ol Boys" (When did they last do anything that resulted in a positive on the ice) the better off they'll be.

 

The team has neglected the blue line and the crease for years. They have no size at forward. They're going to get dominated, especially in the western conference. That falls squarely on the player personnel staff.

 

 

 

Dallas Eakins was the #1 problem in Edmonton. That problem has now been corrected, we just hope that the damage he has done isn't permanent. He destroyed the confidence of that entire group. Let's not forget that Anton Belov when he left to go back to the KHL flat out said the reason was because he wouldn't play for Eakins ever again. The players on that team very obviously hated him and never responded to him. 

 

If Eakins was problem number one, why has Edmonton had only two players drafted outside the first round SINCE 2007 play in more than 60 games in the NHL? Nothing will change until the scouts, GM, and president of player personnel decisions are addressed. LA meanwhile has had eight players drafted outside of the first round since 2007 play in 100 games.

[17to85]

 

 

 

Feel bad for Eakins. You have a rookie head coach with that young of a line-up, what do you expect? 

How about the coach to continue the progress that had been made before he was hired? Instead he turned Yakupov from a goal scorer into a bust, he turned Justin Schultz from an offensive defenseman into a bust. He made everyone on that team worse. Guy was a product of the Toronto hype machine nothing more. He fooled the Oilers and they gave him a chance and he proved to be the worst head coach I have ever seen. He was the Tim Burke of the NHL he was that bad. 

 

 

You nailed it with the "Toronto hype machine" comment.  He was crowned the "next big thing" in coaching by the Toronto media and I never really understood why.

 

Bull. If Edmonton didn't hire him, someone else would have. Was Toronto hyping him? Sure. Were they the only ones? Not at all.

 

Yeah but on the other hand Vancouver interviewed him and cancelled a follow up interview because they saw that he was in no way ready to be a head coach. Dallas also interviewed him I believe and they didn't give him a chance either. McTavish bought the hype and made a bone headed move thinking he was more in demand than he really was and it cost his team 2 seasons and probably cost him his job as well. Sounds a lot like Bob Nicholson has stopped him from making any trades and forced the Eakins firing. If a GM has lost his powers to the president then it's only a matter of time until he is gone. 

[sweep the leg]

 

 I mean a team with Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakupov and David Perron struggles to score goals, how do you explain that?

They have a terrible defense that can't move the puck up to them.

 

Look at the Avs. They're flooded with offensive talent up front but are in the bottom 1/3 in GF. It's because they also have a terrible defense. Not as bad as the Oilers, but still pretty bad.

[17to85]

 

 

 

 

Feel bad for Eakins. You have a rookie head coach with that young of a line-up, what do you expect? 

How about the coach to continue the progress that had been made before he was hired? Instead he turned Yakupov from a goal scorer into a bust, he turned Justin Schultz from an offensive defenseman into a bust. He made everyone on that team worse. Guy was a product of the Toronto hype machine nothing more. He fooled the Oilers and they gave him a chance and he proved to be the worst head coach I have ever seen. He was the Tim Burke of the NHL he was that bad. 

 

Regarding Yakupov, how is that Eakins fault? Nail never adjusted to the NHL. Some players don't transition well to the NHL. He certainly wouldn't be the first. He won't be the last. The track record of coaching failures before him (which includes Pat Quinn - I'm pretty sure he knew how to coach a hockey team as his track record shows) shows overwhelmingly that the issues on the ice go well beyond Eakins. Does he have some fault in the state of the team? Of course he does. Is he primarily at fault? Not even close. To suggest otherwise is foolish. The day Edmonton gets rid of the "Good ol Boys" (When did they last do anything that resulted in a positive on the ice) the better off they'll be.

 

The team has neglected the blue line and the crease for years. They have no size at forward. They're going to get dominated, especially in the western conference. That falls squarely on the player personnel staff.

 

 

 

Dallas Eakins was the #1 problem in Edmonton. That problem has now been corrected, we just hope that the damage he has done isn't permanent. He destroyed the confidence of that entire group. Let's not forget that Anton Belov when he left to go back to the KHL flat out said the reason was because he wouldn't play for Eakins ever again. The players on that team very obviously hated him and never responded to him. 

 

If Eakins was problem number one, why has Edmonton had only two players drafted outside the first round SINCE 2007 play in more than 60 games in the NHL? Nothing will change until the scouts, GM, and president of player personnel decisions are addressed.

 

Well because they aren't willing to load the team up entirely with rookies? Stats like that are highly misleading because of the situation prior to 2008 with the organization and the results of drafting so high that those players wind up going directly into the NHL. Their success with first rounders playing in the NHL in that time frame is probably way above average. 

 

I'll say it again, the team was making progress every year until Eakins was hired. He is the #1 problem with that team. 

[17to85]

 

 

 I mean a team with Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakupov and David Perron struggles to score goals, how do you explain that?

They have a terrible defense that can't move the puck up to them.

 

Look at the Avs. They're flooded with offensive talent up front but are in the bottom 1/3 in GF. It's because they also have a terrible defense. Not as bad as the Oilers, but still pretty bad.

 

Justin Schultz is a purely offensive defenseman who can move the puck but he too can't get offense going. Petry is a pretty well rounded defenceman who can't get offense going, Martin Marincin was drafted with offense being the best part of his game and he can't generate points either. I'm telling you the coach sucked the offense out of that team. They could score a lot more goals before Eakins was hired. Just go compare before and after Eakins stats, they're easy to find. 

[sweep the leg]

Darren Dreger just reported that the Oilers have put Taylor Hall on the trade market. As an owner of Hall in two fantasy leagues, I really hope it's true.

[sweep the leg]

edit

[sweep the leg]

 

 Just go compare before and after Eakins stats, they're easy to find. 

 

Using avg. goals per game to account for the difference in games played, there was only 10 goals difference between Eakins' first season and the season before he was hired.

[Mr. Perfect]

Darren Dredger just reported that the Oilers have put Taylor Hall on the trade market. As an owner of Hall in two fantasy leagues, I really hope it's true.

LOL wow MacTavish. What a clown.

[17to85]

Putting him on the trade market is different than actually trading him. Remember a few weeks back after a particularly bad loss McTavish talked about everyone being on the block but how that talk quickly died down? Bob Nicholson won't let him make a bad trade just for the sake of making a trade and Nicholson has said basically just that. McTavish right now is trying very hard to save his job because the pressure is coming from the top down. He's got no takers on Eberle or Yakupov so next on the list is Hall thinking he might have value but he'll never get what he's worth and they won't let a GM on the way out make that trade. 

[Jpan85]

The Oilers remind of the Matt Millen Lions

[17to85]

 

 

 Just go compare before and after Eakins stats, they're easy to find. 

 

Using avg. goals per game to account for the difference in games played, there was only 10 goals difference between Eakins' first season and the season before he was hired.

 

But in the lock out year they also only played western teams. 

 

You'd think people in Winnipeg would have an appreciation for how firing a coach can change the fortunes of a team and I promise you Claude Noel was nowhere near as bad a coach as Eakins was. I didn't like them replacing either Renney or Kreuger, felt neither one of them really got a fair shake, but Eakins was a special kind of terrible and anyone who has followed that team knows it.

[The Unknown Poster]

Kane and Bogo for hall and eberle.

[TBieber]

Oilers have won three playoff series while Lowe has been in Hockey Operations with the team. That's 16 years.

[New_Earth_Mud]

Kane and Bogo for hall and eberle.

 

 

LOL

 

Why do you always want to trade guys?

[Jpan85]

Why would they trade for Kane they need centres, top 4 defense men and a goalie. A picking up another pure winger would just add to the stupidity there.

[TBieber]

Haven't you guys heard, Taylor Hall is uncoachable.

[17to85]

Kane and Bogo for hall and eberle.

you adding trouba to that offer?

[iso_55]

Why would they trade for Kane they need centres, top 4 defense men and a goalie. A picking up another pure winger would just add to the stupidity there.

Seems as good a reason as any. Stupid is as stupid does. 

[Atomic]

Bogosian, Scheifele, and Kane for Taylor Hall and a draft pick

[Rich]

Bogosian, Scheifele, and Kane for Taylor Hall and a draft pick

 

I wouldn't do that trade.

 

I would do something like Kane and one of Comrie / Hellebuyck / Hutchinson for Hall.  Edmonton needs goaltending, and we seem to have an abundance of good prospects.  

 

Probably not enough going back to Edmonton for that, but throw in a pick and / or another prospect.

[The Unknown Poster]

Kane and Bogo for hall and eberle.

LOL

Why do you always want to trade guys?

This a sports forum. It's why fans do. I don't want to trade guys. I just have fun speculating. You know most teams in the NHL occasionally make trades right?