Happy Tuesday!
This week on 15MOF we update the Boston Marathon bombings, look at an apology (of sorts) from the Edmonton Oilers, check in with the latest player to go under the knife and we cheer on the Edmonton Oil Kings.
In the GABBYs: David Ortiz, Stephen Curry, Keith Yandle, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Yovani Gallardo & the supporters of Argentina’s Huracan football club. The Punchline this week is Liverpool striker Luis Suarez!
The Edmonton Oilers have now lost six straight after losing 5-3 to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, but the big story these days in Edmonton is surrounding President Kevin Lowe.
Lowe made himself very unpopular with Oilers Nation after separating the two types of Oilers fans in Monday’s press conference when he announced the firing of General Manager Steve Tambellini. He seemed to place a hierarchy among the fans with the paying customer at the top of the list.
Lowe also bragged about the six Stanley Cups he won, stating that there was only one more player working in the game today (San Jose Sharks’ assistant coach Larry Robinson) that has won more Stanley Cups than him. The bottom line is that Lowe won all of his Stanley Cups as a player and it was Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier that had more to do with Lowe winning his six Stanley Cups than anyone else.
In an interesting decision on Monday morning the Edmonton Oilers have fired general manager Steve Tambellini with former player and head coach Craig MacTavish being named as his replacement.
Tambellini took over from Kevin Lowe as the Oilers General Manager in 2008, and was present in Edmonton during the entire rebuilding process. Even though the Oilers showed some improvement this season, they are likely to miss the playoffs for a team record seventh straight year.
MacTavish was the Oilers head coach from 2000-2009 where he went 301-252-104. MacTavish also played with the Oilers from 1985-1994 and won three Stanley Cups for the Oilers during that stretch. Since MacTavish was fired by the Oilers, he has worked for TSN as an analyst, was head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL for a year before returning as Tambellini’s assistant at the beginning of the season.
Craig MacTavish (Wikimedia Commons)
Craig MacTavish is returning to the Edmonton Oilers as the senior vice president of hockey operations.
MacTavish, will be working alongside President Kevin Lowe and General Manager Steve Tambellini.
MacTavish was the Edmonton Oilers Head Coach from 2000-2009, leading them to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.
As a player, MacTavish played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1985-1994 where he won three Stanley Cups, and was team captain from 1992-1994. He went on to play for the New York Rangers in 1994 where he won another Stanley Cup.
Last season, MacTavish was the Head Coach of the Chicago Wolves, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, where he posted an overall record of 42-27-7.
It appears the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki next month might be even more meaningful for Head Coach Brent Sutter than he initially anticipated.
According to local media sources, Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe has very high regard for Sutter, who has coached the Oilers nemesis, the Calgary Flames the last three years. It is interesting as well that Lowe, as General Manager of Team Canada, hired Sutter over Oilers Head Coach Tom Renney in an attempt to lead Canada to a World Hockey Championship Gold medal for the first time since 2007.
It’s no secret. The Oilers should be disappointed for not competing for a playoff spot this past year, their initial goal back in October. Sure, they’ll get the number one pick for a third straight year, but it is time for this hockey team to step up and compete more consistently.
Hockey Canada made a very interesting decision on Monday. They named Steve Yzerman as the Executive Director of the men’s hockey team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The reason the decision is a little bit strange is the timing. There is absolutely no guarantee that the National Hockey League will stop its season for an Olympic Games approximately ten time zones away. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has not given any indication that the NHL will do something that they have done since 1998 and that is be an integral part of the Olympic movement.
So my question for Bob Nicholson is– why set up a management team with Oilers president Kevin Lowe also on board (along with Detroit Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland and Saint Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong) when these NHL executives may not be choosing NHL players? A general decision by the NHL, IIHF and IOC of NHL players involvement should have been determined first. If the NHL players don’t go, it is highly unlikely Yzerman will stay on at that position and today’s announcement was a complete waste of time.
Dwayne Roloson (Wikimedia Commons)
On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning tried to solidify their goaltending by acquiring Dwayne Roloson from the New York Islanders for minor league defenceman Ty Wishart.
The Lightning are currently tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the Southeast Division with 51 points.
The deal makes complete sense for the Lightning, who lead the NHL by only giving up 27.5 shots per game, but have given up the third most goals in the NHL at 122.
Roloson, who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 2006-09, was traded from Minnesota to Edmonton in 2006 under very similar circumstances. The Oilers back in 2006 were among the best teams in the NHL for giving up the fewest shots, but had terrible goaltending in the regular season from Ty Conklin and Jussi Markkanen, so Oilers GM Kevin Lowe went out and acquired Roloson for a first and third round draft pick.
Loading ...
|
Edmonton Sports Blog – Any Sport Any Time is proudly powered by
WordPress
|
 |
