The end of Craig MacTavish should be the beginning of a long list of changes the Oilers need to make as they try to return to the glory days.
The problems in the Edmonton Oilers organization run deep, their general manager Steve Tambellini said Wednesday in an admission of the obvious.
"We need to have an evaluation of an entire hockey operation," he said, on the day he announced that Craig MacTavish was no longer the head coach. "We have lots of work to do here."
For starters, how about fixing the chain of command in an organization that waits for its head coach to tell them that he is no longer effective in its post, rather than the other way around?
In the end, it was left to MacTavish to sit down with Tambellini and president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe after his fifth playoff miss in eight seasons as head coach. As a group they reached the conclusion that was painfully and pointedly obvious when Sportsnet.ca first reported that MacTavish was losing his dressing room back on Nov. 27.
"We need a new voice, a new start, new expectations, a new discipline. It's time to look forward here," the GM said. "This is the right thing for Craig. There was a mutual agreement … from Craig, myself and Kevin."
MacTavish is under contract for another season, thus the refusal by everyone involved to paint this as MacTavish quitting. He will be paid by the Oilers for next season, unless he lands in another club's employ.
So, what of owner Daryl Katz' late-season text message to a member of the home team radio crew that stated "MacT is not going anywhere?"
The time has come for a hockey man - not just a rich man - to make the hockey calls in this organization, and in giving Tambellini the full responsibilities of a GM, the nepotism that has festered inside the Oilers organization will begin to be cut out.
Tambellini said he will be responsible for hiring the new coach, adding the hunt can not begin until the playoffs are over. That clearly means he is looking outside the organization.
A new coach may also mean the days of Oilers assistants Charlie Huddy and Kelly Buchberger, both former Oilers, may be numbered in Edmonton.
"Now, the hard part comes. Where do we go from here?" the first-year GM said. "Because we are changing our head coach, this does not absolve our players from their performance, or lack thereof."
The Oilers lack, Tambellini said, "The passion, the willingness to do anything to win. When you played against the Oilers, there was a commitment to win at any cost.
| PROSPECTIVE NEW COACHES | |
| Pat Quinn | Worked with Kevin Lowe and Steve Tambellini with Canada's National Team. |
| Tom Renney | Fired Rangers coach worked with Tambellini in Vancouver. |
| Scott Arniel | AHL Coach of the Year in Manitoba, the Canucks farm team. |
| Marc Habscheid | Another colleague from the Olympic program, and an ex-Oiler. |
| Brent Sutter | He is the fantasy choice of Oilers fans, but not going to happen. If Sutter leaves New Jersey, he'll go home to the farm. |
| Wayne Gretzky | Disillusioned with Coyotes? Would have to divest of ownership shares, though. |
"We weren't gritty enough as a team. We need to get stronger," he added. "How much can we get from what we have now … [or] how do we acquire it?
"I can tell you, things are going to change as far as expectations and preparation from the players' standpoint."
That can't be good news for inconsistent, under-committed players like Robert Nilsson and Dustin Penner, who can't be bothered to get into shape before he starts collecting his $4.25 million salary each fall. It means the acquisition of a six-foot-plus centre, and the movement of small, speedy Andrew Cogliano to the wing.
It may mean changes in the hockey personnel department, where the Oilers have drafted and acquired far too many small players who lack grit and toughness.
"When you're in this spot, people shouldn't be comfortable," Tambellini said. "The players, the hockey operation ... that's the hard part of this business. Decisions have to be made for us to get better.
"We want an aggressive type of play, an emotional team. A team that is not standing on its heels. We have people here with skills. I want to see it. There are areas where it is obvious we need some improvement," he said, citing a top-six forward and some grit.
"[We] should be harder to play against."
MacTavish declined to speak today, stating in a text that he has embarked on vacation.
His tenure ends with three playoff appearances in eight seasons, including a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in '06.
His game plan, we have no doubt, was sound. The problem was, his team only executed it this season about one period out of every three.
He was fed up with Penner - a project that perhaps no coach will ever complete - as well as Nilsson and Kyle Brodziak, and there was division in a losing dressing room between those players who were loyal to MacTavish, and those who weren't.
That is not individual to the Oilers, but the stock and trade of a losing team. When you lose, relationships go bad - that is simply how pro sports work.
If there is a real problem in Edmonton, it is that management did not figure out these things months ago. Whether it was misplaced loyalty or just blindness, the Oilers have hit rock bottom, with their third straight playoff miss and a roster that is lacking in several key areas.
A new coach is an obvious place to start, and has been for several months.
"I have in my mind the type of coach that we're looking for," said Tambellini.
When asked about when the hire will come, he responded with confidence:
"When we get the right guy."
