Gene Principe

Any doubts surrounding who's actually running the Edmonton Oilers have been answered this week.

With Edmonton out of the playoffs, I figured it would be a good time to take a week off. You know, get lunch for the kids, help out a wife who is single much of the winter, clean out the garage, do a little lawn work, things that many people do during the spring.

Who knew while I was cleaning house that the Oilers would be doing the same with long-time employees.

On Friday, the Oilers let go head medical trainer Ken Lowe (21 years), head equipment manager Barrie Stafford (29 years) and assistant equipment manager Lyle 'Sparky' Kulchisky (34 years).

This comes days after they removed assistant general manager Kevin Prendergast (20 years).

If you add it up, these four men have over 100 years of experience, Oilers experience.

It has become increasingly clear that the man with two years of Oilers experience, Steve Tambellini is shaping the franchise the way he wants it and not the way it used to be. Getting rid of all of the above can not completely be tied to a last place finish or a fourth straight year without playoffs.

Last year Tambellini felt forced to get rid of Craig MacTavish after nine seasons and this year he's gone the route of more change. You can argue getting rid of those above is just another difficult but necessary step towards changing the culture of the Oilers.

What makes this more than a simple movement is the last name of the head medical trainer. Ken Lowe is Kevin Lowe's brother. Kevin Lowe is the Oilers president of hockey operations.

Did Tambellini go to Lowe and say, "Kevin, I'm sorry but we had 530 man-games lost due to injury and we need to make a change in our medical department?"

Did he go to the owner and say a similar thing? Or for that matter, does the GM have to go to anyone to make that kind of move?

This cannot be a good time to see a friend, a fellow employee and most importantly a mentor like older brother Ken has been for Kevin to be out of work, whether he resigned or was fired, or the truth lies somehwere in between.

Kevin was Edmonton's first-ever draft pick and the defenceman won five Cups with the Oilers.

He grew up in Edmonton and has a long lasting love affair with the Oilers, but bloodlines are thicker than bluelines. Not having all the details makes it unclear exactly how Kevin is feeling about what has transpired but these are not good times for the Lowes.

If one thing has become clear through all this, it’s that when Steve Tambellini was hired as Edmonton's GM in the summer of 2008 there were many who thought he had the job but wasn't really calling the shots.

What happened this week suggests that's not the case.