Add Ralph Krueger to the list of people surprised by Craig MacTavish’s decision to fire his head coach on Saturday.
Krueger told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector on Sunday that he was “blindsided by the firing” when told via Skype he was being relieved of his duties as Oilers head coach.
Listen: Ralph Krueger with Mark Spector
Krueger led the Oilers to a 19-22-7 record this past season, good for 12th in the Western Conference. It was the seventh straight year the Oilers missed the post-season.
MacTavish, who took over as Edmonton’s general manager this spring, said in his press conference he was discussing with Krueger the possibility of bringing in a veteran assistant coach before deciding to go in a different direction.
“During the process of me conducting those interviews, I recognized I was trying to add a coach that was more closely aligned with the way I wanted to run the team and less about supporting Ralph and the head coach of our team at the time,” MacTavish said.
The Oilers will introduce Toronto Marlies bench boss Dallas Eakins as the team’s new coach in a press conference on Monday.
