TIPPETT’S TANDEM
Oilers coach plans two-goalie system
Dave Tippett expects goaltending to be a strength of the Edmonton Oilers this upcoming season, even if the team does not have a designated, undisputed starter.
Tippett, 57, the new head coach of the Oilers, hopes to use Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith equally this upcoming season if everything goes according to plan.
Koskinen, 31, is going into the first year of a three-year, Us$13.5-million extension signed midway through last season, while Smith, 37, signed a one-year, $2-million deal in July.
“I hope they both play a similar amount of games and they’re both really good every one of them,” Tippett said at the Sixth Annual Mark Spector Golf Classic at the Quarry Golf Course on Wednesday. “Last year, I thought Koskinen looked tired. If you watch the last 20 games, he played a lot and mentally and physically, he looked tired.
“Smitty struggled the first half through some personal stuff he had, but the second half he was a really good player; in the playoffs he was a really strong player. Obviously, I have a history with Smitty, but they’re both real competitive guys.”
Last season, Koskinen won over the No. 1 role from Cam Talbot and then earned an extension despite a rather short NHL resume. Koskinen finished the year with a 25-216 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.
Smith spent the previous two seasons in Calgary. He went 2316-2 with the Flames with a 2.72 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.
Previously, he had played for Tippett with the Arizona Coyotes.
“The way it’s going right now with the travel, you have two big guys, if you can play them fresh and get them enough rest and practice and play them at the right time, I think we can maximize both players,” Tippett said. “That’s what I’m looking at right now. I wouldn’t put a No. 1 or No. 2 on either of them.”
Tippett was hired as head coach by Oilers general manager Ken Holland in late May, replacing Ken Hitchcock, who took over from Todd Mclellan early last season.
Tippett had been away from coaching for two seasons after eight years behind the Arizona Coyotes bench. The product of Moosomin, Sask., was head coach of the Dallas Stars for six years before arriving in Arizona.
Edmonton is the first time he’ll coach in a Canadian market.
“I’m excited about it, I’m looking forward to it,” Tippett said. “The main thing that I’m going to try to accomplish is win, and to win you have to have a good rapport with the players, make sure you maximize each player and create synergy within the group that you know is going to help you be successful.”
Tippet and Holland will be under intense pressure to get the Oilers back into the playoffs this season, despite walking into a salary-cap mess they inherited.
Holland’s biggest move to date is trading Milan Lucic to the Calgary Flames for James Neal. Both underperformed last season and both needed a change of scenery.
“I think it’s a good trade for both teams, for both players,” Tippett said. “I talked to Milan a couple of times before he was traded and I was looking forward to working with him. In the end I think the trade is going to be good for him and I’ve talked to James Neal since we traded for him. I had James as a young player in Dallas and know him pretty well, and he’s excited to have a bounce-back year.”