McLellan swimming in familiar pool
Oilers coach set to face former Sharks players
• A Battle of Alberta playoff series would have had the historic and the geographic storylines, obviously, but it’s hard to overlook the subplot of the Edmonton Oilers versus the San Jose Sharks in Round 1 — off the ice, not on it.
Todd McLellan coached the Sharks for seven years. His assistants Jay Woodcroft and Jim Johnson followed him here in 2015.
OK, maybe we’ l l be watching Connor McDavid more to see if he can offer up the same magic he served through his NHL scoring title- winning campaign, but the Three Coaching Amigos should be an X factor, right?
Milan Lucic l a ughed when the coaching storyline came up with Oilers assistant Ian Herbers and goalie coach Dustin Schwartz not ever having bled Sharks’ teal.
“It adds to the emotion of a series that hasn’t started yet that the whole coaching staff is on our side now and it’s Todd’s first playoff series with us against his former team,” said Lucic. “I guess they should know the ins and outs of the players there. Todd’s had some pretty good runs with his teams i n San Jose. They made the playoffs every year but one and went to two conference finals, so they’ve had success with Todd.
“It’s going to make it extra fun.”
McLellan is taking the much- ado- about- nothing approach, of course. But you can’t blame the media for gnawing on an angle. For us, it’s dog- on- a- bone stuff as angles go.
“Nah, it’ s equal ,” said McLellan, refusing to bite. “That group of players in San Jose understands our mannerisms, too.”
This subplot can’t divert some of the pressure off the players briefly, though.
“If you think that, you’re writing backwards,” said McLellan. “Has nothing to do with it. I stand behind the bench and maybe I sweat a bit, but I usually don’t get hit or have to block shots. The groups will go out and play. They’ve got a really good staff and team, too.”
True enough. Head coach Peter DeBoer guided the Sharks to the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Penguins last spring. His assistants Steve Spott and Bob Boughner certainly know their stuff.
But McLellan, Woodcroft and Johnson know a slew of Sharks players. They can show video all they want to the Oilers players, but they should know the characteristics of the Sharks’ key cogs from all their years in San Jose.
“From our side, our coaches probably know that ( Sharks) team better than anybody, which should help, but we play them enough during the season that we know how they play, what their key guys want to do,” said Oilers winger Jordan Eberle.
Knowing how Joe Thornton likes to create a passing lane is important, though, if McLellan’s talking. The Oilers coaches should know from where Joe Pavelski l i kes to shoot, although s t opping his i ncredible hands from tipping pucks is another story. They should know Brent Burns’s tendencies, being up on the play, what he likes to do.
What buttons to push because they’ve been through the good and bad times with those players. And maybe the coaching story can deflect some early heat from the Oilers players, which can’t hurt, even if Woodcroft dismissed it quickly.
“I’m a bad quote. Good luck,” he said. “There’s no angle. The angle is the team and it’s us playing to our potential.”
Tangentially, maybe McLellan was pulling for San Jose over a Calgary- Edmonton matchup because he could see more of his wife Debbie and son Cale, who’ve stayed behind the last two years so his son can finish high school there.
“Who said that? I may fly them here,” McLellan said, with a laugh.
“One thing I’ve learned is you never pick your opponent. That’s a big, big mistake.”