Oilers’ coaches have drawn a familiar foe
A Battle of Alberta playoff would have had the history and the geographic storyline, but it’s hard to overlook the subplot of the Edmonton Oilers’ post-season matchup against the San Jose Sharks — and it’s off the ice, not on it.
Todd McLellan coached the Sharks for seven years. His assistants, Jay Woodcroft and Jim Johnson, followed him north in 2015. OK, maybe most of us will have our eyes glued to Connor McDavid for his NHL playoff debut, but the Three Coaching Amigos should be an X factor, right?
Milan Lucic laughed when the coaching storyline came up.
“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,” Lucic said.
“I guess they should know the ins and outs of the players there. Todd’s had some pretty good runs with his teams in San Jose. They made the playoffs every year but one and went to two conference finals, so they’ve had success with Todd.”
McLellan is taking the it’s muchado-about-nothing approach, of course. But you can’t blame the media for gnawing on an angle.
“Nah, it’s equal,” he said. “That group of players in San Jose understands our mannerisms, too.”
The current 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, know their stuff.
But McLellan, Woodcroft and Johnson know a slew of Sharks players. They can show video all they want to their new team, but they should know the characteristics of the Sharks’ key cogs from all their years in San Jose.
The coaching story might 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.”
Might McLellan have been pulling for San Jose over a CalgaryEdmonton matchup because he could see more of his wife Debbie and son Cale, who stayed behind the last two years so his son can finish high school?
“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.”