The Peterborough Examiner

Hitchcock has Oilers rolling; other coaching changes falling flat

Defensive upgrade pairs well with McDavid’s influence

- JOSHUA CLIPPERTON

When the struggling Edmonton Oilers dropped the axe on head coach Todd McLellan and replaced him with the briefly-retired Ken Hitchcock last month, part of Peter Chiarelli’s reasoning for the move came from a belief his team’s roster was good enough to make the playoffs.

It’s only been 11 games, but it appears the embattled general manager was onto something.

Sitting five points below the cut line at 9-10-1 before the coaching change, the Oilers are an impressive 8-2-1 under Hitchcock — tied for the National Hockey League’s third-best record over that span heading into Wednesday’s action — and occupy the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot.

As the 66-year-old has done throughout his career, he’s making previously average-looking goalies seem like world beaters.

The Oilers are surrenderi­ng similar shot totals since McLellan’s removal, but are giving up more than a full goal less per game on average as Hitchcock continues to implement his defensive structure.

Mikko Koskinen, a 30-year-old with four games of NHL experience in 2010-11 prior to this season, has wrestled the starting goalie’s job from Cam Talbot.

In eight appearance­s since Hitchcock took over, Koskinen has a .936 save percentage, up from .917 with McLellan. Talbot has also seen a bump in his statistics with a .925 mark in three games after putting up an ugly .888 in 14 previous outings.

“It’s not going to change overnight, but we can start taking some steps,” Hitchcock said in the wake of his hiring. “I told the players I can take them to a place personally that they can’t get to themselves. But they’ve got to buy into that, and it’s not going to be comfortabl­e at times.”

And while the three other teams that fired coaches during a 17-day November stretch in hopes turning around their seasons don’t have a forward group led by Connor McDavid, they haven’t responded nearly as well.

The Los Angeles Kings were the first to make a move, parting ways with John Stevens and his 4-8-1 record on Nov. 4. Former Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins is 7-11-1 since.

Joel Quennevill­e, a three-time Stanley Cup champion with Chicago, was handed his walking papers by the Blackhawks two days after Stevens following a 6-6-3 start to the year.

Jeremy Colliton was promoted from the club’s American Hockey League affiliate to try to right the ship, but his tenure behind the bench has been a disaster so far with a 3-12-2 record, including a regulation losing streak that stretched to eight games with Tuesday’s 6-3 defeat in Winnipeg.

“If I had (a reason) I would have fixed it already,” Colliton told reporters on Tuesday.

And the St. Louis Blues, who underwent a major roster overhaul this summer that included a blockbuste­r trade for forward Ryan O’Reilly, fired Mike Yeo (7-9-3) the day before McLellan was sent packing Nov. 20.

Craig Berube is a pedestrian 4-5-1 as interim coach.

St. Louis (28th overall), Los Angeles (30th) and Chicago (31st) are the bottom three teams in the West. At the other end of the spectrum, the Oilers are flying.

Hitchcock, however, is still looking for more.

“We’re going to need more contributi­ons from more people if we expect to be a playoff team,” he said following Edmonton’s

6-4 win in Colorado on

Tuesday.

“We’re going to push in that direction.”

 ?? ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO ?? Since installing Ken Hitchcock, top, as their head coach, the Edmonton Oilers have gone 8-2-1 and have climbed back into a playoff position, while Mikko Koskinen, left, has nailed down the No. 1 goaltender job.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Since installing Ken Hitchcock, top, as their head coach, the Edmonton Oilers have gone 8-2-1 and have climbed back into a playoff position, while Mikko Koskinen, left, has nailed down the No. 1 goaltender job.

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