Is It Time The Edmonton Oilers Fired Craig MacTavish?



Posted: Friday, April 03, 2009

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With just a few games left in the NHL regular season and the Oilers currently sitting in 11th spot in the Western Conference, 4 points back of the 8th place St. Louis Blues with only 4 games remaining it would take a miracle for the Oilers to sneak into the playoffs this time around.

Whenever a team loses the blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the players. They are the ones that are making millions of dollars to perform on the ice; they are the ones that need to up the level of their game when the season is on the line.

That being said, when expectations are not met, and a shake-up is necessary, it is impossible for an NHL general manager to get rid of all 20 players on his roster and start fresh. A much simpler solution is to fire the coach and try to bring in a fresh voice that might be able to light a fire under his underperforming squad.

Craig MacTavish is a well-respected member of the Oilers organization. He won Stanley Cups there as a player, and has coached the team for the better part of 9 seasons now. However, despite his close ties to the team he is quickly running out of credit. If the Oilers go on to miss the playoffs this year it will be the 3rd consecutive season they have done so. Ironic, considering the season before this playoff futility began they made it all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

It is very rare that a coach deserves to be fired, and I certainly don't think that MacTavish is one of the few that merits such a fate. However, the Oilers have to do something, for no other reason than to appease their increasingly agitated fan base. I think the Edmonton Oilers need to make a change, and unfortunately that change is likely to come in the form of a new coach. Unless the Oilers can come up with a miracle and make the playoffs I believe the Oilers will fire Craig MacTavish and we will see a new coach behind the Oilers bench to start the 2009-10 season.



Cheap Canuck is an avid traveler and writer. He is the Webmaster of GlobeTales.com. Visit his site to share your travel stories with the world.
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