Oilers hearth coach Woodcroft, identify Knoblauch as interim alternative

Jay Woodcroft is out as coach of the Edmonton Oilers after the supposed Stanley Cup contenders misplaced 10 of their first 13 video games this season.

Woodcroft was fired Sunday on the finish of the workforce’s street journey, which wrapped up with a 4-1 win at Seattle on Saturday evening. That victory was not sufficient to avoid wasting Woodcroft‘s job within the aftermath of a four-game shedding streak, together with an embarrassing 3-2 loss on the NHL-worst San Jose Sharks earlier within the week.

Kris Knoblauch, Connor McDavid’s junior hockey coach, was named Woodcroft‘s replacement, and Hall of Famer Paul Coffey joins his staff as an assistant. Knoblauch is the organization’s tenth coach in 15 seasons and the fifth since McDavid joined the workforce in 2015.

After the loss in San Jose on Thursday evening, Woodcroft mentioned he wasn’t fearful about his job safety.

“No one’s happy with where we’re at,” Woodcroft mentioned. “We all own it. We can be better, and that’s where my focus is.”

The Oilers had misplaced focus underneath Woodcroft, himself a midseason alternative in February 2022 when Dave Tippett was fired. Despite having reigning MVP McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they had been shedding due to a mixture of league-worst goaltending, porous defending and an absence of accountability.