Ken Hitchcock has Oilers rolling, but other coaching changes falling flat
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 NHL’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.