It would be tough for the Edmonton Oilers to be a whole lot worse vs the NHL odds at the sportsbook than they were last season.
With Pat Quinn as head coach, Edmonton was 27-48-8 last season. It seems the Oilers will be better vs the odds at the offshore sports book with the new coach, since this season they will now be coached by Tom Renney.
Steve Tambellini, the general manager, made the statement on Tuesday. He said that his goal had always been for Tom Renney to be the coach while Pat Quinn was to take a senior advisory role. Tambellini appears to think that Renney is a proved coach in terms of development and structure, and would also be best moving forward with a young group.
Quinn was in control for 1,400 matches and picked up 684 victories. Only 3 other NHL teams have won more matches. He will still be attending training camp, go on a number of the Oilers’ road trips, and he will be traveling to Oklahoma City to see the squad’s American Hockey League affiliate play. According to Tambellini, Quinn might have coached until he was 90 if he’d been permitted. He just adores the sport.
The team may be much better, though sports book probabilities still will not like Edmonton pretty often in 2010-2011. Getting Quinn off the bench is a step in the correct direction. He was a solid head coach a decade ago but he is basically not a solid head coach now. Quinn will stay with the team as a senior advisor. Renney will take over as head coach and it’ll be his third chance as an NHL head coach. He coached the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers. An Edmonton squad that won only 18 games at home and only nine on the road last season is anticipated to be much better now with him. The squad hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006.
The Oilers hired Quinn in May of 2009 but it was apparent that he wasn’t the right man for the job. Quinn had not coached in the league since 2006 and was genuinely not ready for the young participants that Edmonton has. Injuries also didn’t aid Quinn’s cause last season. The Oilers lost Nikolai Khabibulin, Alex Hemsky, Sheldon Souray and Ladislav Smid to injuries and they didn’t have much depth to cover for it.
Dustin Penner headed the Oilers a year ago but he had just 63 points. The Oilers were pretty weak on offense as they averaged just 2.5 goals per game. They also did not stay from the penalty box and that hurt them. The defense was even worse as they permitted 3.4 goals per game which was the worst in the league. Their penalty killing was weak as they were 26th in the league.
Despite the weak numbers from last season, the Oilers could be improved next season vs the odds at the offshore sports book. Edmonton will get numerous competitors back from injury and they should be inspired to play nicely under their new head coach.
