UPDATE: Tom Renny new Oilers head coach

The Oilers have announced Tom Renney is the new team head coach. Pat Quinn has been named Senior Advisor of Hockey. More to follow…

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Oilers have released their regular season schedule and it’s a much better schedule than last year.

For those who like a Saturday night out, the Oilers have eight Saturday home games, twice as many as last year, and if you want to start your weekend at Rexall they have five Friday night affairs.

The Oilers play five games on Sunday, three on Wednesday, and ten on both Tuesday and Thursday. They have a six-game homestand from Dec 4th to 16th, and again from February 12th to 19th. They also have a five game holiday homestand from Dec 28th to January 6th. They won’t play in Calgary on New Years Eve; instead they will host the Flames New Years Day (Saturday) at eight. Good news for you Oiler fans who will be ripping it up on New Years, because the late start will give you ample time to wake up shower and make it to the couch to watch another Battle of Alberta.

The Oilers will open the season at home against Jarome Iginla and the Flames on Thursday October 7th. The Oilers will have three five-game road trips: Nov 7th to 14th, Jan 7th to Jan 16th and March 5th to 13th. The marquee trip will be the five gamer in March, when the Oilers face Philly, Washington, Detroit and Pittsburgh after starting the trip in Colorado.

Once again Oiler fans won’t get to see Sidney Crosby and the Penguins or Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in Edmonton. Florida, Tampa, Toronto, Buffalo, Islanders, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlanta and Boston are the Eastern teams fans will see at Rexall.

Rod Phillips’ ten special games will include three home games and seven road games and those exact will be announced soon, but they Islanders, Montreal and Boston home games are givens. The Kings, Starts, Flames, Avs and Flyers will be road games so that leaves two other road affairs.

The Oilers have called at 12pm press conference. Follow me on Twitter for live updates. We’ll have information for you in this space once the conference is going.