Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett will never forget the two-and-a-half seasons he spent in northern Alberta.
Tippett was hired by the Oilers on May 28, 2019, after spending the prior eight seasons manning the bench for the Arizona Coyotes. While the team made the playoffs in his two full seasons in charge, they failed to advance past the first round in both of them which included getting swept by the Winnipeg Jets in 2021. He would eventually be fired partway through the 2021-22 season on February 10 and was replaced by Jay Woodcroft who went on to guide Edmonton to the Western Conference Finals.
Tippett made an appearance on the show Inside the Coaches’ Room hosted by former NHL video coach Steve Rogers on January 21st. Among the many topics discussed were his tenure with the Oilers and the players he coached. He felt that Edmonton had a solid collection of players and characters, with captain Connor McDavid leading the way as a difference-maker.
“Well, it certainly does ’cause [McDavid] is a game changer. He can change a game by himself, so that’s a weapon you have and the other teams don’t have. Edmonton had gone through some tough times when Ken Holland phoned me and asked me if I would come in and he was new there. We went in. There’s a great tradition, their fans are unbelievable. They had Connor, who was still pretty young. They had Leon Draisaitl who is an unbelievable player. They had some good character players like Darnell Nurse [at the time was] a young player, but he’s a strong character guy. So there was some good people there. I’d never coached in Canada or played in Canada as a pro, and it was an opportunity to go and work with Ken Holland, work with some good players.”
He sure sounds like a guy who was appreciative of the chance to not only coach in Canada but also be able to work with the likes of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nurse on a daily basis. The Oilers during those days were certainly flawed but they also enjoyed a ton of success in the regular season, yet they failed to translate that into deep playoff runs in the two full seasons he was in charge.
Perhaps Tippett’s tenure could have evolved differently had the 2019-20 season not been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He views that period of everything being shut down as a challenging time in his life, admitting that the restrictions took a toll on him as he was unable to see his family during the 2021 COVID-shortened campaign.
”My only regret there was the COVID. We were solid in a playoff spot in the spring when COVID shut things down the first year. We had a good group of players, we had a winning season going. COVID hits, delays, and then the next year with COVID, we didn’t start till later. Then having that tournament in Edmonton, I don’t think was an advantage for the home team at all when they had that. And it just carried on. Everybody got tired of COVID.For me, it was a struggle because in Canada, COVID rules were one way and then in the States, they were another way. My wife and grandkids and everybody are in the States and I’m stuck in Canada. It just, it took a toll on everything, including the hockey.”
He added that while he enjoyed his time in Edmonton and the chance to coach some of the best players in the game right now, the way the COVID-19 pandemic affected his mental state resulted in him choosing to take a step back in hockey after he was let go by the Oilers. Instead of choosing to jump right back into coaching, Tippett instead hired by the Seattle Kraken as a coaching consultant in September 2023 where he has remained ever since.
Tippett explained that the reason he opted to go for a lesser role was to take a break from the sport and spend more time with his family.
“ I really took some time off then and didn’t watch a lot of hockey. I just kind of left it and went and spent time with my grandkids who I hadn’t seen for a long time and just stepped away from the game. That’s when I figured out I really enjoy it the game, I just needed a break. I was tired, so started doing a lot of other things that took up my day. I didn’t didn’t watch as much hockey.I think after a year or so, talked to some people and I helped start that franchise in Seattle. Ron Francis, a good friend of mine, reached out and said, ‘Would you do some consulting?’ So that’s what I’ve done for a couple of years now. I’ve enjoyed watching the game again, but I don’t watch it like I used to as a coach or the old teams you had. I watch Seattle, figure out what’s going on with them. But other than that, I don’t watch the league much at all.”
It is clear that Tippett is in a good place and sees no desire to jump back into coaching anytime soon. After all, he had spent over 30 years in the NHL with the vast majority of it spent as a coach. His 1285 regular games coached split between the Oilers, Coyotes, and Dallas Stars is the 18th most in NHL history with the only thing missing on his resume being a Stanley Cup.
Going back to Edmonton, Tippett always enjoyed getting a chance to interact with Oilers fans, though it was a vastly different experience to what he had grown accustomed to in places like Arizona.
“ The place in Arizona where I used to get recognized the most, I’d be walking down an aisle in Costco and somebody walked by and say, ‘Hey, coach.’ Must have been a lot of Canadians in Costco.Edmonton was different. I remember my wife asking me, because she wasn’t there a lot of the time, but she goes, ‘How is it?’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s go to the grocery store. We can find out.’ And people would follow me up and down the grocery store isle just to ask questions. My wife just looks around like, ‘This is crazy.’ I would go back to the old Slap Shot line from Paul Newman. Somebody would say ‘What’s up with the power play?’ I would go ‘Oh we’re working on it.’But you know, the people are they’re just passionate about their team. They’re passionate fans, they’re all in on everything they do, and you can never be disappointed with that. People just love the game and they love the team.”
You can watch the full interview with Tippett down below:
