The News
At today’s press conference in Edmonton it will be announced that Ralph Krueger is no longer the Head Coach of the Oilers.
— Josh Rimer (@JoshRimerHockey) June 8, 2013
Eakins is ready to be an NHL head coach. I’ll be very surprised if he’s not Edmonton’s man.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 8, 2013
My Sources strongly suggest Dallas Eakins will be Oilers new head coach, an announcement likely in the next few days. Krueger to be let go.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) June 8, 2013
Per NHL Source close to the situation, Dallas Eakins has signed a multi year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
— Josh Rimer (@JoshRimerHockey) June 8, 2013
The About-Face
I think it’s fair to say that there’s a very remote chance that where we are right now has anything to do with coaching… We’ve gone through four coaches in the last number of years, so for me to say it’s Ralph Krueger’s fault right now would be extremely shortsighted on my part. I give Ralph a lot of credit for the way he’s maintained a positive atmosphere.
To me, @jonathanwillis it’s not about Krueger as much as it is about Eakins. People think very highly of him and my guess is the Oilers…
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 8, 2013
decided they wanted him. If they hire him as an associate, it’s rough because it means he’ll constantly be seen as a replacement.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 8, 2013
There are an incredible amount of difficult things you have to do in this position. I believed it as a coach, I believe it as a manager: if you can’t do the difficult things that the job requires, how can you ask your players to do those things. I’m not going to shy away from doing difficult things.