Wile E. Coyotes finally caught the Roadrunner.

Jeff Jackson had the summer that dreams were made out of in Edmonton. Trading up in the draft, big-name free-agent acquisitions, and sending a message to the fanbase that even as the interim general manager, he wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned to help the Oilers hoist their first Stanely Cup since 1990.

And with the Roadrunner firmly in his grasp, the Acme TNT has since blown up in his face.

The backlash from the Oilers fanbase has been swift, and it’s cut deep for many. Stan Bowman has become the latest member of the organization seeking a redemption tour.

Edmonton has found itself as somewhat of an island of misfit toys over the years. For decades, they’ve allowed a place for players to come and rehabilitate themselves and their images. Craig MacTavish was one of the first in the 1980s, convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the drunk driving death of 26-year-old Kim Radley.

After his first season in Edmonton, Nikolai Khabibulin was sentenced to thirty days in jail — half of which was spent in a Tent City jail — in an extreme DUI case, spending parts of three more years with the Oilers afterwards.

Zack Kassian was in the NHL/NHLPA player’s assistance program for substance abuse issues prior to the Oilers acquiring him in 2015. The Oilers signed Evander Kane in 2022 after his contract was bought out by the San Jose Sharks due to AHL COVID-19 violations, bringing with him a checkered past.

Later that year, the club brought Jake Virtanen to training camp on a professional tryout a year after the Vancouver Canucks bought out his contract following sexual misconduct allegations in which he was facing charges from police there. And most recently, it was Corey Perry who joined the Oilers last year after an “alcohol fueled incident” led to the Chicago Blackhawks buying out his contract.

Each of these moves brought its own firestorm of controversy around the team, but Bowman’s hiring has seemed to strike a deeper chord. Bowman has taken ownership of his role in the coverup of Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegations towards a former video coach for the Chicago Blackhawks, Brad Aldrich, and has worked to atone for his sins in the case.

He’s volunteered “nearly full-time hours” with Sheldon Kennedy’s Respect Group, learning about where he went wrong, and helped develop their Charter, which was later presented to multiple many hockey teams at the minor, major junior and University levels. Notably, that work included time with Beach and Trinity Western University, where he’s an assistant coach.

None of this absolves him of his role in the coverup, and as our own Jason Gregor highlighted Thursday, it’s now up to Stan Bowman to walk the walk and prove to Oilers fans, the hockey community at large, and other survivors of sexual abuse that he is a changed man. Donations to local groups, like The Zebra Centre or the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, would help, as would volunteering with these and other organizations to show he’s a changed man.

Another fallout from the hiring is that Jeff Jackson and the Oilers have, in one fell swoop, taken any and all goodwill they built up with a strong offseason and thrown it out the window. Despite Jackson saying during an introductory press conference Wednesday he wasn’t worried about the backlash, his decision to make his Twitter account private ahead of it shows otherwise.

Simply put, if you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

While I’m one who believes in second chances, I’m also one who believes it needs to come in due time. Bowman served some since resigning from the Blackhawks in October 2021 and subsequently facing suspension, but how is the right message being sent for him to be parachuted into a cushy general manager job a mere 23 days after his suspension was rescinded? I’m not convinced it was enough.

Clearly eager to get Bowman into the organization, there are other ways the Oilers could’ve allowed Bowman to earn more of his goodwill back. Hiring him as a senior advisor, for example, and having him serve in a behind-the-scenes role in the organization, while still allowing him to work with the Respect Group, or others, would’ve sent a stronger message that may have resulted in a less volatile response from the community at large.

There are also questions about whether or not Bowman was even the right hire from a hockey perspective.

When he was named general manager of the Blackhawks in 2009, taking over for Dale Tallon, the Chicago Blackhawks had largely been built. In 2007-08 they rose out of the NHL’s gutters, falling in the Western Conference Finals, and the overwhelming majority of the roster, centred around Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and others.

That core, beyond Campbell, would remain intact for years as they won more Stanley Cups in 2013 and 2015. But the team quickly fell to irrelevancy, making the playoffs in only two of six years following the 2015 win, and through Bowman’s departure in 2021.

Bowman took heat from the fan base in those years for “trading away fan favorites Teuvo Teravainen and Artemi Panarin, overpaying veteran defenseman Brent Seabrook and not pursuing top free agents this past summer despite having salary cap space,” Second City Hockey wrote.

Some of his final moves in Chicago continued to burn the team and the fanbase, trading Duncan Keith to Edmonton and subsequently acquiring Seth Jones, signing him to a massive overpayment.

The game had appeared to pass him by as he fought to keep the team competitive instead of letting the team bottom out and rebuild, something that has happened since he left. These things can happen, as highlighted by the Oilers’ most recent general manager Ken Holland, who underwent similar struggles in Detroit before his departure. It’s hard to pinpoint winning trades or signings in those years for the Blackhawks, further complicating what had happened.

Jeff Jackson said during the introductory press conference that they wouldn’t have hired Bowman without knowing the work he had done, and that he shares his vision of how the team will be built out.

“Forward-thinking” and “progressive” were the words Jackson used to highlight ideas they share, but Bowman’s track record in Chicago showed otherwise.

Time will tell.

The opinion of Jeff Jackson has quickly shifted, by in large, over the last few days from what it was a week prior. His work bringing in Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, Matt Savoie, Roby Jarviente and others has now been overshadowed by the hiring of Bowman.

Not only that, but it also becomes a distraction for the team. When training camp rolls around in September, so too will questions for the players about the hiring and their thoughts on everything that’s taken place.

The Oilers have done a good job in blocking outside noise in recent years, including with the acquisitions of Kane and Perry, but will they be able to maintain that with a more significant hire?

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.