I remember talk of the Oilers needing a video guy in the back room. With Bucky as the assistant does that mean he no longer fills this role or does his jack of all trades mentality allow him to continue rolling the film for the coaching staff?

Good read Jonathan. I think you raise a lot of good points in the article about why Bucky may have stayed on. I know that I was biased against him because he just doesn’t come off as an intelligent person in interviews. I don’t know him, so I actually have no idea how smart the man is. I probably should have checked his track record before deciding whether or not he should be let go (go figure, eh?). Anyway, you’ve convinced me it was a good choice to keep him!

I too was disappointed to see Huddy go, but there is a persistent and plausible rumour that he will go where MacT goes. As for Bucky, I spoke in favour of him on Oil Droppings at the time of the coaching change when I wrote:

As for Buchberger, I understand the frustration but as was the case when he was a young player, patience is key. When he broke in he was like Zack Stortini was two years ago, all warts and rough edges. The object of no little derision especially at first, Bucky worked harder than anybody, soaked up information like a sponge, and drove the twin engines of heart and desire to capacity on a daily basis. He was, and presumably remains, the ultimate team player. As a coach he perhaps achieved better results in Springfield than it seemed at the time, and who knows what he did or didn’t accomplish last year. He’s clearly the #3 man on the new totem pole, which is fine by me. If he had somehow been given the head job, that wouldn’t have been fine at all, but the current situation calls for a little mortar between the bricks which is a role Kelly understands well. It’s a hell of a learning opportunity for a young coach to put it mildly. I wish him well.