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Todd Nelson has the Oilers playing harder, or so goes the narrative from the local locker room jockeys and the fellas who think Luke Gazdic is a great addition to the roster.
His attention to skating and hitting in practice, rather than whiteboard sessions has the Oilers playing a different brand of hockey. With a re-energized Oilers team hitting on most of their cylinders, how does Nelson's performance stack up against the rest of the coaches from the Oilers' rebuild?
The table below contains the data we're looking for:
Coach | W | L | Pct. |
Craig MacTavish | 111 | 135 | 0.451 |
Ralph Krueger | 19 | 29 | 0.396 |
Tom Renney | 57 | 107 | 0.348 |
Pat Quinn | 27 | 55 | 0.329 |
Dallas Eakins | 36 | 77 | 0.319 |
Todd Nelson | 5 | 11 | 0.313 |
Given the shortcomings of his rosters, it's a shame that the man at the top of the list hasn't figured out how to correct his own complaints as the General Manager. Other than MacT, this is a list of men thrown to the wolves without a lineup capable of winning. Granted, Nelson's predecessors had both fundamental and fatal tactical and strategic flaws behind the bench, but even with tactics like Fetisov and strategies like Arbour, the men on this list were fighting a losing battle.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.