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Sounds like another coach casualty as sources suggest Ken Hitchcock is replacing Todd Mclellan on the Oilers bench.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 20, 2018
That’s the move that everyone was waiting for right there. Yeah buddy, firing Todd McLellan and hiring Ken Hitchcock (?). When the Oilers came out flat against Pacific Division opponents, they were missing Ken Hitchcock from the club. Obviously.
Todd McLellan was just relieved of his coaching duties of the Oilers. While he didn’t have what I would call a successful tenure in Edmonton, he finished with a 123-119-24 record. That’s not great considering the man had Connor McDavid on his team from the first game he coached. McLellan can take some solace in the fact that he was the man behind the bench when Edmonton made the playoffs for the first time in what seemed like a thousand years back in 2017, but that’s about all.
Ken Hitchcock last coached in Dallas for the 2017-18 NHL season. It was his second tour of Dallas, he lasted just one season. Prior to that, he was behind the bench in St. Louis for six years, he spent four in Columbus, some time in Philly before that. Hitchcock was the winner of the 1999 Stanley Cup while coach of the Stars. He’ll be asked to complete a daunting task as coach of the Oilers, and that’s to push them at least to the playoffs.
The Oilers are in San Jose tonight to take on the Sharks.
More to come.