Dallas Eakins….He Was So Bad That He Actually Turned The Franchise Around
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KlimasLoveChild
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moog35
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I thought he banned coffee and doughnuts for the media
Seriously though as silly as it sounds that was one of the first red flags, when he made a huge deal after being hired about replacing the media coffee and doughnuts with water and veggies. I started thinking that he was pretty arrogant for a rookie head coach.
It only snowballed from there
moog35
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heres another gem from Eakins early days with the Oilers
http://o.canada.com/sports/edmonton-oilers-coach-dallas-eakins-thanks-montreal-canadiens-lars-eller-for-the-win
http://o.canada.com/sports/edmonton-oilers-coach-dallas-eakins-thanks-montreal-canadiens-lars-eller-for-the-win
rboomercat90
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This was just as embarrassing to watch today as it was back then. Eakins was such a disaster from day one and it just kept snowballing on him. How Mactavish still has any job with this organization after not only sticking with him for a season and a half but continuing to publicly support his coaching after he reluctantly fired him is just wrong.
oobga
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Bryanbryoil
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I would much rather that MacT get the axe and that we keep Lowe on the business side of things. We also saw MacT pretty much throw Lowe under the bus last season, pretty nice thing to do to the guy that got you the ****ing job. Meanwhile Eakins could do no wrong in MacT's mind.
KlimasLoveChild
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I would much rather that MacT get the axe and that we keep Lowe on the business side of things. We also saw MacT pretty much throw Lowe under the bus last season, pretty nice thing to do to the guy that got you the ****ing job. Meanwhile Eakins could do no wrong in MacT's mind.
It's a little worrisome to have Mact sticking around as the # 2. In a lot of cases when the #1 gets **** canned the #2 steps into the job. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future but I really don't want to see a MacT 2.0 as GM at any point in my life time...
oobga
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It's a little worrisome to have Mact sticking around as the # 2. In a lot of cases when the #1 gets **** canned the #2 steps into the job. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future but I really don't want to see a MacT 2.0 as GM at any point in my life time...
MacT is SVP of Hockey Ops again looks like, same job he was gifted back in 2012.
If Chia messes up, get probably get MacT as POHO and he hires a GM...probably Howson. I just say that based on Oilers history. Screw up royally as GM, you become POHO
Baby Nilsson
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No one's giving credit to Tambo. He was a pioneer in the incompetence of this era of Oiler's mgmt.
MacT and Eakins were just similar style players. They saw eye-to-eye in terms of style of hockey. But the thing most people here don't realize is that even MacT was a bit long in the tooth when it came to NHL coaching. He was an NHL coach in the modern-era, who still subscribed to late-90s style trap play. It worked in 2006 because it caught all the other coaches off-guard who were trying to play the new way, and when the refs put the whistles in their pockets for the first time in the playoffs since the rule changes, the old way worked.
We all wanted MacT fired in 2005, then luckily (for him) he went far in the playoffs and got himself extended, then eventually entrenched in management and stuff. He nosedived this organization so hard, we landed 4 first overalls in 6 years. That's the epitome failure in the NHL. Just horrible. The Oilers will be a case study on how blind loyalty can shoot you in the foot.
We all wanted MacT fired in 2005, then luckily (for him) he went far in the playoffs and got himself extended, then eventually entrenched in management and stuff. He nosedived this organization so hard, we landed 4 first overalls in 6 years. That's the epitome failure in the NHL. Just horrible. The Oilers will be a case study on how blind loyalty can shoot you in the foot.
oobga
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Tambo was just a blithering idiot. The perfect tool for Lowe to execute his tank plan and to lay all the blame on for losing. Lowe probably knew a few months in that Tambo was in over his head in the job but just let him keep going because he was still doing exactly what Lowe wanted. Right up until Lowe started feeling the pressure to win again and he realized that a bunch of kids weren't going to single-handedly turn our team into contenders, then he brought out his secret weapon, the triple threat MacT. How our scouting departments weren't cleaned out after Tambo was fired shows how little Lowe actually cared about the epic failures that happened during the Lowe/Tambo era. He was cool sacrificing one guy to appease the fans and legitimately thought we were right on the cusp of turning things around.
"The Edmonton Oilers are not where they should be right now and that is unacceptable. We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
-Kevin Lowe, April 2013
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McThome
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rboomercat90
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The ones that back the Oilers regardless of what they do ate it up, most were disgusted and embarrassed.
rboomercat90
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Up the Irons
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It's possible he didn't like the idea of firing Kruger, but there is NO WAY I believe that Lowe every threatened to resign from anything.
Even if he told me himself that he did I won't believe it. Until Katz says that's true, it aint true.
Never!
No way!
No chance!!!
Arctic Fox
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Perhaps, Lowe is so incompetent that he couldn't figure out how to resign? Tried a few times and failed as usual.
Up the Irons
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I think i've come to the conclusion that Eakins system/coaching philosophies only works in the AHL.
For the most part AHL players have little to no elite offensive abilities at the NHL level. You try and swarm a Patrick Kane or Joe Thornton he will just find a way to make a play and burn you consistently. Defending against guys like Travis Morin and Dustin Jeffery will probably yield better results.
However, in the AHL, there are numerous goaltenders who are capable in the NHL. You can cover up many of Eakins system weaknesses when Ryan Hamilton (who is a guy could never score 15 goals in NHL) is shooting against a Ben Scrivens who is a serviceable NHL goalie for example.
The other factor is that the AHL has lots of very good defenseman who are simply getting extra seasoning in the minors. Think that next year we could potentially have Nurse and Reinhart in Bakersfield. Pretty much every team has one or two top defensive prospects playing in the minors at any given time. Add to this a few depth defenseman used for callups and you already have a fairly capable group.
The last factor, physical fitness is imo mute in the NHL. There aren't many Phil Kessels out there that can be out of shape for NHL standards and stick in the NHL. However, in the AHL the difference between an AHL paycheque and an NHL paycheque will be how they work in the gym and on the ice because they don't have any god given abilities to make them special. Think of guys like PJ Stock or Nick Kypreos or anyone else on the sportsnet panels.
However, elite level atheletes (the ones that get drafted 1st overall) already understand this message. In this day and age you don't become a top prospect if you aren't already doing good things off the ice. I think this concept is completely lost on Eakins.
excellent points I hadn't considered. Top end, or near top end offensive talent, even 18 year olds, rarely play in the A, while good yound D usually do. And of course, many goalies that would rate anywhere from 50 to 100 in the world are in the A.
I've come to the conclusions the Eakins both ruined and saved everything.
Up the Irons
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You know, you're right. It was somewhat un-unwatchable(?), like a car crash, to watch these peacocks strut around like they're the s--t, and all the while completely oblivious that everyone is laughing and snikering behind their backs. Can you imagine some of the conversations other management teams had after getting off the phone with the Oilers? They must have been rolling on the floor.
Remember Mact's infamous gem: 'we have the best developement system in the league'. Wow!!!! I mean.... just... WOW!!! Let them eat cakes, FCOL!!!
Could they (Lowe, Mact) have been that unaware of how they were (are) seen? I have to believe they are, judging by the fact none have quit, and still show their faces at the draft.
They are like the passed-out drunk that got face-painted, and can't figure out why everyone is laughing.
Up the Irons
Registered User
Oct 2013: "we're not looking to develop here anymore, it's time to win hockey games"
-Dallas Eakins
April 2015 "next year is another developmental year"
-MacT
talk about not having a clue what kind of hockey club you have...astounding they kept their jobs as long as they did
Wow. that really says it all.
And Mact was shocked he got demoted. just uttterly dumbfounding.
rboomercat90
Registered User
Of course they were oblivious to how others saw them. Mactavish said in a press conference that other GM's were telling him he was on the right track and to stay the course. Other GM's who were in direct competition with him were telling him his last place team was on track and to stay the course.
. Not only did the dumbest man in hockey buy this but he thought it was good ammunition to use on the fans in defense of his job. To quote Replacement, "you can't make this stuff up"
