Coaching Change Working In Edmonton
from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,
You can’t change a culture in a day. Or even a month.
But shift by shift, game by game, we are seeing new and different things here in Edmonton, as new head coach Jay Woodcroft tries to build a hockey team that is not so dependent on its two superstars. One that supports them, rather than living and dying on the backs of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“It’s not like the NBA, where you can have two guys and you can win a championship,” began Evander Kane, after a 7-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. “You see how hard it is to win — and the teams that win don’t always have the best players.”
Edmonton, we have said for a long time now, is an organization that needs to figure out how to win games that No. 97 or 29 don't win for them. Woodcroft, in his first four games behind the bench, has begun to take those necessary steps, with McDavid and Draisaitl each counting two points Thursday but neither skating out as one of the Three Stars.
The Oilers, slowly, are trying to become a team that compliments its superstars, rather than being dependent on nightly, highlight-reel performances. To these eyes — and we’ve heard plenty from you readers on our thoughts — it’s been a long time coming.
“I feel the same way,” said Derek Ryan, an 8-10 minute player under Dave Tippett who plays 13-15 minutes under Woodcroft. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think in the game of hockey that you can win the Stanley Cup with two guys.”
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