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Oilers fire coach Ralph Krueger after one season

ralphkreugergetty

New Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish has decided to fire head coach Ralph Krueger, the team confirmed.

TSN’s Darren Dreger believes that trendy candidate Dallas Eakins could end up being the man in charge, although that might not be part of today’s presser.

It’s a pretty harsh blow for Krueger, who only received this 48-game season to make his mark on the Oilers roster. This was his first opportunity as an NHL head coach.

MacTavish probably deserves some credit for honesty, at least, as it’s common for new general managers to get anxious about hiring “their guy.” This situation could have been messier if he waited for the first excuse to part ways with Krueger, instead.

The new GM provided an explanation for the change, including this line.

“During the process of me conducting those interviews, I recognized I tried to add a coach that was more closely aligned to how I wanted to run the team than what Ralph was looking for,” MacTavish said.

Overall, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture about the Oilers organization, though. With Krueger in charge last season, Tom Renney coaching from 2010-11 to 2011-12 and Pat Quinn being the bench boss in 2009-10, there obviously hasn’t been a great deal of continuity in their coaching ranks.