EDMONTON – With a 3-9-2 start to the season, sitting dead last in the Western Conference, it’s safe to say the Edmonton Oilers aren’t having the season they’d hoped for so far.
Head Coach Dallas Eakins says he understands exactly where the team sits with its record, “but if we were 15-2 or 20-5 or 30-0 right now, the next game would be as desperate to me as our next game against Detroit is right now.
“You get ready to play and win your next game, that’s all you can do. If we look at it and go ‘okay, well, we’re out of the playoffs.’ Well, then what? Just pack up our stuff and leave? You’ve got to dig your heels in.”
Not only are the losses a concern for the Oilers; the team has 54 goals against, more than any other team in the National Hockey League.
“Is our five-on-five play a concern to me? Our goals against? It is a great concern to me,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “The message to our team over the last, probably, week is that I see our group so excited to score goals, like boy, they love to score. But we need a group that is equally encouraged and excited to stop goals.”
And it’s not just the club that’s feeling the pain of the losing season, so too are the fans. And they’re not quiet about it either, just ask Eakins.
“I’m walking my daughter to school yesterday and I’ve got one kid yelling at everybody that ‘that’s the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers’ and my five-year-old daughter gets really excited because ‘oh, that’s my daddy.’ And then I’ve got another kid yelling ‘you suck!'”
Eakins says he gets it, it’s all part of the job.
“I’m okay with the firing. I’m not okay with our record. I’m okay with the passion of the fans and the fire,” he said. “Everyone has their opinion and they’re entitled to it.”
And along with those opinions come suggestions sometimes, too.
“I was at the dentist 10 days ago, sitting there… and an older guy had some ideas for what Yakupov should be doing. And I always listen,” he said. “I think it’s important to always be looking at everything. I take in what the guy tells me at the gas station sometimes and go ‘oh jeez, I never thought about that.'”
So what are those suggestions? Global News hit the streets Friday to see what Oilers fans would say to Eakins if they had the opportunity.
“Just let them play a little bit of hockey without too much stress right now. Make it not too hard, not too much of a science. Let ’em go, let ’em get it out of their system,” Andrew Fulcher suggested. “I think the Oilers have it; they’ve got a really good bunch of guys on the team and they’ll come together. But I think they’re just a little tight right now.”
“What I would do if I was in the same situation is, I think you’ve got the right ingredients. I think he’s got the right players. What I think is lacking, is them coming together cohesively,” said Ashif Mawji. “He can play around and mix things up and try different things and think out of the box and something will happen.”
While these two have suggestions, a number of fans say Eakins is doing a good job, and Edmontonians need to have a bit more patience with him.
“It’s a new coach, it’s a new system, it’s going to take some time. The players need to kind of figure out how it works for them and how they fit in with that system. It’ll come together… it’s just going to take time,” said Lawrence Chow.
“I like Dallas Eakins. I think the guy needs a lot more opportunity to carry out his mandate. He’s brilliant and he’s a clever guy, he knows the game and we have to be a little bit more patient with him. He needs the opportunity to make the adjustments that are necessary, and he’s working at it. I think we’ve got to just back off,” added Del Sveinsson.
“Dallas, keep working with your player’s hearts, stay to your philosophy, it’s going to work, it’s going to come. People need to be patient,” Doug Williams said.
The Oilers next game is Saturday night at home against the Red Wings.
With files from John Sexsmith, Global Sports.
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