The Edmonton Oilers are not having the anticipated success. Before this past weekend, they were tied for last place in the league. They were the Stanley Cup favorites going into the new NHL season, but they have completely changed from that.

Jay Woodcroft, the head coach, has been under intense pressure, with many people assuming he would be fired. But Woodcroft was benched on Sunday as the Oilers prevailed. He was not saved, though.

The Oilers later on Sunday announced that Kris Knoblauch will take over for Woodcroft, who was fired.

Knoblauch hasn’t held the position of head coach of an NHL team before, but he was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2017 to 2019. 

Many said that the decision to remove Woodcroft and replace him with one of his former coaches was heavily influenced by Connor McDavid.

Connor McDavid’s former agent, Jeff Jackson, the CEO of Hockey Operations for the Oilers, fielded questions on Sunday regarding McDavid’s possible involvement in the decision.

“We made this decision without consulting the players. To play hockey, they have come here. They dislike having a say in decisions of this nature. Jeff Jackson stated that Connor and the other leaders were not involved in this decision.

However, it didn’t appear that the Oilers’ management had talked about what they would say to the press. General manager Ken Holland asserted just a short while ago that he had indeed spoken with a few of the more seasoned players. Fans couldn’t stop chatting about this: who of the two was lying, and what happened when Woodcroft was fired?

One hockey fan posted on social media, saying, “If I’m an Oilers fan, I have zero faith in the guys running the show.”

Another person remarked, “And this is why the Oilers are the Oilers.”

This is the reason you have a five-minute pre-talk before addressing the public. Christ Jesus Edmonton…” said a third.