February 11, 2022 by Spencer Pomoty

After coming out of the gates hot with 16 wins in their first 21 games, the Oilers now sit with a 23-18-3 record with the most recent two games going almost as bad as one could fear. This morning the Oilers announced that head coach Dave Tippet and assistant coach Jim Playfair are out, and they are bringing up Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson. This is the move that fans have been asking for.

In two and a half years, Tippet put up respectable numbers in the regular season, but the team always failed to take the next step up. I do believe that is also due to some roster errors that Tippet has no control over. During the last few weeks, you tell the Oilers were getting picked apart, minor details being missed each shift leading to massive breakdowns and ultimately goals against.

The roster still has the same flaws as it did under Tippet so it will be interesting to see what Woodcroft and Manson can change. I believe in Woodcroft and Manson, I do expect to see the Oilers fix up a lot of the tactical errors. During the Tippet era and especially this season you start to notice a few of the same errors occurring way too much. One of the main things I noticed was how gapped the neutral zone was and this was due to forechecking errors. The Oilers would
send a 2-1-2 forecheck, but the F1 and F2 would be beat easily, then instead of defending the rush F3 jumps in trying to force a turnover leading to mayhem the other way.

Expect this to stop under Woodcroft, Oiler fans will start noticing the forwards closer to the defenceman in the neutral zone which will let the D control a tighter gap and fewer controlled entries. This will especially help with Edmonton’s defensive core due to the lack of foot speed. Another thing that will change is the centre will attempt to swarm the other forwards with the defenders down low, if the opposing team gets in the zone Woodcroft wants out as quick as possible.

Every goal against this year seems like it comes from a domino effect. A poor dump leads to a poor forecheck, which will lead to a rush the other way against the wide-open neutral zone with little forward support back. Fans will start to see a tighter Oilers team in the neutral zone and a more detailed approach to every facet of the game. Everything will be done with purpose, angling players to dead zones when they have the puck, pressuring at the right time as a team, and most importantly limiting the rush chances against. Once again, Oiler fans are injected with a bit of hope!