A day after the Edmonton Oilers made a coaching change, the players are still trying to process the shock. "I didn't see it coming," team captain Connor McDavid said Monday.
The reigning Hart Trophy winner told reporters he received the news via text message that head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson had been fired Sunday morning, a scheduled off day for the players. "I loved playing for Woody, I loved playing for Mans — two guys I think are unbelievable coaches," McDavid said. "I really think they'll be back in the league very, very soon." Monday morning's skate at Rogers Place was the team's first full workout under new coach Kris Knoblauch.
The Oilers (3-9-1) host the slumping New York Islanders (5-5-3) on Monday night. The Isles have piled up three regulation losses in a row.
Knoblauch had been coaching the Hartford Wolf Pack, the New York Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate, before coming to Edmonton, a city where he spent time as a Western Hockey League player and a member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears.