The Former Captain’s Club that is the Edmonton Oilers front office and coaching staff will grow by one when the Oilers make official the promotion of Kelly Buchberger to the coaching staff in coming days.
After one season as head coach of Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, Buchberger, who captained the Oilers from 1995-99, will be named as an assistant on Craig MacTavish’s staff.
That’ll make it three former Oilers who’ve had the “C” stitched on their jersey running the show now. GM Kevin Lowe was captain 1991-92 and MacTavish wore the letter 1992-94.
It’s a move that’s been in the cards since Buchberger signed a two-year contract and took the head coaching job in Springfield at the beginning of this season after Geoff Ward signed with the Boston Bruins.
Buchberger, 41, who spent the 2004-05 campaign as an assistant coach under Ward with the Edmonton Roadrunners of the AHL and another year as a developmental coach in the organization, joins Charlie Huddy and Bill Moores on MacTavish’s staff.
Under Buchberger, Springfield missed the Calder Cup playoffs with a record of 35-35-5-5. With Buchberger being promoted, the Oilers are expected to announce that assistant Jeff Truitt will take over as head coach.
While MacTavish hasn’t confirmed the hiring of Buchberger, it’s a formality that could be dispensed with before the team opens its prospects camp in Sherwood Park Sunday.
In a decade covering the Edmonton Oilers, Robin Brownlee has been the news-breaker and insightful voice for hockey fans in Oil Country.
