Maybe two heads are better than one when it comes to replacing Craig MacTavish behind the Edmonton Oilers bench.
With everybody guessing who’ll end up on GM Steve Tambellini’s short list to fill the void, is it thinking too far outside the box to consider the possibility it won’t be one man, but two?
I’m thinking along the lines of a head coach and an associate coach, as opposed to a head coach and two assistants. Let’s, for argument’s sake, use two candidates who’ve already been interviewed — Pat Quinn as head coach and Tom Renney as the associate.
Considering Quinn and Renney both have history with Tambellini, it’s not a stretch to suggest they might be a fit as a tandem, with an assistant coach — it’s still my thought MacTavish assistant Kelly Buchberger will be back — as the third man.
If you believe in the model established by the Detroit Red Wings, why not? The difference is the Red Wings have loaded up with middle-managers in recent years as opposed to coaches, but the concept is the same — get as many good hockey minds on the staff as possible. It works in Murder City, why not here?
That’s a question Tambellini, not to mention owner Daryl Katz, should be asking before announcing who gets the big job, or big jobs, before the draft, which is the expected timeline for a hiring.
If the Oilers go that route, Quinn and Renney might have the inside track, although Brent Petersen, now an assistant with Nashville and somebody who also has history with Tambellini, and either Scott Arniel, who is with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, or Geoff Ward, an assistant with Boston, would fit the bill as an associate to Quinn.
And, while I’m at it, does Mark Messier, a close friend of Katz, fit into the picture down the road? Messier would rather go the management route than coach. Is there room for him here?
Stay tuned.
– In a decade covering the Edmonton sports scene, Robin Brownlee has been the newsbreaker and insightful voice for sports fans in Oil Country; edmontonletters@metronews.ca.
