Rumor: Highly respected coach has been tuned out by his players, change needs to be made.

NHL coach may have reach the end.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Rumor: Highly respected coach has been tuned out by his players, change needs to be made.
Keystone Press

A highly respected National Hockey League head coach may have come to the end of his tenure behind the bench of his current team. 

The Edmonton Oilers have been struggling mightily this season, a shocking turn of events considering many expected them to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders heading into the season, and now some believe that head coach Todd McLellan needs to be replaced. 

Both Scott Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press and David Staples of the Edmonton Journal touched on the subject on Wednesday, and both appeared to have arrived at the same conclusion; the players have simply tuned out McLellan.

Both men recognize the fact that McLellan remains arguably one of the top coaches in the entire league, however when your players aren't responding to the coach there is very little you can do to repair the damage. 

Despite the struggles of his team the firing of McLellan would likely come as a huge surprise to most, and furthermore he would almost certainly be picked up by a rival team should the Oilers allow him to negotiate with other organizations. 

While a large segment of the Oilers fan base appears to have laid the blame at the feet of general manager Peter Chiarelli and not McLellam, it seems like McLellan may be the one who bites the bullet.

[pub]


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