Something that seemingly should have happened a month ago finally did on Monday: the Edmonton Oilers announced the dismissal of head coach Dallas Eakins.
The news came after the Oilers (7-19-5) dropped their fourth consecutive game, a 2-0 shutout loss Sunday night at the hands of the New York Rangers - a game in which Edmonton managed only 16 shots.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca, general manager Craig MacTavish is expected to take over behind the bench on an interim basis. Todd Nelson, the head coach of the franchise's AHL affiliate, could be joining MacTavish with the Oilers - Nick Kypreos tweeted that he could take over full-time by the end of the year.
Eakins had been head coach of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League since August 2009 before taking over the top spot in Edmonton on June 10, 2013.
As a player, Eakins was part of eight different organizations and saw action in 120 NHL games.
Last season, the Oilers were an abysmal 29-44-9 under him.
MacTavish had previously been the head coach of the Oilers from the 2000-01 season through 2008-09, during which he and the team amassed a 301-252-47-56 record.
He didn't see an overwhelming amount of success, but he did lead the team to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, eventually losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
MacTavish, Nelson and the Oilers organization will play out the string of this lost year and most likely spend the rest of the season evaluating themselves and their players for the future.
