Oilers 21-22 Year in Review Part 2 - Jay Woodcroft's Oilers

 As I mentioned at the end of my Part 1 of the year in review, Dave Tippet was fired on Thursday February 10th, 2022 and Jay Woodcroft (along with assistant coach Dave Manson) was promoted from the Bakersfield Condors to become Edmonton's interim head coach. As with any new HC, the team wanted to impress Jay. The Oilers played 9 games in February under Jay, and they went 6-3. They won 5 straight games right out of the gate, then lost 2 straight, won one, then lost one to end the month. However, despite the change in coach, the stats say the Oilers were still playing Tippet hockey. The Oilers scored 33 goals (3.77 GFPG) in those 9 games, but allowed 25 (2.78). Powerplay was still struggling, scoring 6 goals on 28 opportunities (21.4%), and the penalty kill wasn't much better killing off 27 of 36 penalties (75%). 

The month of March saw some minor improvements to Edmonton's play. The Oilers played 15 games in the month of March, and their record was 9-4-2. They scored 63 goals in those 15 games (4.20) GFPG) and allowed 48 goals (3.20 GAPG). The powerplay and penalty kill also saw minor improvements, as the powerplay went 12/52 (23%) and the penalty kill went 37/47 (78.7%).

April comes around and this is really where Jay's system starts to pay dividends, not only just for the players, but for the fans as well. The Oilers played 14 games in the month of April to finish their campaign, going 11-2-1. They scored 53 goals in that span (3.78 GFPG) and allowed 33 goals against (2.35 GAPG). Powerplay was clicking at 25% (8/32) and the penalty was stellar, going 92.5% (37/40), probably the best month of the year for the PK. When all was said and done, Jay had done his job. He got the Oilers into the playoffs despite being 5 points out when he was hired. Here is how Jay finished the regular season after he was hired.

GP: 38
Record: 26-9-3
Goals For: 149
Goals For Per Game: 3.92
Goals Against: 106
Goals Against Per Game: 2.78
Powerplay: 26/112 (23.2%)
Penalty Kill: 101/123 (82.1%)

Jay's coaching and style allowed the Oilers to make the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. Despite being swept by Colorado, it was a close series with 3/4 one-goal games essential (I say that because Colorado did score on an empty net in Game 1). Jay was well worth the call-up (despite Ken Holland admitting he didn't want to do it) and earned himself a contract extension with Edmonton. It'll be interesting to see how the Oilers play under him next year. 

Up next in my series, I'll be doing a year review/preview for every member of the Edmonton Oilers squad. Not sure how I'll release them, but I'll figure something out. Maybe do it alphabetically or something. Anyway folks, take care, have fun, and Let's Go Oilers. 

Oilers 21-22 Year in Review Part 1 - Dave Tippet's Oilers

To the casual hockey fan, the 2021-2022 campaign for the Edmonton Oilers was fairly successful. The Oilers finished 2nd in their division for the 3rd year in a row, exorcised some playoff demons by getting past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2017, quickly dispatched the Calgary Flames in the first playoff edition of the Battle of Alberta in 31 years, and made it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2006, despite losing in 4 to Colorado.

And yet, Oilers fans know that the 21-22 campaign was a tale of two teams. The Dave Tippet Oilers, and the Jay Woodcroft Oilers. Let's start with Dave Tippet's Oilers. The month of October was very good to Edmonton. The team played 7 games and won six of them. In those 7 games, Edmonton scored 29 goals (4.14 Goals For Per Game) and allowed 19 (2.71 Goals Against Per Game). Their powerplay was number one in the NHL clicking at 48% (11/23) and their PK was stellar operating at 90% (18/20). That being said, this is only a 7 game sample size, so not much to go on, and even then, even in these 7 games, there were a few ugly aspects to Edmonton's game. November saw some alarming trends begin to form in Edmonton's game. The Oilers went 9-4 in the month of November. They scored 51 goals in 13 games (3.92 GFPG), but they also allowed 40 (3.07 GAPG). Their powerplay went 12/38 (31.5%) and their penalty kill went 36/42 (85.7%) Overall at this point in the season, Edmonton has won 15 of 20 games, goals for is at 77 (3.85 GFPG), goals against is at 59 (2.95 GAPG), powerplay is 23/61 (37.7%) and their penalty kill is at 56/62 (87%).

December is where Edmonton's season almost completely derails. A combination of bad play, injuries, and covid, reduced the team to a shell of it's former self and it shows. The Oilers played 11 games in December and went 3-7-1. They scored 31 goals (2.81 GFPG), but allowed 41 goals (3.72). Their powerplay, which had basically been carrying them all season long, was a putrid 18.7% (6/32) and even their penalty kill was killing them at 71.8% (23/32). It also doesn't help that Dave Tippet missed time due to Covid, missing three games from December 14-18. Overall, December hurt Edmonton badly. Their record went from 15-5 at the beginning of December, to 18-12-1. Goals for was at 106 (3.41 GFPG), goals against was at 100 (3.22 GAPG), their powerplay was down to 31.1% (29/93) and their penalty kill had dropped to 81.9% (77/94).

In January, the only thing that improved for Edmonton, was their record (4-4-2). Everything else? It just got worse and worse. Edmonton scored 29 goals (2.90 GFPG), but allowed 35 (3.50 GAPG). Their powerplay was a putrid 13.6% (3/22), whilst the penalty kill was an abysmal 59.2% (16/27). On January 31st, the Oilers were sitting at 22-16-3. They had scored 132 goals in total (3.21 GFPG), but had allowed 135 (3.29 GAPG). They had scored 32 powerplay goals on 115 opportunities (27.8%), and they had killed off 93 out of 121 penalties (76.8%). However, the Oilers had made a move to try and fix their declining offense. On January 27th 2022, the Oilers signed Evander Kane to a one-year deal. He would score his first goal as an Oiler on January 29th 2022, recording the first goal of the game in a 7-2 victory over Les Canadiens de Montreal. 

Dave Tippet would only last three games in the month of February. In his last three games, the Oilers went 1-2. They scored 6 goals (2.00 GFPG), and allowed 11 (3.66 GAPG). Their powerplay went 2/8 (25%) and penalty kill went 6/8 (75%). Dave Tippet was fired on February 10th 2022, and Jay Woodcroft was named interim head coach. At the time of Dave Tippet's firing, here is how the Oilers looked.

Dave Tippet's Oilers

Record: 23-18-3

Goals For: 146

Goals Against: 146

Goals For Per Game: 3.31

Goals Against Per Game: 3.31

Powerplay: 34/123 (27.6%)

Penalty Kill: 99/129 (76.7%)

Truthfully, it seemed like the Oilers were playing a bit better in the last few games of Tippet's time with Edmonton. However at the time of his firing, the Oilers were 5 points out of a playoff spot, and in a year where it was either "2nd round or bust", the change needed to happen. Next up, I'll take a look at how the Oilers were under Jay Woodcroft, how his attitude and coaching style completely changed the Oilers season, and how he helped them go from outside looking in, to 8 wins away from a cup.