It would be hard for the Edmonton Oilers to be worse vs. the NHL odds at the sportsbook than they were last season. Edmonton was 27-48-8 last season with Pat Quinn as head coach. This season they will be coached by Tom Renney and it figures the Oilers will be better vs. the odds at the offshore sportsbook with the new coach.
Sportsbook odds still won’t favor Edmonton very often in 2010-2011 but the team could be improved. Getting Quinn off the bench is a step in the right direction. He was a good head coach a decade ago but he is simply not a good head coach now. Quinn will remain with the team as a senior advisor. Renney will take over as head coach and it will be his third shot as an NHL head coach. He coached the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks. He will now be expected to improve an Edmonton team that won only 18 games at home and only nine on the road last season. The team has not made the playoffs since 2006.
The Oilers hired Quinn in May of 2009 but it was obvious that he was not the right man for the job. Quinn had not coached in the league since 2006 and was really not ready for the young players that Edmonton has. Injuries also didn’t help Quinn’s cause last season. The Oilers lost Nikolai Khabibulin, Alex Hemsky, Sheldon Souray and Ladislav Smid to injuries and they didn’t have much depth to compensate.
Dustin Penner led the Oilers last year but he had just 63 points. The Oilers were very poor on offense as they averaged just 2.5 goals per game. They also didn’t stay out of the penalty box and that hurt them. The defense was even worse as they allowed 3.4 goals per game which was the worst in the league. Their penalty killing was poor as they were 26th in the league.
Despite the poor numbers from last season, the Oilers could be improved next season vs. the odds at the offshore sportsbook. Edmonton will get a number of players back from injury and they should be inspired to play well under their new head coach.