NHL star texted Jay Woodcroft to make Oilers lineup changes, and it worked
On a recent edition of the Dropping The Gloves podcast, hosted by John Scott, former Oilers' defenceman Jason Demers had an incredible story about his former coach Jay Woodcroft.
Demers played 57 games with the Oilers AHL team last year in his age 34 season, and he was just one game short from 700 in his NHL career. One night, Demers said his former teammate and former NHL star Dan Boyle saw him playing in the AHL, and reached out to his friend Jay Woodcroft while he was coach of the Oilers to make sure Demers played his 700th game.
I looked down the bench and I see Dan Boyle sitting there, and he's giving me the finger in the crowd. I'm just like, Boiler? So he texts me after the game, and he's like, what are they doing? Are they gonna give your 700th? So he texted Woody. Whether he was one of the determining factors or not, three days later they brought me up.
It's a great story and a great gesture from Woodcroft and the Oilers organization to make sure that their depth veteran players hit the milestones that they can easily achieve. The Oilers called up Demers for just one game last season against his former team in San Jose, and gave him the opportunity to retire with an even 700 games on his career ledger.
| POLL | ||
Was it the right move to fire Woodcroft? | ||
| Yes, he needed to go | 193 | 34.8 % |
| Not his fault, but Knoblauch's better | 301 | 54.3 % |
| No, being back Woodcroft | 60 | 10.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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