Oilers Coach Gets Angered and Stops Practice, Shakes Up Powerplay Unit

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Liam McCormick
October 23, 2024 (1:04 PM)

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The Oilers are back at practice today afyer a hard fought loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, and Coach Knoblauch is clearly trying to give the team a kick of motivation.

According to reporters at practice, Knoblauch halted the team during a drill and called the team over for a huddle. Reporters didn't get to hear what was said, but anytime a coach stops practice to speak to the team, it's a sign he's not happy with their effort or details. With their slow start to the season, a wake up call like this in practice was probably overdue.

Not only that, but the Oilers are rolling out new sets of lines at practice today. Jeff Skinner was bumped down to the third line again, while Vasily Podkolzin moved up to the second line. Corey Perry was absent today, and prospect Roby Jarventie served as a placeholder.

Earlier this week Coach Knoblauch said he was hesitant to break up the powerplay due to their history of success, but today Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been moved off the top unit in favour of Jeff Skinner. This should be a great change for the Oilers to properly use Jeff Skinner as an elite scoring threat. Skinner should be more productive on the powerplay than Nuge, and perhaps his talent will draw more attention away from McDavid and Draisaitl.

Zach Hyman has also been taken off the first powerplay in favour of Victor Arvidsson. Both veterans have been moved to the second unit, and it seems like the Oilers may actually begin using two units. This should be a significant wake up call to Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins, who both have been in a brutal slump to start the year.

The Oilers have been playing it cool about a potential slow start so far, but now falling to a record of 2-4-1 and near last in the conference again, there's no time to mess around. The team needs to wake up now, and be ready to grab a win in their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday Night.