Oilers Coach Reaching 10 Year Milestone With Team, Despite Calls to be Fired

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Liam McCormick
November 9, 2024 (7:06 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers are just three weeks away from the ten year anniversary of hiring goalie coach Dustin Schwartz, still with the organization despite so many calls to be fired.

Schwartz was hired from the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings on November 24th 2014, and in the ten years of his coaching, Oilers goalies have been a constant topic of discussion. Some fans have been pointing to Schwartz as a reason why.

Over their time with the Edmonton Oilers, nearly every starting goalie has seen their save percentage fall year over year - including Stuart Skinner. Only Mike Smith wasn't affected by this phenomenon, and he was a veteran goalie in the last years of his career. However, Smith had hired his own goalie coach.

That's another reason that seems to be giving Oilers fans less confidence in their goalie coach. Oilers starter Stuart Skinner has hired his own personal goalie coach, which implies that he does want more resources than the team is providing with Schwartz.

Some fans and analysts will defend Schwartz, saying that the Oilers struggling defence over the years has made the goalies look worse than they are, or that goalie coaches don't have a real effect on pro goalies. That still doesn't explain why goalies have consistently declined under Schwartz or why they hire personal coaches.

Coming up now on ten years with the team, and having survived several coaching and general manager changes, it's really unbelievable that Schwartz is still with the Oilers. Over the course of that time, better candidates were surely available. The Oilers recently let their AHL goalie coach, Sylvain Rodrigue, join the Florida Panthers. That would've been a perfect time for a promotion and a change.

Now over ten years with the team, there just isn't that many signs of confidence in Schwartz. Fans have been calling for his firing for years, even booing him during coach's introductions to begin the season.

Oilers management seems to have the utmost faith in Dustin Schwartz as the team's goalie coach. With the goaltending struggling early on this season, we'll see if the Oilers plug ahead with Schwartz, or dare to make a change.