Edmonton Oilers mutually part ways with long time goalie coach

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Liam McCormick
July 8, 2024 (1:26 PM)

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This morning, the Edmonton Oilers' AHL team announced that they will be mutually parting ways with their long-time goaltending coach, Sylvain Rodrigue.

Sylvain Rodrigue has been a fixture as a Condors coach, being behind the bench and teaching goaltenders since 2013. Rodrigue's been highly praised for his ability to develop goaltenders, and is likely moving on to pursue another opportunity in the NHL. It's a tough decision for Sylvain, as he will be leaving behind his son on the Condors, prospect Olivier Rodrigue.

It's tough to see a home-grown quality goalie coach depart the organization, especially when Oilers goalie coach Dustin Schwartz has had a tough track record over his 9 years with the team. Time and again, the Oilers have seemed to acquire goalies and watch them become worse, not better, under Schwartz's coaching.

Plenty of Oilers fans are already voicing concerns of the Condors coaching staff decisions, as they also re-signed head coach Colin Chaulk. In recent years the Condors have had an incredible record, but plenty of fans point out that Chaulk prefers to win games and play AHL veterans, instead of giving opportunity to younger players.

There's room for legitimate criticism for these coaching staff decisions from the Oilers, but if the last few weeks have proven anything, it's that President Jeff Jackson's judgement should be trusted. He's already made incredibly calculated moves while running the team for less than two weeks, and if he believed coaching changes at the AHL level or with Dustin Schwartz would benefit the team, he'd do it. At this point, Oilers fans should be trusting the process fully from Jeff Jackson.

Source: Bakersfield Condors

Condors part with Sylvain Rodrigue