Skip to content

Point Shots: Oilers Fire Dallas Eakins; Virtanen Impresses Canadian Club; Gory Voynov Details

Edmonton has canned their coach; Could GM MacTavish deal Taylor Hall? ... Abbotsford's Virtanen trying out for Canadian World Junior team
50086CPT114236790_high
Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins talks to his players while playing the New York Rangers during third period NHL pre-season hockey action in Edmonton

*Bullet points from the rink, December 15, 2014...

  • The Edmonton Oilers have fired Dallas Eakins. It's a significant announcement, since this is a franchise that seems to have a hard time admitting it's trotting down the wrong path, even though the stats say the team hasn't made the playoffs in eight years. (Confirmation. That's true.)
  • Craig MacTavish is still the general manager, which is fair since he just started there. But Kevin Lowe's still the Oilers' president/conductor on a train to Hell. And firing Eakins won't redo the Yakupov draft or the epically dysfunctional mishandling of several elite young assets since 2010.
  • And apparently, Taylor Hall might be the guy the Oil want to move... which is shocking, really. (Story via Yahoo's Puck Daddy/TSN's Darren Dreger)

  • It seems Abbotsford kid Jake Virtanen has done enough to earn himself a spot on Canada's World Junior team – or, at least, he's done everything he could or was expected to. (Story via AbbyNews.com)
  • In case you're wondering whether it's a bad sign for the Canucks that their sixth overall pick from last year's draft is a bubble pick for Canada's junior team, don't worry... it's not.
  • Several players who have been stars at the U20 level have failed to transition to the NHL – Nail Yakupov and Cody Hodgson (remember him?) so far, for example, plus Shawn Belle or Justin Pogge. And others have been disrespected by Canada and have then turned into stars – take 2009, when Jamie Benn and Evander Kane were fourth liners on Canada's gold medal-winning team, and Kane only made the roster as an injury replacement.
  • Other players who didn't make that team? Nazem Kadri, Travis Hamonic, Brayden Schenn, a 16-year-old Taylor Hall, and even Matt Duchene.
  • And Tyler Seguin, who didn't make the 2010 team, currently leads the NHL with 23 goals in 29 games.

  • Some new details on the Slava Voynov case:

"Slava Voynov's wife told police the Los Angeles Kings defenceman hit, choked and pushed her into a television in their bedroom during a fight in October, an officer testified Monday." (Story via Canadian Press/Surrey Leader)

  • Voynov is currently serving an indefinite suspension and hasn't played since he was arrested in October.
  • On Monday, a Redondo Beach Police Officer Gregory Wiist gave his testimony: "She was crying, sobbing... I saw tears streaming down her face. She was an emotional wreck."
  • Story via Deadspin: 'Slava Voynov's Domestic Violence Arrest Was A Bloody Scene'

Slava Voynov case