This is the legendary Al Rollins. He was born in Vanguard, Saskatchewan (1926) and had an exceptional career. Rollins was on the 1949 Allan Cup winner (Edmonton Flyers). He graduated to the NHL that fall, won the Vezina in 1951 and the Hart trophy in 1954. He was on the 1951 Stanley team (Toronto).When his playing career ended, Rollins got into coaching. His first stop was Spokane (WIHL), followed by the old Western (Pro League) and then one season in the WHA (76-77 with Phoenix).
When the WHA folded into the NHL, Rollins landed with the Oilers organization and was GM/Coach for the Houston Apollos (CHL) in 1979-80. Among the players he coached that season were future NHLers Charlie Huddy, Mark Messier (sent down for a cup of coffee) and future math legend Jim Corsi.
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The Oilers minor league system hasn't produced enough talent in the last 10 seasons. Some of the top talents procured through the draft (Hemsky, Gagner) skipped the minors altogether by arriving in the NHL as teenagers. Others (Tom Gilbert, as an example) appear to have done most of their developing in college, and waited in the AHL until opportunity knocked. The actual number of minor league hires who arrived, adjusted, honed their skills into something useful for NHL coaches, is very low.
Word tonight the club is going to hire Todd Nelson. He has coaching experience at the AHL and NHL level, and we can't really gather any kind of conclusion about him based on his resume as an assistant coach. What can we say with authority? Nelson will likely benefit from the Oilers stated goal to improve the team from the ground up.
At some point it doesn't matter who to blame about the past. It might have been the EIG, Kevin Lowe, bad coaching or poor drafting. No matter, the organization had decades of evidence suggesting that there was a way to develop talent (having an AHL team with experience and sprinkling in your best kids as they earn the opportunity) and chose to flush it to save money.
Todd Nelson is joining the group at a very good time. Rob Daum didn't get the opportunity to coach a team with experience, depth and quality kids from junior/college. Nor did Jeff Truitt, nor did Kelly Buchberger. Timing is everything, and Daryl Katz appears ready to bankroll "doing it right" in the minor leagues. The results should start to arrive in the NHL in the next 24 months.
Amazing tie together with Rollins LT!
ReplyDeleteman!
I hope I am not in the minority when I say...."Todd Nelson - who??"
ReplyDeletegood job lowetide! Always enjoy your articles. It's about time the oilers have a stable minor league farm team. Don't know much about nelson but I'm assuming he is qualified if he is getting this opportunity. He's got a nice defence to work with & a few solid forward prospects(omark,o'marra).he also has the most prolific ahl scorer of the last 2 years to help out with the kids & offence. Can't wait till next season. I will follow the barons alot more then the recent falcons team.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wiki he was drafted in the 89 draft (Mats Sundin) and spent 13 years in the minors as player. He won the Calder Cup once as a player and once as an assitant coach. He was a coach on the Thrasher's staff most recently.
ReplyDeleteSeems to have paid his dues.
They still don't have a GM for the Baron's right?
Lowtide since we don't have an assistance gm what do you think of pat Quinn taking that job? I can't see it happening but I don't think it would be a bad move if he'd accept the role...any ideas or rumors on who will be stepping into that assistant gm role?
ReplyDeleteJoe Strong: I think ST will want a dedicated middle manager for Okla City. Quinn certainly has the experience to do that job, but imo he'll be a consultant at the NHL and minor league levels.
ReplyDeleteThey'll want someone to keep tabs on the kids and probably give the organization a face in Okla City. My guess is he'll be about hockey and public relations. :-)
Both Quinn & renney were connected to tambo in Vancouver so I'm wondering if there would be another vancouver deciple coming into play...although I can't think of any off hand,especially going back that far...Trevor linden or a stan smyl...just a couple names I threw out there.I always thought linden was a solid leader & could make a good coach.I also thought he was very media friendly & led by example.he played hard & hurt & strung together over 600 games straight while playing a power forward role.that's never going to happen again.he's a guy who should take up a management or coaching role.
ReplyDeleteNot bothering to have a proper AHL team seems to be the template for the Oilers since forever. They drafted a bunch of super kids in the early 80's, and never seemed interested in development from that point on, since Sather was always able to either dig up a gem like Tikkannen(simply tossed into the lineup), or ravish another team(Carson plus spare parts for Graves and Murphy), or reclamation projects like MacTavish.
ReplyDeleteOnce the Messier trade went down, it became a fire sale, and ever since then the franchise has languished. It's not surprising the Oilers haven't had a proper AHL team since, because the name of the game from the early 90's onward wasn't attaining success, but mere survival.
I'll hand it to Katz. He evaluated the situation for a season, and with certainty he's now eliminating the rot. Obviously a healthy AHL team works for teams like the Flyers, and Mister Cats seems determined to follow the correct path. The fans, accustomed to cack handed management can barely believe their eyes.
Now that Willie Desjardins has signed on as associate coach in Dallas, does that affect Charlie Huddy's status?
ReplyDeleteSomeone other than the family knows who Al Rollins is? Weird. My favorite quote,
ReplyDelete"Roy reminds me of Sawchuk... Damn show-boats. Everybody knows the puck is in your glove, why do you have to wave it around?"
Rollins won the Hart Trophy in 1953-54 despite having a truly horrendous statistical line of 12-47-7, 3.23 GAA. His Hawks allowed 60 more goals than the second worst defensive team, and 110 more than the Vezina Trophy winners. The team was so bad the goalie was rewarded for bravery. A purple Hart?
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Al Rollins, but he looks like a psycho killer in that picture.
ReplyDelete"Yes, Agent Starling. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti, while wearing my hockey pads and staring like this..."
Freaky.
kind of oddball, isn't it Bruce, that Rollins would be awarded the Hart with such an atrocious record? that would NOT happen in today's game.
ReplyDeleteor perhaps Kris the Green Goblin? :D
ReplyDeleteThe Blackhawks were bad. He was sent to them in 1952 as part of an "unofficial aid plan" for the team. They didn't even have a full roster in training camp.
ReplyDeleteAlthough saves weren't officially logged, in 1952-53 he faced an average of 38 shots/game (based on news articles, which is 2660 shots in the season) and gave up 175 goals which works out to a .934 save %.
That would be first all time for saves and save % in a season.
Todd is my cousins kid. Makes us second cousins I guess. Not that that means much, and I wasn't hugely close to some members of that family due to age differences, but I can give you a little history. Former PA Raider whose junior career overlapped with Modano's stint there. Modano was very close to the family and was actually engaged for some time to Todd's sister. (I won't go there). Drafted by Pittsburgh I do believe and although he only had a small cup of coffee in the NHL he forged a decent AHL career and has had some pretty nice success coaching down there. Knew he'd been with Muskegon but didn't realize until searching the Hockey database that he'd been in Atl as an asst the past couple of years. Good on em.
ReplyDeleteHis brother Jeff had a really nice WHL and AHL career but fell through the cracks after getting drafted by Wsh. Some really good offensive numbers in the A but couldn't land time in the bigs even though he put up decent numbers one ex season with Nashville.
"Administration must also discuss with Northlands about how they would be involved in the project"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Edmonton+arena+surcharge+pondered/3282291/story.html
If the city owns the rink they have a choice. Northlands operates OR Katz kicks in $100M. Not both.
Speaking of goalies... What's the read on this years junior team? Does Roy have a shot to be the number one guy?
ReplyDeleteRibs, he was the last goalie cut last year I believe, and the other choices are pretty much unavailable this go around.
ReplyDeleteThey usually trend towards taking the older players as well.
With those two factors in the mix Roy has a very strong chance to make the team, and a good chance to be the number 1. It's up to him on how the chips fall =).
Peckham re-signed to a 1 year deal. Don't know the dollar figure or whether or not it's a one-way deal.
ReplyDeleteRandom aside: What do people think the chances are of this being the year that Hemsky breaks through for a 90-point year?
ReplyDeleteHe'll be 27 by the time the season starts...
...tick... tick... tick...
Thanks uni. It's definitely something to look forward to. I hope he does well.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point about AHL goaltending. Does the org assume that one of DD/JDD will be in OKC to help or is there a dearth of veteran help available?
ReplyDeleteBob Stauffer just announced that Steve Smith and Kelly Buckberger will be Renney's Assistant coaches in Edmonton this coming season.
ReplyDeleteSmith's NHL Stats
Nelson official as OKC Coach.
@commonfan13....let's just try for 80 first for Hemsky. i'd be satisfied with that.
ReplyDelete@Dug.....No deal.
ReplyDeleteI'm extrapolating last year to 82 points and looking for a Henrik Sedin-esque jump this season.
I give 90 points a 25% chance.
Interesting "choices" from Renney for assistants.
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed that Bucky is here.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Smith's coaching resume?
He's been away from the Oilers long enough that I don't immediately hate the hire due to Boys on the Bus connection, but it doesn't smell like a rose either.
I take back that A I gave management the other day.
ReplyDeleteI suppose these ex Oilers might do well, but why not pick a coach whose resume contains some evidence that they will do well. Ugh.
Without a doubt, the brilliant idea management had which is behind these hirings is that ex-Oilers will teach the kids what it means to be an Oiler and the attitude that they need to win.
And as we know, what it means to be an Oiler is to repeatedly miss the playoffs and still say you are a great team with young players on the verge of greatness. And the attitude of Oilers is to be arrogant like they were in the 80's even though they have much less talent, and none of the results.
I think the kids would be best served if, the first time Buchberger started talking about how they did things in the olden days, Horcoff pulled out a pen and stabbed him in the neck like Joe Pesci did in Casino. Then Horcoff says "we suck and until we win something, there's nothing to be proud of in being an Oiler anymore."
Okay, now I'm ranting.
Is he going to coach own-goals?
ReplyDeletebooo....
ReplyDeleteThe gist I'm getting from Bob when he was talking about this on Oilers lunch is that Buckburger is actually a competant coach. Smith has next to no coaching experience, but seems to have spent a lot of time as a scout for Chicago, and through a series of coincidences (whether they are fortunate or unfortunate remains to be seen) ran into the Oilers brain trust a lot this past year, and there was a solid connection. ST really liked what Smith was selling when he was interviewed.
ReplyDeleteST will be on the Team 1260 to talk about the moves made lately today between 5 pm and 6 pm
Honestly, all jokes aside, Steve Smith was a very good defensive defenceman. I wish they would have gotten away from the Old Boys Club, but since they didn't, I suppose I'm happy with this choice, as he might be able to teach our d-men a thing or two... no, not about scoring ;) He's a good positional d-man... the twin towers were a force to be reckoned with.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Ribs, I couldn't resist.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of owning goals... Schremp signs with the Isles today. No word on term or dollars yet.
Jordan, In short, he kept running into them?
ReplyDeleteNext up MAB.
ReplyDeleteI think the key difference between the old, great Oiler teams of the 80's and todays losing Oilers is that in the olden days they didn't have a bunch of old Oiler players hanging around talking about what it means to be an Oiler.
ReplyDeleteThat and all of the future hall of famers.
"The wheels on the bus go round and round..."
ReplyDeleteEtc.
"I think the key difference between the old, great Oiler teams of the 80's and todays losing Oilers is that in the olden days they didn't have a bunch of old Oiler players hanging around talking about what it means to be an Oiler."
ReplyDeleteWhat about Jim Harrison showing up at a 1980 practise with a half empty bottle of CC, haranguing Gretzky?
From the Brownlee ON article on the Smith hiring:
ReplyDeleteHe won three Stanley Cups while with the Oilers and made it to the Finals twice more with the Blackhawks.
Unless he's counting the one they made in the Van Damme movie "Sudden Death," I'm pretty sure it was only one Cup Finals appearance for the Hawks in the '90s.
Sather played a year as an Oiler before getting his coaching gig. It's the Oilers way!
ReplyDeleteWOW!!
ReplyDeleteMikko Koivu just signed a 7-year, $47.25 million extension with the Wild.
I do NOT like the precedent this sets for a future Hemmer extension.
$6.75 million cap hit!!!
Mikko Koivu!!!
..Of course Ron Low played parts of 4 seasons with the Oilers as well.
ReplyDeleteGeneral manager Chuck Fletcher called it "a milestone day in the history of the Minnesota Wild."
ReplyDeleteHe's got that right.
I am reminded of when the Flames screwed us over on the Smyth negotiations by handing out a crazy deal to Tanguay.
ReplyDeleteThis may end up completely trumping any Boogaard hit or Backstrom shut-out on the list of terrible things the Wild have done to the Oilers.
General manager Chuck Fletcher called it "a milestone day in the history of the Minnesota Wild."
ReplyDeleteHe misspelled "millstone".
Your blog is very informative! According to Wiki he was drafted in the 89 draft (Mats Sundin) and spent 13 years in the minors as player. He won the Calder Cup once as a player and once as an assistant coach. He was a coach on the Thrasher's staff most recently.
ReplyDelete