Craig MacTavish
Craig MacTavish
Craig MacTavishis a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the current Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers, and has also served as the team's head coach and general manager. He played center for 17 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues, winning the Stanley Cup four times. MacTavish later coached the Oilers from 2000 to 2009 and also served...
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth15 August 1958
games group maybe player starts three year
There's probably going to be a player or two from this group that starts the year and maybe two or three more that play some games as we go on. That will all be dependant on them as we go by.
certainly deal equitable guys happy hockey integral member playing purely reaching ryan settled team tenure time type value versatile
Ryan has been an integral member of our team for a long time around here. We don't have a lot of guys with the type of tenure that Ryan has on our hockey club. That's not withstanding the value that he has purely from a playing standpoint. He's a versatile guy and he really does a lot of things well for us. We are certainly happy to have him back, and happy they settled and made an equitable deal and arrangement before reaching arbitration.
close team
You get to know how close they are. You get to see what your team is going to look like down the road.
due four games lost overtime row
We had lost four overtime games in a row and we were due for a win.
best both couple edmonton everybody felt few game home hopefully hurt impatient injuries last leaves losses playoff sixth starting tough wanting wondering
We were up 2-1, and both of our losses at home were tough to swallow. I thought that even the sixth game was our best game of the playoffs, a game we felt that we should've won. It was difficult, but we had a few injuries that hurt our chances. The thing about Edmonton is that there is no better place to play playoff hockey. When it's over a prematurely as it has been in the last couple of years it just leaves everybody wanting more and wondering why more hasn't been delivered. We're starting to get impatient and hopefully we can deliver.
four lines maybe roll stretch
Maybe (only) one stretch we were able to roll four lines in succession. That's not the way we wanted to play.
forward fourth lines mind regular scenarios starting three top
We haven't made our mind up yet on a lot of players. We're starting to see some combinations on how our top three lines will look going into the regular season. But there are still a lot of different scenarios that could play out with the fourth line and who the 13th forward will be.
area bit camps certain couple degree fell good heck improve improving intention last penalty people personnel power team training whether year
I don't know whether it's a weakness, but one area that we want to improve is our power play. Our penalty killing has to improve, too. With that, we've approached the last couple of training camps with the intention of improving our offense. Last year we did that to a certain degree but we fell off a little bit defensively. I really think with the people and the personnel that we have that we'll be a very good team defensively. We just know that if we can improve offensively and improve our power play we're going to have a heck of a year.
constantly couple gives improve irons trying
On a day-to-day basis, we're constantly communicating on what our shortcomings are. We're trying to improve ourselves. This gives us a couple of other irons in the fire.
confidence fall penalty people shoot shot
You have to have the confidence to do it with 17,000 people watching. I had one penalty shot once and all I could think of was don't fall and don't shoot it into the corner. Get a shot on net.
bring depend good guess largely looking mike point poorly pressure season start until worked year
Up until this point it hasn't been a distraction, but I guess it will largely depend on how well we start the season. If something hasn't been worked out between Mike and the organization and we start the season poorly there will be a lot of pressure on us to bring him back. We're looking to have a good year with or without Mike.
change coming goal net puck
There has got to be a change in that rule. The puck is going into the net anyway, the net coming off the mooring had nothing to do with the goal itself. That was a big goal, too.
factors handle maybe number pressure stretch success
It's maybe the most important stretch we've had in a number of years. It can be a little overwhelming, but how we handle the pressure is going to be one of the big factors in the success that we're going to have.
lots seamless
You think it's going to be a seamless transition. (Right now) he's making lots of plays.