Oilers hope to respond to Hitchcock

SAN JOSE -- Ken Hitchcock, who took over as coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, can help them turn their season around, according to one former player whom he previously coached.

"Hitch is a hard coach," said Oilers forward Kyle Brodziak, who played for the St. Louis Blues in 2015-17 when Hitchcock was coach. "He's going to be tough on guys and demand a lot. We have to be ready to produce and face the music for sure."
It's definitely going to be tough. It's always an adjustment. Guys will have to get used to different styles."
Hitchcock, who replaced Todd McLellan, will coach his first game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSCA, SNW, NHL.TV).
The 66-year-old is the third winningest coach in NHL history (823-506-119, 88 ties) in 22 seasons with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blues, behind Quenneville (890) and Scotty Bowman (1,244). He coached the Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999 and won the Jack Adams Award with the Blues in 2011-12.

"Obviously disappointed," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said of the only coach he has had in his four seasons in the NHL. "Todd was a guy that everyone liked, but ultimately we're a team that's underachieving right now and no one likes where we're at, so the change is necessary.
"It's tough to pinpoint what we need, but we're all to blame here. This obviously isn't on Todd at all. It's on us as players. That's just how the business works sometimes. We got to wake up here."
The Oilers (9-10-1) have lost six of their past seven games and are sixth in the Pacific Division.
Hitchcock has a reputation for being a demanding, defense-first coach.
"That's what I've heard," Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. "We're all looking forward to working with him. He's going to try to bring in some structure and hopefully he can get us to play the right way.
"A lot of time the defensive part is more important than the offensive part. That's something that this team ever since I've gotten here we've struggled with a little bit. We didn't pay too much attention to the defensive side. We all know he's going to come in and preach that and make sure we're aware of that."
The Oilers have allowed at least four goals in six of their past seven games and have allowed 66 this season, tied for seventh most in the NHL entering Tuesday.
"He's always had very good defensive teams," Edmonton forward Milan Lucic said. "We need to come together as a group no matter who the coach is. I don't know him very well, but you hear a lot of things about him and what his philosophy is. So, excited to see what he can bring to this group."
Draisaitl said the players deserve much of the blame for McLellan losing his job.
"I thought Todd was a great coach and he improved this team a lot," Draisaitl said. "It was made clear this is not on him. This is on us players. He was preaching the right things and trying the best he could do to play the right way. Mostly this is on us as players.
"For me personally he was amazing. I love Todd. It's part of the business. It's a new look and gives us hopefully some new energy and a little bit of a push."