The Edmonton Oilers announced today that head coach Dave Tippett and associate coach Jim Playfair have been relieved of their coaching duties.
Bakersfield Condors head coach Jay Woodcroft will assume head coaching duties with the Oilers for the remainder of the season and will be joined by assistant coach Dave Manson.
Woodcroft, 45, has been at the helm of the Condors since 2018-19 and in three-plus seasons guided the team to a record of 105-71-21 (.586). That record included two division titles (2019, 2021) and a 3-1 postseason series mark. Under his tutelage, 13 Condors made their National Hockey League debuts in the past three seasons including Ryan McLeod, Tyler Benson, and last season’s AHL goal scoring leader, Cooper Marody. Overall, 28 different players have played in Bakersfield and Edmonton in that time.
In his first season (2018-19) behind the bench in Bakersfield, Woodcroft led the team to its first-ever AHL Pacific Division title, regular season Western Conference title, AHL Calder Cup Playoffs berth, and Calder Cup Playoffs series victory. The team’s 42 wins were the most-ever for the Condors organization. During the season, the team won 17 consecutive games, all in regulation or overtime, tied for the second longest streak in AHL history.
Prior to joining the Condors, Woodcroft served as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers for three seasons and the San Jose Sharks for seven seasons. He also spent three seasons as a member of the Detroit Red Wings coaching staff (2005-08), including their 2008 Stanley Cup Championship season.
Internationally, Woodcroft won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2015 Men’s World Hockey Championship as an assistant coach. He was also an assistant coach for the under-23 Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Over his NHL coaching career, Woodcroft has been part of 511 regular season wins, five Western Conference titles, six Division titles, three Presidents Trophies and a Stanley Cup championship.
Manson, 55, joined the Condors as an assistant coach in 2018-19 and a part of two division championships with the team. Working primarily with the team’s defensive corps, he helped develop six d-men who would make their NHL debuts with the Oilers in the past three-plus seasons. That list includes Philip Broberg, Caleb Jones, and Evan Bouchard. This season, Markus Niemelainen and Dmitri Samorukov joined the Oilers ranks from Bakersfield. In 2020-21, he helped the team to the top penalty kill in the AHL and in 2018-19, the team was fourth in goals against.
As a player, the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native played 1,103 NHL games for Chicago, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Phoenix, Montreal, Dallas, and Toronto. The d-man notched 390 points (102g-288a) and 2,792 penalty minutes over his 16-year NHL career. His penalty minutes total is 13th most all-time in NHL history. He was drafted in the 1st round, 11th overall of the 1985 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks.
