EDMONTON, Alberta, June 10 (UPI) -- Top minor-league coach Dallas Eakins has been tapped as the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, the team announced Monday.
Eakins, who has compiled a 157-114-41 record over four seasons at the helm of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, replaces the fired Ralph Krueger.
"I'm extremely confident in this man's ability to lead our hockey club," Oilers General Manager Craig MacTavish said.
"In professional sports, winning is the bottom line," Eakins added. "Everything we do here will have that in mind. We're going to be committed to character, a high fitness level and tactical hockey. This team is going to compete."
Eakins, 46, takes over a struggling squad that has missed the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons, including the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, during which they went 19-22-7 for a third-place finish in the Northwest Division.
Eakins coached the Marlies into the 2012 Calder Cup Final -- the AHL's version of the Stanley Cup -- and followed that up with a 43-23-10 mark this past season, good for a second consecutive North Division championship.
