from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun,

Your name is Dallas Eakins and there are questions about how how a power-play unit could have gone from eighth last year to 24th, how penalty kill unit could have gone from ninth to 26th, how your five-on-five could have given up more goals than any other team in the league and if the so-called swarm defence is understood by any of your defencemen.

Your name is Dallas Eakins and you’re on the hot seat with fans wanting to stick your feet in the fire.

“I feel it. I understand it,” said the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers when your correspondent asked what it’s like to be in this sort of jackpot to begin a NHL head coaching career.

“I have kids bugging my daughter at school. That’s not very much fun.

“I’m walking my daughter to school yesterday and I have one kid yelling at everybody ‘There’s the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers!’ And my five-year-old daughter gets real excited because, ‘That’s my daddy.’

“And then I have another kid yelling, ‘You suck!’”

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