EDMONTON
Todd McLellan lives in a downtown condominium here. It’s about 10 blocks away from the Edmonton Oilers’ splashy new arena. If he wished, McLellan could walk to work. He doesn’t.
“I get up too early,” McLellan said Thursday, almost sheepishly. “And it’s cold. This isn’t San Jose.”
Which tells me that, yes, McLellan still does have some California blood running through his veins. Driving is the way of our people. Thus, McLellan drives. He is also driving his hockey team to someplace special–if not this playoff season, in the very near future.
McLellan’s two years as coach of the Oilers, following a mutual parting of ways with the Sharks in 2015, have gone exceedingly well by any measurement.