The Edmonton Oilers sit dead last in the league with six wins in 25 games. A 10-game losing streak has decimated any hope of meaningful hockey this season and once again turned the conversation towards the draft lottery. All this before the tarp has been pulled off Santas sleigh. Conventional hockey logic suggests it is time for Craig Mactavish to fire Dallas Eakins. In most other markets, it probably would have happened already. Im here to tell you, its not going to happen. At least not in the near future. MacTavish still believes in Dallas Eakins message and he believes the players do, too. In recent days a number of them, including Taylor Hall, Andrew Ference and David Perron, have gone public with their support of the head coach. Hall went out of his way to make sure MacTavish knew that Eakins wasnt the problem in his eyes. This sense of support from within the room has resonated strongly with the GM. MacTavish must also know he hasnt iced a competitive lineup for a second straight season and making Eakins the fall guy for some of his miscalculations and mis-fires likely doesnt sit well with him. Last year it was a ragtag blue line - Denis Grebeshkov, Anton Belov, and Philip Larsen are now out of the league - and inadequate goaltending that sunk them. Sure, the rookie head coach made his share of mistakes, but so, too, did the rookie GM. This season MacTavishs inability to address a glaring lack of depth at centre and reliance on career backups in net have hamstrung his head coach. Eakins also doesnt have anything close to a true top defence pair and is nightly being asked to make lemonade out of lemons. This head coach is failing, the standings make that indisputable…but not with a quality team. Hes failing with a significantly flawed lineup. MacTavish is less than two years into his tenure as GM, too early to say he is the problem. He needs to be given time to untangle the numerous knots he inherited, and those he has tightened. Soon, MacTavish is going to have to clearly demonstrate he has some creative solutions that extend beyond high first round picks. Whether it costs him his job or not, Eakins bares a lot of responsibility for what is taking place. He is at the helm of this titanically sinking ship and regardless of weaknesses in his lineup, he shouldnt be clumsily smashing into every iceberg in his path. Surely a coach should be able to light the right fires at least once in a 10-game stretch of futility. Shouldnt he be able to find the critical buttons to push and snap his team out of its funk? Yet lines have remained mostly the same. Outside of painfully overdue healthy scratches, there have been no dramatic measures taken, no cold buckets of water dumped on anyones head, no slap across the face to shock a dressing room out its slumber. Instead, theres talking... and lots of it. A stale power play, poor starts and lack of accountability for repeat offenders of the mind-numbing mistakes are all failures laying squarely at Eakins feet. So too is the length of this losing streak. In 2013, Ralph Krueger had his Oiler team positioned for a run at the playoffs. The Oilers were ninth in the Western Conference, one point out of a playoff spot at the trade deadline and had just trounced the Calgary Flames 8-2. Kruegers Oilers then went on to lose nine of their next 10 games and were finished. During that skid, lines stayed the same, systems remained in place, there was no cold bucket of water back then either. It revealed a lack of creativity and problem-solving under pressure from the first-year head coach. That stretch cost Ralph Krueger his job. Dallas Eakins has yet to prove that he is any more creative or any more capable of problem solving than Krueger was. But hes going to get more time to figure it out than the last guy did. Cheap Cowboys Jerseys . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. Womens Cowboys Jerseys . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. http://www.officialcowboysnflauthenticsh...mcgovern-gear.m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Packers by 3RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 7-4, Green Bay 5-5-1SERIES RECORD — Tied 5-5. Blue Cowboys Jerseys . Two-time Olympic bronze medallists Savchenko and Szolkowy received 79.02 points to finish ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada, who had 77.01 points. Elite Cowboys Jerseys .S. routed Sweden 7-0 Sunday to win its fourth straight title and seventh overall under-18 world championship. Olson earned his third shutout of the tournament and the Americans allowed only four goals in six games to set an International Ice Hockey Federation under-18 record.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Martin Laird watched the ball disappear into the cup on the par-3 16th hole and put some elbow grease into his fist pump.It certainly wasnt the most exciting moment on golfs most raucous hole. That belonged to Francesco Molinari, who made the first hole-in-one at the 16th on Saturday at the Phoenix Open since Tiger Woods in 1997.But it was plenty important to Laird.On the verge of dropping another shot and watching his lead dwindle, Laird followed that 10-foot par putt with a birdie on the 17th and another par save on the 18th to finish off a 3-under 68 and take a three-shot lead into the final round.Next up is another round with a new pair from the next generation.Laird, a 32-year-old Scot who has lived in Scottsdale since turning pro, played in the final group Saturday with two 21-year-old rookies, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger. Chasing him Sunday will by Hideki Matsuyama, the 22-year-old from Japan who is No. 18 in the world, and 24-year-old power hitter Brooks Koepka.This might just be the way it is, Laird said of the increasingly evident youth movement. When they come out, theyre ready to go. They dont need three or four years to get used to the tour life or used to the golf courses. I dont think they get intimidated at all anymore.Laird was at 13-under 200 as he goes for his fourth PGA Tour victory.Matsuyama, already with seven wins worldwide, birdied his last four holes to surge into contention with a 63. Koepka finally managed to find the fairways, made birdie on both par 5s on the back nine and shot 64. They were at 203 with Zach Johnson, who shot a 67.Laird at least has a cushion, which might not have been the case without those key par putts, especially on the 16th.He pulled his tee shot into the water on the par-5 15th and made bogey, which can feel like losing two shots. And then he stepped into the arena at the 16th, hit wedge at the flag from 133 yards and pulled it enough to go in a bunker. He blasted out to about 10 feet, though the putt had plenty of break.That was a big one, he said. You dont want to make two bogeys in a row at two holes youre looking at maybe making birdies on.He followed with a perfect pitch to 3 feet for birdie on the 17th, and finished his round with a 10-foot par save.ddddddddddddMolinaris ace wasnt for show. It carried him to a 64, and at 8-under 205, he was among 15 players still within five shots of the lead.Perhaps the biggest surprise of that group was Jon Rahm of Spain, a junior at Arizona State playing this week on a sponsors exemption. He got the gallery on his side early, especially by wearing a Sun Devils jersey when he teed off on the 16th, and shot 66. Rahm was at 9-under 204, along with Ryan Palmer (68) and Thomas, who had four birdies over his last six holes to salvage a 69.Im not surprised, but I didnt expect it. Something between there, Rahm said.Laird played in the final group with Thomas and Berger, two players who were still in high school three years ago. Thats the way golf is shifting, players getting younger and more fearless. And thats what Laird faces again on Sunday.Matsuyama, who won the Memorial last year, was the first rookie to win the Japan Golf Tour money list. He played bogey-free, and it was his birdie streak at the end of the round that put him into contention. The best one of all was his 50-degree wedge into the 16th and a salute from the crowd.Koepka is the Floridian who went to the far corners of the world to chase his card, starting at the Challenge Tour on Europe and then winning the Turkish Open last year. He was 3 over on the par 5s this week, his first tournament in nearly two months, and made up some ground Saturday. Koepka hit the fairway on two par 5s on the back nine, setting up simple up-and-down birdies, and he made birdie on the 17th.Its just a little bit of rust, just not playing in two months, Koepka said. Felt like today I was finally comfortable. Being out there the last two days, it was almost like I was trying to find the driver a little bit.Even with an overcast sky and cool temperatures, TPC Scottsdale still had a big buzz. The hope was for a record attendance — as it had been all week — until Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both missed the cut. The attendance was 159,906, some 40,000 short of the record last year.But it was loud enough, especially the final hour.It shouldnt be a struggle to get your adrenaline going, Laird said. 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