Edmonton Oilers Team Report

General manager Steve Tambellini says the hunt for a new head coach to replace Craig MacTavish, who was fired at season's end, won't bear fruit anytime soon. He plans an exhaustive search that won't be fully complete until the playoffs are over. "I'd say we're in the early stages of it," Tambellini said of the search. "We talked as a group about some of the things we're looking for, and now we need to go through the process. "We'll have a coach in place when we get the right guy. Unfortunately, we have a few months to watch hockey here and to think about potential people and people that become available. "When we're confident that we've got the right guy in mind, we'll act. If it happens soon, great. If not, we'll take our time." The Oilers are looking for a coach who favors an attacking offensive system. "My preference is I'd rather have a team that's more to the aggressive side than sit back," said Tambellini. "The best teams are the most proactive in transition, being aggressive at the right time. It's an aggressive mindset they have." SEASON HIGHLIGHT: Hard to find one in a season this disappointing, but the play of netminder Dwayne Roloson tops the short list. At 39 years of age, he played 36 games in a row down the stretch and was Edmonton's most valuable player. TURNING POINT: The Oilers were in seventh place with a few points of breathing room with three weeks left in the season. A 2-7 swoon later they were out of the playoffs. Simply put, they choked when the pressure was on.NOTES, QUOTESAssistant coaches Charlie Huddy, Bill Moores and Kelly Buchberger are waiting in limbo to see if they'll still be with the team when the new coach arrives. GM Steve Tambellini says he'll leave that decision to whomever he hires. It's believed that a new coach will want to bring in his own assistants, people he's comfortable with, but management isn't making any moves with the current assistants until then.Jaromir Jagr has one year left on his contract in Russia, but the 37-year-old says that if he ever did return to the NHL the Oilers would be his first choice. "I was pretty excited when I heard that Edmonton pushed pretty hard for me to get (there)," Jagr said recently at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. "I really appreciate it. "If I ever go to (the NHL), they would be my No. 1 pick because they showed the interest first. I never forget that and I respect that. They would be my first pick."QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't think anybody is terribly surprised. We knew changes had to be made throughout the organization and I think this is the first one. We (the players) are the first people to realize that, and we have to take responsibility. We have to get better in a lot of areas, and it starts with the players. Now we're looking forward to accepting that challenge and that responsibility." Oilers captain Ethan Moreau.ROSTER REPORT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Dwayne Roloson was the team's runaway best player this season. Without him in goal, the Oilers would have been out of playoff contention by February. MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Shawn Horcoff didn't deliver as much as a first-line center should. FREE AGENT FOCUS: G Dwayne Roloson is unrestricted this summer and the Oilers will offer him a one-year deal, but Roloson is looking for something longer say, three years. It remains to be seen if they can meet in the middle. Ales Kotalik has showed great chemistry with Ales Hemsky and will be in Edmonton's plans if it doesn't think it can hit a home run in free agency on July 1. PLAYER NEWS:G Dwayne Roloson and RW Ales Kotalik, both unrestricted free agents, are at the World Hockey Championships and won't begin negotiations with the Oilers until the tournament is over. Edmonton would like both players back; it's just a matter of term and money. "I spoke to Rolie and Ales and we all agreed to let them finish the World Championships and talk to their families and see where they stand," said GM Steve Tambellini.C Shawn Horcoff will begin his offseason training program shortly, and he'll have to work as hard as he ever has before to live up to a contract that peaks at $7 million. Fans were all over him this year at $3.6 million, suggesting he wasn't pulling his weight as a first-line center. He'll be in a hornets' nest next season if he starts as slowly as he did this year.RW Ales Hemsky says he'll have a lot of soul-searching to do in the offseason after stalling down the stretch, when the Oilers needed him most. He played his worst hockey of the season in late March and early April as Edmonton missed the playoffs for the third straight year. "I think I did everything that I could. I just wasn't happy with my last month," Hemsky said. "Up to then, I thought I was playing well, I was feeling good. Maybe I got tired or something. I don't know what happened. It's a tough question to answer." MEDICAL WATCH: No Oilers are scheduled for offseason surgery