Oilers' coach job goes to Krueger

THE EDMONTON OILERS have promoted assistant Ralph Krueger to head coach.

Krueger spent the last two seasons as an assistant under Tom Renney, whose contract was not renewed after the Oilers finished 29th in the NHL last season at 32-40-10.

"It's been a natural, healthy 23 years of growth as a coach and I'm ready for this situation," Krueger said Wednesday at a press conference to announce his hiring.

The Oilers gave a 3-year contract to the 52-year-old Krueger, who played and coached in Europe and was coach of the Swiss national team from 1997-2010. He coached the Swiss team in 12 world championships and three Olympics.

Edmonton is hoping to turn around its fortunes after having the top draft pick the last 3 years. The Oilers selected speedy Russian forward Nail Yakupov with the top pick in last week's draft after picking forwards Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the previous 2 years.

"We are not going to be focusing on winning, winning, winning to the point that it suffocates us and we squeeze our sticks," Krueger said.

"We have skill in our room that's so exciting and I need to find ways that their instincts can play freely. We want to be known as a hard-working team on and off the ice, a very disciplined team. And then, naturally, the winning will come as a byproduct of that."

In other NHL news:

The St. Louis Blues and coach Ken Hitchcock, who led the team to its first playoff series win in a decade last season, have agreed to a 1-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season with a mutual option for 2014-15.

The Washington Capitals traded All-Star defenseman Dennis Wideman to Calgary for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL draft and minor league defenseman Jordan Henry. Wideman had 11 goals and 35 assists in 82 games for the Caps last season. He was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, but agreed to a 5-year deal with Calgary.

Former NFL executive Eddie Jones, who spent 10 years as president of the Miami Dolphins, has died. He was 74.

Officials in Santa Clara, Calif., have given the go-ahead for the city to begin negotiations with legendary quarterback Joe Montana for a hotel and entertainment complex across from the 49ers' new stadium.

A proposed June-August pro basketball league, competing in major East Coast markets and consisting of top players who played for college teams in those markets but are not on NBA rosters, was announced. The Basketball Alumni Legends League, a k a The-BALL, is supposed to begin next summer with four teams. League officials are looking at a number of markets, including Philadelphia, where obviously the team would try to get players from Big 5 schools and Drexel.

Three Arkansas football players have pleaded not guilty to felony charges tied to the burglary of a fellow students' room. They are wide receivers Marquel Wade and Maudrecus Humphrey and tight end Andrew Peterson.

U.S. captain Davis Love III selected a pair of longtime friends, Fred Couples and Mike Hulbert, as his assistants for the Ryder Cup. He said they will help him choose his two other assistant captains for the Sept. 28-30 matches at Medinah, in Illinois.