Reports: Edmonton Oilers set to name Ralph Krueger as new head coach

EDMONTON - The Edmonton Oilers have called a news conference for Wednesday morning amid reports that the club will name Ralph Krueger as its new head coach.

Krueger has spent the last two seasons as an assistant with Edmonton after a stint with the Carolina Hurricanes' scouting department.

The Winnipeg native played and coached in Europe before leading the Swiss national team from 1997 to 2010.

Krueger guided Switzerland to a sixth-place finish at the 2006 Olympics and a fourth-place showing at the 1998 IIHF World Hockey Championship.

The 52-year-old replaces Tom Renney as the Edmonton's coach after two miserable seasons at the bottom of the standings.

Renney led the rebuilding Oilers to an NHL-worst 25-45-12 record in 2010-11 and the team barely improved this past season, finishing 29th with a 32-40-10 mark.