The Edmonton Oilers have fired general manager Steve Tambellini and former coach Craig MacTavish is taking over as new GM.

President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe made the announcement at a news conference at Rexall Place Monday morning.

"Yesterday I met with Steve Tambellini and released him as his duties of general manager of the Edmonton Oilers," Lowe said.

"Steve is a very good man, worked hard for the Oilers and I want to thank him for his contributions to the hockey team over the last five years."

Lowe announced that former Oilers player and head coach Craig MacTavish is taking over as new general manager for the struggling team.

"Because careers are short and opportunities for achievement don't come along very often, we feel strongly that it is important that we make some changes right now," Lowe said.

"I'm very pleased that Craig MacTavish is our new general manager."

Lowe also announced former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson will take over as senior vice president of hockey operations.

During the news conference, Lowe and MacTavish spoke about the challenges the team is facing.

"The Edmonton Oilers are not where they should be right now and that is unacceptable," Lowe said. "We need to get better immediately. That starts today."

"I'm an impatient guy and I bring that impatience to this situation," MacTavish said. "I think we're at the stage in terms of the cycle of our hockey club right now that we have to do some bold things... make no mistake, we're going to do bold things and competitive things to get us to a level where we're not only highly competitive but we're challenging to a win Stanley Cup."

Tambellini was hired as the team's fourth general manager in 2008.

"Losing five in a row, how we lost, where we are all those things go into the decision," Lowe said.

"I met with him (Steve) yesterday. He was all class. He thanked me for asking him to work together five years ago, appreciated the confidence I had given him and he was just sorry that it couldn't have turned out better."

The move comes as the Oilers are on the verge of missing the NHL playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, along with a five-game losing streak.

Many fans reacted to the decision saying the changes seemed to be more of the same, with yet another position being filled by a member of the "old boys' club." 

"The old boys 'regime' can't get it done and won't get it done. Let the circus show continue," tweeted @Jmalks.

"It's nice to see #yeg continuing to demonstrate its leadership in the area of recycling," wrote @tim_osborne.

Lowe became animated and defensive when it was pointed out that this was the same group in charge when the Oilers hit dark times and began their downward slide following their 2006 Stanley Cup run.

"We chased a dream for a few years for our fan base, like a lot of teams do and some point in that time frame we realized that's a bad plan and we made a change and we're finishing year three of that plan," Lowe said.

"So are you saying you're getting impatient after three years? Lastly I'll say, I think there's one guy in the league still working that's won more Stanley Cups than me. So I think I know a little bit about winning if there's ever a concern."

The appointment is MacTavish's first as a general manager in the NHL.

He says coaching is not an issue and he's happy with current coach Ralph Krueger.

The Oilers host the Minnesota Wild Tuesday at Rexall Place.