Elliotte Friedman provided more insight into the Edmonton Oilers’ coaching decision in the most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, explaining that team CEO Jeff Jackson had been a very big fan of Kris Knoblauch for a while. Friedman also added that the Oilers wanted to make this decision sooner rather than later, in an effort to get the team going for the mid-season, referencing teams like the 2019 St. Louis Blues.
This provides a little more clarity to a coaching decision that came suddenly, albeit not surprisingly. The Oilers are off to an abysmal start to the season, currently ranked second-to-last in the league with a 3-9-1 record. They sit one win ahead of the San Jose Sharks, who have gone 2-12-1 through their first 15 games. They’ll now lean on a rookie NHL head coach in Knoblauch, who most recently led the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack to a 35-26-11 record and a Round 2 playoff loss last season. Knoblauch won two OHL championships in seven years coaching in the league. The first came with a Kootenay Ice team led by Brayden McNabb, Matt Fraser, and Max Reinhart. The second came with the talented 2016-17 Erie Otters roster, which featured Alex Debrincat, Dylan Strome, Anthony Cirelli, and Warren Foegele. Knoblauch also coached Connor McDavid during his three years in juniors – a fact that Friedman said didn’t necessarily weigh into his new role in Edmonton, as the team were fans of Knoblauch separate from that connection.
With the confidence of leadership behind him, Knoblauch could be poised to do something special with an Oilers roster that many expected to shine this season.
More notes from around the league:
- The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned Vasiliy Ponomarev, Domenick Fensore, Griffin Mendel, and Ronan Seeley to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Each player had been playing elsewhere to start the season, as Chicago officially opted to disconnect themselves from the Hurricanes earlier in the year. But the Wolves currently find them second-to-last in the AHL, repping a 2-6-1 record, and are now in need of reinforcements from their former NHL affiliate. The latter three assignees have started the early season in the ECHL and are earning a promotion with the move to Chicago.
- The New York Rangers have assigned Louis Domingue and Connor Mackey to the AHL lineup. Both players have bounced back and forth between the major and minor leagues, with both getting assigned to the minors on November 10th, recalled on the 11th, and now reassigned on the 13th.
Ken Holland should have been the first to be fired in Edmonton, He’s clueless!!!!!
Krazy Kenny will be retired soon, but probably not soon enough! LOL
So Conner’s opinion on Knobby did not tip the scales in his favor? Sure, sure….
I’m sure they would ask McDavid if he thought Knob would be a good fit wouldn’t you if you had the best player in the world on a team that probably won’t win the cup anytime soon? That being said I have no doubt that McDavid did not suggest to fire Woodcroft. He himself said he was shocked the morning he got the text and McDavid doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy that puts the blame on someone else he even said he’s the first guy on the team that needs to start performing better.
Maybe the Islanders can make a few changes this early in the season and make it a doubleheader by getting rid of Lamorillo and Lambert. Dumping some players that just go out for a leisurely skate every game would also be a step in the right direction. This team is saddled with way too many players making too much money and putting in zero effort. I can’t even watch this team play anymore they’re so pathetic. Thank you Uncle Lou for ruining my hockey team. Go back to the Devils and screw that team up for a while. Bill Torrey and Al Arbour must be turning over in their graves watching this team. Although, like I said this team is unwatchable.
1983…
Karma.
Islanders can’t move anyone except for probably Sorokin, Nelson and Dobson or entry level guys because they’re all old and overpaid. Barzal for $9.15/per is looking terrible right now, although when he’s on he’s a solid player. Lambert gets the benefit of the doubt from me because it’s basically the same roster as last year but playing better. Lou has a history of overvaluing his own players; it was okay with the Devils for the most part because the bulk of the time was pre-cap.
Exactly, those are probably the best three we’ve got. Pelech is okay as well. All the rest can go and I’ll drive them to the airport. To many players just watching. There’ll be no playoffs for this team this year and probably next year either. I’m sorry, but the game has passed Lou by.
Believe it or not, but the Kootney Ice don’t play in the OHL. It’s in BC not Ontario.
This is a complete copy and paste from your article on YardBarker. includes the misinformation about him winning the OHL championship with the Kootenay Ice.
link to yardbarker.com
Sorry, not a copy and paste. You posted it to the 2 sites and credited PHR with it being the original. Either way, why should someone donate here if their writers are going to post their content somewhere else without the ask of donations? Especially if it is the EXACT same post.