Kris Knoblauch took over the bench for the Edmonton Oilers in a difficult time and to mixed feelings as many people were fond of former Coach Jay Woodcroft. After a disastrous start to the season, Knoblauch took over on November 12 while the Oilers had a 3–9–1 record. Just two points above the league’s basement dwelling San Jose Sharks.
The hire came with mixed feelings. While Knoblauch’s abilities were not in question, his lack of NHL experience was. Additionally, there were concerns over it being a relational hire rather than merit based as Knoblauch was the former coach of the Erie Otters while Connor McDavid and Connor Brown were there.
Nevertheless, Knoblauch had an incredibly impressive record throughout his time in juniors and was viewed as a future head coach in waiting while with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL prior to joining the Oilers.
Knoblauch’s impact in the regular season
The first five games under the new coach were lackluster. The Oilers went 2–3 and were outscored 21–18. It was marginally better but by no means did it look like things were going to turn around.
But then magic happened. Or whatever Knoblauch and new defensive coach Paul Coffey were preaching finally clicked. Because from that point on, there was no looking back as the Oilers were one of the best teams in the league for the remainder of the season.
After those first five games, the Oilers proceeded to go 24–3 over their next 27 games and got themselves back into playoff contention.
A more pedestrian 20–12–5 record to close out the season and the Oilers were comfortably back in second place in the division, even having contended for the division title until the final week of play.
An absolutely massive turnaround and comeback story for the ages, even though it fell one game short.
Knoblauch in the playoffs
Once the postseason started, we really got to see the impact of Knoblauch’s talents as a bench boss.
Making the hard decisions
One of the biggest things Knoblauch did that stands out from other coaches, and from past Oilers coaches, is making bold lineup decisions.
Whereas many coaches would stick with their plan or be too stubborn to make major changes, Knoblauch has no qualms with doing that.
His decision to start Calvin Pickard in place of Stuart Skinner for a couple games versus Vancouver worked. The team bounced back and played well in front of their goalie and when Skinner returned, he was incredible for the rest of the playoffs.
The defensive pairing of Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci has been the downfall of this team in two consecutive playoff runs, and contributed greatly to the troubles of a third. But he split them up and it helped to mitigate the negative impact that pairing had on the team’s chances of winning.
Although they were tried together again early in the Cup Final, it quickly did not work and they were separated again.
The environment he built for the locker room also had players bought in, regardless of playing time and lineup composition. He scratched lineup regulars like Ryan McLeod and veteran players like Ceci, Corey Perry, and Warren Foegele at times in the playoffs.
Not many head coaches in general would have the confidence to healthy scratch Perry in a playoff game, even if his performance was calling for it. Nevermind a rookie coach.
Calm and collected demeanor
One thing we really got to see often throughout this playoff run was how calm Knoblauch remains in nearly every situation. He exudes a confident, mild-mannered demeanor that is not all over the place emotionally.
His media presence is straightforward, thoughtful, and full of praise for his players. Even if he is scratching a regular, making it a point to say what the player means to the team or that he will be back soon goes a long way to building a positive working relationship with the locker room.
On the bench, he is never overly animated. Even in frantic and difficult situations, he maintains a neutral presence.
This calm and confident behaviour will absolutely rub off on the players. And you can see how it impacts the team and how they present themselves, how they respond to pressure. A 5–1 record when facing elimination in these playoffs shows the type of attitude he has gotten instilled in his team.
Where does the start of Knoblauch’s NHL career rank amongst his peers?
With his team’s performance through the regular season and playoffs, there is an easy argument to be made that Knoblauch had one of the best starts to a coaching career in NHL history.
At the end of the regular season, Knoblauch’s record with the Oilers was 46–18–5 in 69 games. Pacing that out over 100 games gives him 66 wins. Looking at the all-time leaderboard for coaches in their first 100 games, Knoblauch would place fourth for most wins at that pace. He would be behind only Tom Johnson (Boston Bruins, 1970–71), Bep Guidolin (Boston Bruins, 1973–74), and Mike Keenan (Philadelphia Flyers, 1984–85).
Given all of this success right off the bat, the future looks bright for Kris Knoblauch in Edmonton. Given how adaptable he is, how knowledgeable him and his staff are of different systems, and the consistency with which they’ve been able to get this team to win games they shouldn’t or to bounce back after tough losses, there is tons of hope and promise for him to have a successful stint behind the Oilers bench.
