Former Erie Otters coach Kris Knoblauch hired for same role with NHL's Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid, Connor Brown and Warren Foegele share a hockey bond beyond their current NHL employer.
The Edmonton Oilers trio played for the Erie Otters during the mid-2010s.
Their specific Ontario Hockey League connection was strengthened Sunday when they learned Kris Knoblauch will be their new coach.
Yes, the same Kris Knoblauch who coached each at some point during his 2012-2017 tenure behind Erie’s bench.
Edmonton, despite McDavid’s presence as a three-time league MVP and preseason chatter as a true Stanley Cup contender, fired coach Jay Woodcroft and his staff on Sunday. Although the Oilers defeated Seattle 4-1 last Saturday, they were still 3-9-1 in the NHL's Pacific Division.
Edmonton seeks to regain its Cup status with Knoblauch, 45. Their hire is a homecoming of sorts for the Imperial, Saskatchewan, native who guided the 2016-17 Otters to the OHL’s Robertson Cup in his final season with that franchise.
“It’s been a crazy 24 hours for me,” Knoblauch said in an Edmonton news release. “I was on the bench (Saturday as coach of the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack), and then on a plane to get here. To be able to coach the Edmonton Oilers – with such a strong hockey culture, history and passionate fans – is a little bit of a dream for me. I came here from Saskatchewan, stayed here, played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears and met my wife here.”
“The fact I have this opportunity to be back in Edmonton is really exciting for me.”
The news got even better for veteran fans of the Oilers.
Knoblauch’s assistant coach will be Paul Coffey. The 2004 Hockey Hall of Famer was a three-time Stanley Cup champion with Edmonton and won a fourth with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Otters GM: ‘Well-deserved’
Erie general manager Dave Brown was in his second season of that role when the Otters became OHL champions a second time. He and Knoblauch shared offices for two seasons before Knoblauch initially cracked the NHL coaching ranks as an assistant for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Edmonton hired Knoblauch away from Hartford, the New York Rangers’ top minor league affiliate. Although he coached the Wolf Pack since 2019, he was the parent team's designated coach for six games in 2021 because its staff was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Brown offered his congratulations to Edmonton’s new coach during their Sunday night phone call.
He said Knoblauch sounded as humble as when they worked together in Erie.
“It’s always nice when a player or a coach, or even a scout, excels at this game to the point where they (reach) the top,” Brown said. “Kris was with Philadelphia before, but it’s still nice to see he was hired (by Edmonton) for how long he waited to be a head coach.”
“This was well-deserved.”
Quick turnaround
Knoblauch’s first game as Edmonton’s coach was scheduled Monday, when the Oilers hosted the New York Islanders.
There was irony in that pairing, as those teams met in the 1983 and 1984 Stanley Cup finals. The Islanders won the last of their four consecutive titles that first year and the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers the second year.
It also was the first of five times Edmonton held aloft the Stanley Cup over a seven-season span.
“(Kris) is going to coach one of the most prestigious teams in western Canada,” Brown said.
Local hockey fans have two convenient chances to watch Knoblauch, McDavid and the other former Otters in person. Edmonton plays at Buffalo next March 9 and at Pittsburgh on March 10.
More: Action from Friday's dramatic OHL game between the Erie Otters and Sudbury Wolves
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: NHL's Edmonton Oilers hire former Erie Otters coach Kris Knoblauch
