Sad report: Kris Knoblauch shed tears as the Edmonton Oilers

Sad report: Kris Knoblauch shed tears as the Edmonton Oilers introduced a new coach to the team.

In case you’ve been living under a rock the last 24 hours, the Edmonton Oilers abruptly fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and replaced him with Kris Knoblauch, a former OHL, WHL, and AHL head coach.

If you didn’t know, Knoblauch was the head coach of Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s junior team, the Erie Otters of the OHL. So, while you may believe McDavid is delighted to have a coach with whom he is familiar, his response and words during practice today do not appear to support that idea.

While the Oilers’ decision to fire Woodcroft was not surprising, there is some speculation in the NHL that GM Ken Holland should have taken more responsibility for his team’s struggles this season. Woodcroft is technically the most successful coach in Oilers history, and many fans and pundits believe he was not the team’s problem. In reality, quite the opposite is true. According to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, this change has little to do with Woodcroft’s talent; rather, Holland and team President Jeff Jackson just had to make a change, and Woodcroft happened to draw the shortest straw.

From Friedman’s most recent 32 Thoughts podcast via Sportsnet:

“I will say this until I am blue in the face: this coaching change has nothing to do with Jay Woodcroft. This coaching change was motivated by the fact that Edmonton cannot afford another bad season, so what are we going to do to try to improve things?”

“I think at the end of the day, Jeff Jackson made this call. The fact that it was Kris Knoblauch tells me it was Jackson’s call. I don’t believe the players overthrew Jay Woodcroft.

Elliotte Friedman

Meanwhile, TSN Oilers source Ryan Rishaug says McDavid was “shell-shocked” to learn of Woodcroft’s termination yesterday.

“McDavid looked quite stunned today. He said he awoke to a text message like everyone else yesterday and had no idea it was coming. Draisaitl has a similar sense. Both stated that this is the responsibility of the players, not the coaches.

When asked about Woodcroft’s firing earlier today, McDavid did not mince words. He said he was astonished to hear the news and learned about it via text message. When asked if he and his teammates had tuned out Woodcroft’s messaging, McDavid responded, “Not at all. I don’t think so. “He never lost the room.”

“He never lost the room, so I am not sure. I awoke to a text… I’m aware of the popular story, but it couldn’t be more incorrect.

What’s even more alarming is that Sportsnet source Jeff Marek said McDavid is “legitimately pissed” about the situation in Edmonton.

From Marek on the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast from Sportsnet:

“He is legitimately pissed off; he’s had it, and he’s like, legit pissed.”