Edmonton Oilers head coach Knoblauch still a rookie at NHL pre-season
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Not many human beings, past, present or future have a better handle on coaching Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Finals than running an NHL training camp.
Yet, here Chris Knoblauch is, heading into his first pre-season game as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, looking to avoid the team’s horrendous start to things a year ago that led to him landing here in the first place.
Of course, Knoblauch wasn’t around for the downfall of his predecessor, Jay Woodcroft. Only for the cleanup on Aisle Oilers.
And clean things up, he did. Guiding the team back on track, chugging full-steam ahead through the longest playoff run possible, only to wind up on the wrong side of one goal at the finish line.
It’s a mighty impressive resume for any rookie NHL head coach, to be sure.
But all that experience from last year’s impressive run does him little good as he opens the door on what will be his first full season in the role. So, forgive him if the guy with the best head-coaching record in franchise history (.703) delves through some old tape and practice plans to see how previous pre-seasons were handled in the past.
“This is my first time doing it,” Knoblauch said. “I was curious about how many games a player should play and I looked throughout the rosters in the NHL and by the Oilers last year, and saw what typically they played. I looked at a schedule and saw who we’re playing, when are we playing? How soon it is. Obviously, our players don’t want to wait too long to get into a game.
“When I started, I said not to look into the lineup too much. After we play these (first) couple games starting tomorrow, it will switch up quite a bit because guys are going to be in and out of the lineup and how much they practise, how much they play, we’ll change some things.”
With the Winnipeg Jets coming into Rogers Place on Sunday (4 p.m.), Knoblauch has a checklist for the players making in their pre-season debut.
“Just their skill level, what they can do,” Knoblauch identified. “And when I say skill level, it’s not the toe-drags and one-timers, it’s the events that happen often in hockey games: How often they play on the wall, how dedicated do they look at backchecking?
“Do they pick up the body? Do they want to go to the net? Those are the details that we’re looking at. If they don’t do that very often, they’re probably not going to play in the NHL because they’re not going to have the opportunity.”
But what about the biggest weapons in the Oilers offensive arsenal? Do they determine their own play time and linemates in the pre-season games?
“Early in the exhibition schedule, you don’t want to be putting them in immediately because those games are more for the younger guys who are trying out for the team,” Knoblauch said. “There’s a lot of things to consider.”
