Knoblauch's unexpected journey lands in Stanley Cup Final with Oilers (2024)

Kris Knoblauch’s post-game press conference was being drowned out by hundreds upon hundreds of Edmonton Oilers fans lining the street outside Rogers Place, where his team just punched its ticket to its first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years.

There he was, the head coach of one of only two teams left at the end of the season.

And that’s a long way from where he was at the beginning of the NHL season.

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For starters, he wasn’t even in the NHL.

His biggest goal at the start of the season was to guide the New York Rangers-affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack to the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League.

“I don’t have any words, this is remarkable. Amazing,” Knoblauch said following a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars to claim the Western Conference final Sunday. “I was at the time hoping to get my American League team into the playoffs and we’ll see what happens from there.

“For me to be going to the Stanley Cup Final with this organization? Awesome. It is awesome. But everyone said it, we want four more. But right now, this is pretty awesome.”

As is where he’s finishing, compared to where he started his inaugural year as an NHL head coach.

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It was Nov. 13 when he was tapped to come in and replace Jay Woodcroft, whose Oilers had tanked to a franchise-worst 2-9-1 start to the season. Knoblauch’s predecessor managed to win one final one on his way out, but it was far too little, far too late by that point.

All the pre-season expectations about the Oilers reaching the final round of playoffs were already well circling the drain.

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Ladened with the unenviable task of figuring out how the team with the best player in the world could possibly have been sitting 31st in a 32-team league, Knoblauch simply got to work.

It began, of course, with reuniting with Connor McDavid, whom he coached in junior with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. But that was only one face in the crowd for Knoblauch.

“I knew there was a really good team here, there were good players and things were going to sort themselves out,” he said. “And how they were going to sort themselves out, we weren’t sure how well. We weren’t anticipating eight-game and 16-game winning streaks, but definitely a team that was going to rebound and get into the playoffs and have a strong push in the playoffs. Absolutely, that was the plan.

“I think at the time when I joined it, and I think anytime you get a coaching change there’s usually frustration. And there was definitely frustration on how the team had been playing and where they were in the standings and we decided to kind of sort things out and just look short term and just start putting together some little win streaks.”

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Little turned into big, which eventually turned into a place at Lord Stanley’s table.

Not bad for a kid from Imperial, Sask., whose entire population of 360 could have fit inside the Hall of Fame room with him following Sunday’s win.

“There is definitely more people on this street than in my town,” Knoblauch said looking outside. There is maybe three or four times as many people on that road. I am very proud of where I came from.

“At the end of the season, one of the last weekends when we were playing Arizona, there was a bus trip of people from my hometown that came and I got to see them and I got to address them here in this room. It was nice for them to come and give me the support. I’m very proud of that. It’s a great feeling to be here right now where I am.”

Call it a childhood dream … of sorts.

“When I was a kid thinking about getting to the NHL and having the opportunity to play, win a Stanley Cup, I thought about always wanting to do it as a player,” said Knoblauch, who, following previous stops in Edmonton with both the WHL’s Ice and the University Golden Bears, was drafted in the seventh round (166th overall) by the New York Islanders, but never played in the league. “And then eventually you realize you’re not going to be able to compete as a player and maybe you can do it as a coach. And now we get this opportunity.”

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His coaching career path wasn’t exactly straightforward, by any means. Nor did he travel it alone.

“My family, obviously. My wife, I just think about the sacrifices she made for me to be here and coach,” he said. “How many times we’ve moved, how many jobs she’s given up. Looking back, I was thinking about it today, I probably made some poor decisions for her to quit the good, quality jobs that she had for me to chase some low-paying, below-poverty wages just to see what happens.

“So, obviously she’s definitely the first one I’m thinking of. She came, she’s here tonight. Unfortunately, I wish my kids were here, but hopefully I get to see them soon. But those three are the ones I’m thinking about.”

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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