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Edmonton Oilers fire head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson

Click to play video: 'Edmonton Oilers fire head coach Jay Woodcroft, hire Kris Knoblauch as woes continue'
Edmonton Oilers fire head coach Jay Woodcroft, hire Kris Knoblauch as woes continue
The start to the Edmonton Oilers season hasn't been ideal with only three wins through 13 games. Fans demanded answers and wanted change. On Sunday, the Oilers announced that they fired head coach Jay Woodcroft, hoping to turn the season around. Jasmine King reports – Nov 12, 2023

The Edmonton Oilers fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson on Sunday.

The team announced Kris Knoblauch will take over as head coach. He will be assisted by former Oilers defenceman Paul Coffey.

The move was made even after the Oilers stopped a losing streak Saturday night, with a 4-1 victory in Seattle. The win was only the third of the season for Edmonton in 13 games.

“Really, after we lost the game against San Jose Thursday night, Jeff Jackson [chief executive officer of hockey operations] and I started to talk really seriously about if we should consider making a coaching change and then obviously made a decision,” said Oilers’ general manager Ken Holland during a Sunday afternoon news conference at Rogers Place.
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“I want to thank [Woodcroft and Manson] for their contributions to our team over the last two years. They work hard. They’re good hockey people.

“But ultimately, this is a difficult decision and obviously we’re in a business where you got to win games.”

Woodcroft took over the reins with the team part way through the 2021-22 season after Dave Tippett was let go. He posted a record of 79-41-13 in 143 games behind the Oilers’ bench.

Click to play video: 'Edmonton Oilers manager discusses ‘difficult’ decision firing coaches Jay Woodcroft, Dave Manson'
Edmonton Oilers manager discusses ‘difficult’ decision firing coaches Jay Woodcroft, Dave Manson

He also guided the team to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2022, and to the second round last season. The Oilers lost to the Stanley Cup champions both years: Colorado in 2022 and Las Vegas in 2023.

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Knoblauch comes to Edmonton after coaching the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League.  He has assistant coaching experience at the NHL level with Philadelphia.

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He was the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters when Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid was a star at the major junior level.

“It’s been a crazy 24 hours for myself,” said Knoblauch. “I was on the bench (Saturday) in Hartford, and then on a plane to get here.”

He was the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters when Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid was a star at the major junior level.

“To be here as a head coach is a little bit of a dream for me,” Knoblauch said. “I met my wife here, I have a lot of friends here and so the fact I have this opportunity with the Edmonton Oilers is really, really exciting for me.”

Knoblauch said he’s looking forward to meeting with the players, getting to know them and letting them know what his expectations are going forward as the team tries to turn around a 3-9-1 start to a season that many forecast would end with a Stanley Cup in Alberta’s capital.

“Ultimately, I see a very talented team – underperforming obviously. That’s why I’m here,” he said.

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“I’m trying to build something, and obviously we can have the success we expected at the beginning of the year.”

Coffey has been serving as an advisor to Oilers’ owner Daryl Katz.

He’ll try to help rekindle the success the team had during his glory years of the 1980s. Coffey played seven of his 21 NHL seasons in Edmonton, picking of 661 of of his 1,531 career points, while helping the Oilers win three of their five Stanley Cups, and earning two Norris Trophies for the league’s best defenceman during that time.

“The respect I have for this organization and Daryl is second to none,” said Coffey. “I wasn’t lobbying for this job.

“Jeff kind of said something to me the other day, ‘Would you ever think of coaching?’ I said no. I was happy with the strategy and conversations I was having with Daryl and Kenny. [The coaching role] kind of came about [Saturday] afternoon. I told my wife. It came as a bit of a shocker to her.”
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The Oilers will play the New York Islanders on Monday, Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on 630 CHED.

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