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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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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