"He reached out, and then he said, 'Go win this game so I can come see my granddaughter,'" Josh Manson said following Colorado's 3-2 win to clinch the best-of-7 series. "That's No. 1 on his list. He wants to come to Colorado so he can see my daughter, his granddaughter. That was the important thing."
Dave and Josh Manson will be on opposite benches when the Oilers face the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final starting in Denver on Tuesday.
The Oilers advanced to the conference final for the first time since 2006 with a 4-1 series win against the Calgary Flames.
Dave Manson joined Edmonton, along with coach Jay Woodcroft, on Feb. 10, from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League to replace Dave Tippett and associate Jim Playfair, who were fired.
"It's our first granddaughter and our only grandchild," Dave Manson said Saturday. "It's exciting anytime you can get an opportunity to hopefully see her, and that's what kind of popped into my head. She's an important part of our family."
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Dave Manson played 1,103 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs in 16 NHL seasons. He was then an assistant with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League for 12 seasons before he was hired by the Oilers to be an assistant with Bakersfield prior to the 2018-19 season.
Josh Manson, 30, was acquired by the Avalanche in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on March 14 having played all eight of his NHL seasons with them.
"Definitely it's exciting for both of us, first and foremost, to still be playing," Dave Manson said. "I think that's huge. It doesn't happen a lot in your career, so it's exciting from that standpoint alone. Taking the family part of it is a whole other level of excitement."
The Oilers had already advanced to the conference final when Dave Manson tuned in to watch his son play against the Blues on Friday. Edmonton eliminated Calgary with a 5-4 overtime win Thursday on a goal by Connor McDavid.
Dave Manson is hoping to fit in family time when the Oilers visit Colorado for the first two games of the best-of-7 series.
"Depending on the schedule of the teams, it will be nice to visit, but their schedule will be different from ours," Dave Manson said. "We're down there for a purpose and it works the same for both. The priority of doing your job is first at this point."
Josh Manson was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 1991, five days after Dave was traded by the Blackhawks to the Oilers. Like his father was, Josh is considered a solid, stay-at-home defenseman.
"There are similarities, but he's a lot better player," Dave Manson said. "The game is a lot different nowadays than when I played. These guys train and they work hard at their craft, not that we didn't, but they're very highly skilled guys."
While the two talk hockey when together, Dave Manson said he is careful regarding the advice he gives his son.
"He has coaches that are there to do a job and you don't want to give him any advice that is going to contradict what his coaches are saying to him," Dave Manson said. "I don't believe in that and we try to steer clear of that, but if he asks, we'll talk about it."
