POST-GAME: Knoblauch's special debut as Oilers head coach

EDMONTON, AB – Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch got more than just the game puck on Monday night.

In the locker room post-game, he got a memory that will last a lifetime after winning his first game as an NHL bench boss, which is an achievement and a position that the 45-year-old has been working towards his entire professional career.

Less than 12 hours before his first victory, Knoblauch was choked up speaking to the media on Monday morning following his first pre-game skate with the Oilers when asked who the people were who helped him get to this high point in his career – his wife Autumn and their two kids, along with former University of Alberta Golden Bears coach Rob Daum, Seattle Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, Peter Anholt with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders and Mark Holick with the Kootenay Ice.

Autumn, who couldn’t be there with her husband today, was on the big screen in the Oilers dressing room post-game to congratulate Kris on his first win via video call, making for another emotional moment for the Imperial, Sask. product that he got to share with his new staff members and players.

“After the game, they did something really special,” Knoblauch said of the Oilers training staff who helped set up the special moment. “They presented the puck and they had my wife on the TV just saying a few words and that was very nice of them to do.”

“Usually, I go in after a win and say a few words and I walk right out. They said, ‘No, you're not going anywhere.’”

“Obviously they presented me the puck, and then I was in the middle of the room and they turned me around and I saw my wife on the screen. My kids weren't there. They were already in bed with the two-hour difference, and they just arranged it with like three minutes left in the game and made it work.”

“Just ‘Congratulations. I'm proud of you,’” Knoblauch recalled of what the message was from his wife during the video call.

Knoblauch had a game puck already on his desk, but with the second puck that he accepted from his players, who put in the effort needed to secure him his first win as an NHL head coach in a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday, he now luckily won’t have to play any sort of favourites with his two kids.

“I did get the game puck. It felt incredible. It's going to be a souvenir,” he said. “I had a game puck on my desk before the game started and I was like, ‘Oh, I've only got one and I've got two kids. Then we won, so I got two. 

“Now we can make everyone happy and maybe I won't tell them which one's the game puck and one's the souvenir puck.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid spent three seasons in the OHL under Knoblauch with the Erie Otters and acknowledged the hard work that his former junior coach had gone through not only to help the Oilers win their second straight game, but what it took for him to make it to the NHL.

“Yeah, Chris got it,” McDavid said of the game puck. “Obviously exciting for him, first win in the NHL. It's been a long road for him, so well deserved.”

For what’s been a hectic 24 hours for Knoblauch and the Oilers organization, the newly-minted bench boss demonstrated a level of calmness since his arrival in Oil Country getting to know his players and figuring out how to get both his players and team back on track following a slow 3-9-1 start in their opening 13 games.

“Yeah, I thought he was calm, came in and was his calm self,” McDavid said. “He didn't give us too much, just kind of said: ‘Guys, go out and play and we'll work through the details of his system as we go.’ Obviously, he can't do it all in one morning skate, so I thought he did a great job under the circumstances.

“He's a calming voice and that can be good in an environment like this.”

After the ideal start to his Oilers tenure, Knoblauch will continue building relationships and his message with his new players after touching base with nearly every player for introductions during Monday’s pre-game skate.

“Today, obviously my first time on the ice with the guys, I got around to almost everybody,” he said. “I think it's important for me to get to know these guys; and for them to get to know me. I don't like to spread my messages to my players through media, through these interviews, and say, ‘So and so needs to play better.’ That's something I like to talk to them about and just say, ‘Hey, just really quick. This is what I see. This is what I need’ and get their insight on how the team's playing.

“I just really want to get to know the players.”