Edmonton on the rise again: Thanks to Knoblauch, McDavid is playing like a superstar again

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In mid-November, the Edmonton Oilers had virtually no choice but to send coach Jay Woodcroft (47) into the desert. The team lagged behind the competition and had only seven points after 13 games. And the club, which had won five Stanley Cups in the golden 80s and 90s with stars like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey, started the season again with big ambitions. With Connor McDavid (26) and the German Leon Draisaitl (28), the Oilers have two of the best and most dynamic strikers in the world in their ranks.

But above all, captain McDavid’s performances probably did the rest for Woodcroft, whose brothers Todd (51, new assistant coach in Zug) and Craig (54, Servette coach in 2017/18) ended up in Switzerland. In the first eleven games, the Canadian recorded only ten points and scored only twice. This could be appealing to a casual gamer. However, this was alarming for McDavid, who scored 64 goals and 153 points last season.

It is therefore not surprising that McDavid had to emphasize that he knew nothing about the appointment of Kris Knoblauch (45) as the new head coach and, as a precaution, praised Woodcroft: ‘Woody is one of the five or three best coaches in the league. »

Knoblauch coached McDavid in the junior league

It should be no coincidence that the Oilers chose the Canadian, who has been coaching the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL since 2019. After all, Knoblauch not only enjoyed a good reputation, but also has a shared past with McDavid: he coached him on the Erie Otters junior team 11 years ago before being drafted as the No. 1 pick.

Under Knoblauch, whose playing career never took him to the NHL and ended at age 28 in the French second division in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Marne, and new assistant Coffey, the Oilers quickly found their way back and now have eight won games for the second time in a row and are now back in a play-off spot. Under Knoblauch, McDavid is playing like a superstar again: 24 games, 13 goals, 45 points.

During a visit, his daughter Emry, whom he left behind in Hartford with his wife Autumn and son Marek, asked at a media conference how much fun it was coaching McDavid. «It’s a great pleasure. He is a great player who can do things that few can. And his leadership qualities help us tremendously as coaches,” replied Knoblauch, who began his coaching career at age 28 when he accepted a low-paying job as an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL junior league that others had turned down.

As head coach, he later led both the Kootenay Ice (WHL) and Erie (OHL) to junior championship titles. In Edmonton they are already hoping that he can bring back the Stanley Cup after 34 years.

Source : Blick