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Oilers » It's official - Knoblauch gone

It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852284]	Thu, 14 May 2026 06:13

NZ Oiler Fan
Messages: 1640
Registered: October 2006
Location: Summerside, PEI

1 Cup

Per TSN: https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/oilers-relieve-knoblauch-of-h ead-coaching-duties/

Edit: Mark Stuart also let go.

[Updated on: Thu, 14 May 2026 09:11]

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852285 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 08:24

Kr55
Messages: 12880
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton

6 Cups

Tuned out. Out of ideas. Whatever the reason, that was one of the most pitiful seasons of Oilers hockey we’ve witnessed in some time. Shelf life of coaches these days is 2.5 years. Our team really helps that average out.

I don’t know if I buy the team is out of gas excuse either. McDavid won the art ross. Drai put up his usual points and some bad luck with injury near the end of the season. Bouch put up one of the best offensive seasons for a D in the last couple decades. There was no shortage of energy to try to score. Failures are getting something out of depth and an entire team failure defensively handicapped our whole season.

We were putting up Dallas Eakins age defensive analytics until that little push after the Olympic break, but everything went right back down the toilet after our desperate push to stay in a playoff spot ended, and everything got even worse in playoffs. Something was very wrong with how this team was playing this season.

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852286 is a reply to message #852285 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:03

Leia
Messages: 571
Registered: May 2003
Location: England

No Cups

One poor season and you've gone. Back to back cup finals isn't enough to give you some rope any more. Sure it was ugly at times last season and the play-offs woeful, but I sort of expected him to be given the first half of next season.

The unfortunate thing is the buck has stopped with the coach, when the tools he's been given by the GM has been increasingly worse than when he arrived. I hope Knoblauch get's another coaching gig soon and he shows that the success we've had in the past 3 years wasn't down to the superstars and that he's actually a decent coach. That way may then throw more spotlights onto the GM...

Take me home, country road
to the place where I belong
to Alberta, to see the Oilers
take me home, country road

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852287 is a reply to message #852286 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:11

Kr55
Messages: 12880
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton

6 Cups

Leia wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 09:03

It's a harsh business for sure. And we were in a bad spot where we can't even afford 1 bad year anymore. McDavid could be out of here if we have 1 more weak season.

The biggest weakness remains management, as it has been McDavid's entire time here.

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852288 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:20

Rocksteady
Messages: 649
Registered: March 2007

No Cups

Despite the record on the season, which wasn't very good, despite the results for uninspired play and less than inspiring defensive positioning and performance..

There was one thing that loomed large. The payers called him out, they are the ones who drug them out as early as the Olympic break and then once more at the seasons end.

Let's not talk of the level of baffoonary the management group showed handling the whole situation. It weakened the Oilers and sent a message that maybe the entire fabic of the Oilers inner workings is a clown show. Who interviews coaches before firing your actual coach who was entering the start of a NEW 3 year deal. Just as "ass-hattery" at a spectacular level is having the executive leadership of this team sign off on all of it.

Man if this is what is behind the engine that is the Oilers no wonder they haven't won anything now and in the future. That amount of chaos in the office will derail anything you try to do.

What a sad state.

The very definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing expecting different results.

Generally Disappointed.

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852289 is a reply to message #852288 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:24

Kr55
Messages: 12880
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton

6 Cups

Rocksteady wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 09:20

they owe Knob 2.5M x 3 years now, lol. Maybe he gets another job quick, but nice option to chill on a beach somewhere and collect 7.5M.

Katz should be super super pissed off at JJ and Bowman right now.

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852290 is a reply to message #852287 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:29

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

Kr55 wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 08:11

.. The biggest weakness remains management..

Truth

Jackson Bowman has been a disaster... running on empty

Jackson with the screw up out of the gate.. Arvidson, J Skinner
Bowman magnifying it with the stupid decision on Broberg and Holloway.. and adding more garbage to the heap with Mangiapane and Fred 4M x 8 signing.. and Walman 7M x 6 (to replace Broberg)

Bowman is in a shallow pool for ideas.. I cringe at what he could be cooking up for this off season..

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852291 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:47

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

Unfortuately I don't think Cassidy is going to be able to do much with that roster.. defence is still weak.. bottom 6 is still weak.. overall too slow.. even guys like RNH don't bring it

Watch some of these playoff games.. every team has big, strong, fast, skilled players ALL THROUGH the line up top to bottom.. and they play with balls out intensity.. current Oilers line up would get crushed.. only thing that would keep them in a game would be McDavid and Leon.. and the PP.. which gets reduced in the playoffs.. can you imagine the Oilers playing any of the teams in the 2nd round?

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852292 is a reply to message #852291 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:53

Kr55
Messages: 12880
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton

6 Cups

Skookum Jim wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 09:47

Cassidy would be a good experiment in seeing if this roster is capable of playing proper defense. Sounds like he's an extremely demanding coach. He had Jack Eichel grinding like a madman in his own zone. No more flying the zone the microsecond that you think we'll get the puck back, only to realize you were 50 ft away as a grade A shot is taken on your net. Or skating big circles with popcorn as you watch your D try to battle for the puck back. Maybe we see some 5 men efforts around our net making sure wide open guys aren't picking up rebounds with an extra second to pick their spot.

Or maybe we just keep doing that lazy gambling garbage, and we really are doomed, and we have to wait until 2040 to win another draft lottery. At least we will know :)

[Updated on: Thu, 14 May 2026 09:55]

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852293 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 09:56

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

One interesting thing floating out there is that Knob and Bowman conflicted over playing some players.. I'm thinking Mangiapane and Fred.. which if true is a two thumbs up for Knobber.. the players Bowman and Jackson brought in have been worse than they've let go.. now KULAK is the top pair D on the AVALANCHE.. more TOI than Makar last night !!

What a crap show.

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852294 is a reply to message #852292 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 10:05

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

Kr55 wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 08:53

There's a chance it could work better with this garbage roster.. but the big problem IMHO is you have a nuclear level center in McDavid.. all you need is the other 4 skaters he's on the ice with to get/retain possesion of the puck and you can send McDavid off for grade AAA's every shift.. but instead they get caught up in Keystone cop D-zone fire drills and waste way too many shifts for 97.

IMO you don't want a guy like that having to routinely grind down low in his own zone and be the one to have to go get the puck and skate it out of his zone everytime.. and who does he pass to.. Oilers have no real puck carriers other than 97 and 29 .. they used to have McLeod and Broberg

[Updated on: Thu, 14 May 2026 10:10]

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852295 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 10:12

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

This from Lebrun

Quote:

This in from NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, his take that Edmonton has no sure thing replacement for fired coach Kris Knoblauch just yet: “The Oilers don’t have a coaching replacement already lined up. They plan a formal search to interview various candidates.”

There's only one coach you fire Knob for.. and they don't have him locked up yet.. or even have permission to talk to.. classique.

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852296 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 10:15

smyth260
Messages: 1254
Registered: November 2007

1 Cup

We better get Cassidy, because Knoblauch was a pretty good coach in playoffs up until Florida 2.0 last year. I have my complaints, but he generally adjusted well as a series went on. He probably has a cup if Bobrovsky didn’t steal a few games in 2024.

Once again, management is the culprit this season and it’s pretty ridiculous that the coach takes the fall first every time in this league. The goalie they got and the 8 year contract winne winger were not playing in the final game of the playoffs, and deservedly so.

This is the most important off-season in my life as an Oilers fan. They have little assets to get out of bad contracts, an aging core, a perpetual goalie issue, and the best player’s departure is looming. I have very little confidence they can figure this out. Making sure they get Cassidy is imperative.

Clean house or bust

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852297 is a reply to message #852295 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 10:36

inverno76
Messages: 2575
Registered: September 2005
Location: Prince Albert, Saskatchew...

2 Cups

Skookum Jim wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 10:12

This from Lebrun

Quote:

There's only one coach you fire Knob for.. and they don't have him locked up yet.. or even have permission to talk to.. classique.

What would the narrative be if they just went out and hired Cassidy without interviewing anyone else? I am assuming it would be like in the past, where they get ridiculed for not doing an extensive process and chasing the newest shiny object.

I believe Cassidy is more than likely the shiny Len Thompson they are eager to chomp on, but now that they are in this position, is it not better to cast a net, rather than set one hook? Also, make no mistake, I believe the Oilers fumble farted this one again, and the management continues its run of incompetence since the year 2000.

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852299 is a reply to message #852284 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 11:06

Kr55
Messages: 12880
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton

6 Cups

If you want to see Bowman's mug up close for 30 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLSCFcOD4dM

"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013

"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015

5 x $5,000,000

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852300 is a reply to message #852299 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 11:50

nullterm
Messages: 1203
Registered: July 2007
Location: Port Moody, BC

1 Cup

But we're still stuck with Bowman?

There are times I lllllloathe this team.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852303 is a reply to message #852297 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 12:48

Skookum Jim
Messages: 6155
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC

6 Cups

inverno76 wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 09:36

Skookum Jim wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 10:12

This from Lebrun

Quote:

There's only one coach you fire Knob for.. and they don't have him locked up yet.. or even have permission to talk to.. classique.

You're right they should have done an extensive search.. but I think you could have been checking out all the other options first before you fire Knoblauch.. who's out there that has any cred.. Berube?, Laviolette?.. pretty slim pickens.. Cassidy best NHL experienced guy right now.. or they can play a hunch and go after a new up-and-comer.. which we've tried..

Guy that really needs to be evaulated is Bowman and his pro-scouts

McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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Re: It's official - Knoblauch gone [message #852304 is a reply to message #852303 ]	Thu, 14 May 2026 13:13

inverno76
Messages: 2575
Registered: September 2005
Location: Prince Albert, Saskatchew...

2 Cups

Skookum Jim wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 12:48

inverno76 wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 09:36

Skookum Jim wrote on Thu, 14 May 2026 10:12

This from Lebrun

Quote:

There's only one coach you fire Knob for.. and they don't have him locked up yet.. or even have permission to talk to.. classique.

Agreed, but it starts at the top, and I appreciate Katz's willingness to spend money, but he definitely struggles with finding the right people. His rumoured allegiance to Paul Coffey lends credibility to the 'fan boy owner' monnicker, and does not give the fans much hope we will ever find our way out of this mess.

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