Stan Bowman Reviews All Coaching Positions
When contacted by Edmonton Oilers media on Saturday, GM Stan Bowman declined to comment on the status of coach Kris Knoblauch, saying that all positions are being evaluated.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Reporter: “We’ll just go in.”
Stan Bowman: “Sure”
Reporter: “Are you in a position to confirm that Kris will return next season as a head coach, and what have you done with his performance this year?”
Bowman: “If you don’t have success, I think you have to evaluate everything. So that’s up to my staff, the coaching staff, and the players. That’s what we’re going to do in the next short period of time. Since it’s only been 36 hours since we finished. And I think it’s my job, and I’m sure people will evaluate the results with me, and the business is going. To see if there are things you can improve on, and you have ideas if the team is not successful. Sometimes those are good, sometimes they are not good.
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So, what you don’t want to do is make snap decisions without really being part of it. We want to talk to the players, talk to the coaches, get their opinions, talk to my staff and see what actually happened. And like I said, we have theories as to why we didn’t succeed, but you want to make sure they’re consistent with what actually happened. So, today is not the day to make announcements like anything, be it about players or anything like that. That will come.”
Kris Knobaluch Prepares to Stay as Head Coach
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about his work situation with the Edmonton Oilers and he admitted that it is a business, but he prepares each day to improve the hockey team as if he were still the head coach.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Reporter: “Do you worry about your job if you get out of the first round of the playoffs? Bruce Cassidy got fired in Vegas, and they won the Stanley Cup. As a coach, is that always a concern that you get to the Cup Final twice, but get out of the first round of the playoffs?”
Kris Knoblauch: “As a coach, I’m always preparing for the next training day. I’m always preparing to make the team better, whether it’s next week, next month, or next year. I know this is what this business is and how times can change. But, that’s just the nature of being a head coach in the NHL is what it is.”
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Oilers Media believes Knoblauch Will Remain as Head Coach
Derek Van Diest on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, When Asked If Knoblauch Should Be Fired:
“No, I think that is a lot of external noise, I think that inside the organization they are happy with what he has done, he will enter the first year of a three-year contract, so he has not even started to extend this contract, so firing the coach before he starts a new contract would be another thing, I don’t think that Knoblauch is a problem.
And this is an organization that has gone through a lot of coaches, a lot of good coaches, and I know that’s always kind of the goat. It’s like if you have a bad defense, you blame your goalkeeper. I think if you have an organization that wants to win, like, luckily, they have an owner that wants to win. He wants to do whatever it takes to win, but he’s been through a lot of coaches here, and they’ve all had the same result.
And I think that Kris Knoblauch got a lot from this team, and I think that he and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will get along well, although at times, Knoblauch admitted that his relationship with Draisaitl can be shaky at times, but this is a team that they can continue to use coaches again. That’s not a fix.
I know they want to do what’s easy to fix there, but I think it’s a situation where they have confidence in the work that Chris Knoblauch is doing, and until he loses that team’s confidence in him in the room, which he doesn’t have yet, he’s going to be the coach of the Edmonton Oilers.”
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Jason Gregor on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, When Asked If Knoblauch Should Be Fired:
“Well, his contract extension hadn’t started yet, I would have thought he was safe. I know that in sports now, it’s easy to want to blame the coach. Like I said, I think the coaching staff, I don’t know if Knoblauch took a step this year, like the team. He was equal.”
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