Oilers coach Knoblauch leaves practice, gives new voice after blowout
Today at Oilers practice, head coach Knoblauch employed a unique strategy to shake up the team after a blowout loss to Dallas.
TSN's Ryan Rishaug reported that Knoblauch was present but only observed practice, allowing assistant coach Glenn Gulutzan to run drills. As their first practice after getting slapped by Dallas, Knoblauch was clearly looking to shake up the group a bit, and allow a new voice to lead today.
It wasn't the only major change to come out of practice either. The forward lines saw a total reconfiguration today, with the biggest change being the return of the McDavid and Draisaitl first line. This is still clearly Knoblauch making the decision, although he wasn't directly running practice.
Clearly the group was extremely disappointed with their effort in Dallas, and are looking to come out hot against the Colorado Avalanche tonight. The Oilers have played a tough series of games recently where they haven't fared ultimately well, but this is the prime time to take a kick in the butt and spark the team. Since the trade deadline, the Oilers are only 7-5-3, with only one win against a playoff team.
Tonight against Colorado will be a significant test, and the team has been shaken up and called out - we'll see how they respond on the ice!
| POLL | ||
Do you agree with Knoblauch's decision to step away to give the team space during this funk? | ||
| Yes, new voice can't hurt | 288 | 69.4 % |
| No, don't like the look of it | 98 | 23.6 % |
| See Results | 29 | 7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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