Kris Knoblauch admits hard truth about the Edmonton Oilers slow start to the season
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It's no secret that the Edmonton Oilers went all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. While the team fell just two goals shy of hockey's ultimate prize, fans around the league had sky high expectations for the Oilers this season. After falling 0-3 to start the season, it appeared that the Oilers were suffering from a mild "Stanley Cup hangover" where Kris Knoblauch admits the harsh truth about where things went wrong.
On "The Fan Hockey Show" on Tuesday, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch talked about the hype surrounding his team heading into the season. He cited the lack of motivation in himself and his players as one of the reasons for their run of bad results.
"Obviously, expectations were really high on us going into the season, and we also knew that it was going to be difficult to get off to a great start at the beginning of the season, just because of the long playoff run that we had, and then the short summer," Knoblauch said. "Then here you have to get back at it.
"And I know personally, myself getting behind the bench for those first exhibition games, didn't feel it like I was not motivated. I was not and I'm not the one putting on the equipment. I'm not the one who's on the ice battling, and I can only imagine what the players are feeling like."
"We said last year we had the whole mix advantage in the first round," Knoblauch said. "Then after that, we're always on the road to start the series, and we felt that maybe if we had just a little bit easier road to that game seven final, maybe we're in a better position to win it all. And you know, this year we wanted to be in a little bit better position than we were last year."
Thankfully, the Edmonton Oilers were slowly able to find their game. After a rough October, the boys found their stride and clawed their way up to the top of the standings.
Now, the Oilers will look to get back to the same place they were last season -- the Stanley Cup Final.
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