‘You need to get your toes stepped on’: Edmonton Oilers coach praised for tough love tactic

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This in from that most excellent ESPN hockey commentator Ray Ferraro, his praise of Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch for benching Leon Draisaitl for a few shifts with the Oilers down 3-2 against Philadelphia in the third period and having already lost three games in a row.

The Oilers came back to beat the Flyers, with Draisaitl making a marvellous pass to tie it, then firing home a slot shot to win in OT. Edmonton has now beaten Nashville as well, with Draisaitl the Oil’s best play in that win.

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Ferraro called the Flyers game for ESPN. On his Ray & Dregs podcast, he described the benching: “When McDavid goes on the ice, and (Jeff) Skinner was on his left, I turn down and I look down at the Oilers bench, and Leon was sitting next to Ty Emberson down at the defencemen end. And I’m like, ‘He didn’t pick that seat. That’s not good.’ So they go through one (shift), they go through a second (shift), and then there was a penalty. And Draisaitl sat there and was kind of the fifth guy over the boards (for the power play). And I wondered, had there not been a penalty was he going to leave him another shift?

Ferraro continued: “This may sound goofy but it takes a lot of courage for Knoblauch to sit him there. Because you know Leon is a very, very proud player and he’s salty. And you know he’s not going to be happy with this. I just looked down and I thought, ‘That’s bold.’”

Ferrado said that Knoblauch would likely yell out the line combo of McDavid, Skinner and Zach Hyman. “And Leon would go, ‘Are you fricken kidding me?!’ I’ve had that happen to me. I’ve had my line get called except there’s one thing missing, and that’s me… But here’s the thing. Leon took a bad penalty against Chicago, a slashing penalty. He took a really selfish cross-checking penalty against Philadelphia at the end of the second period. He’s clearly frustrated… He was not rejoicing when they (the Oilers) scored (to tie the game). He’s still angry. But he made an unbelievable play to McDavid and then McDavid finds Bouchard and they tie it. And then somehow McDavid gets a breakaway, I don’t know where all the Flyers guys went, and Leon gets a 20 foot shot and he’s not going to miss that, man. Not him. And boom it’s in the net. They win. They go to Nashville, Leon and Connor hook up for a goal again, and it’s funny, it’s not an exaggeration to say that was a big moment for the Oilers early. For an Oilers team that had lost three games at home in a row, they were on their way to losing a fourth, they were down 3-2, and I think this might be instructive for the other (losing) teams that we’re talking about, Knoblauch benched him 3-2 and losing three games in a row. The big picture is more important than the little picture. Leon is a brilliant player and sometimes you need to get your toes stepped on. And that’s what (Knoblauch) did.”

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Some coaches don’t do such things, Ferraro said. “You have to know with relative certainty what’s going to come out of it. He knows that Leon is going to be pissed. He knows he’s frustrated. He know he’s a great player. So Knoblauch had to feel in his gut, if I sit him here for a couple of (shifts), he’s going to want to stick this in my ear. And you want him to be as sharp and as motivated as he can be. And then he gets on the ice and in four minutes he gets a goal and an assist.

“You know what the worst part about that is for the player, is you go, ‘Uh, now the coach is right, and that bugs me.’ (Hall of Fame coach) Al Arbour used to do this to me all the time, and Lorne Henning, who was his assistant coach, he goes to me, ‘You know what your problem is? When Al benches you you usually play well. So he knows that it worked.’ So I was like, ‘Nah, liar.’

‘Anyway, Knoblauch is — and you’ve heard me use this before — he’s a farmer. And he’s got farmer gut feels. And he’s just got a really good way of going, ‘Yeah, this is what we need right now.’ He doesn’t rant and rave. I saw him argue a call, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s argued a call.’ Because that is just not his way. He’s always evaluating and taking in stuff and then he makes a call. It’s going to work or it’s not going to work. I really think that was a pretty impressive moment for him.”

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My take

1. Is there a sharper, more insightful and more eloquent hockey commentator than Ray Ferraro? It’s been a while since I’ve heard him analyze a game, but this wonderful description of the Draisaitl Incident brought back what we’ve all been missing. Few can spin a story like Ferraro or match his perceptions of both the game and the psychological game within the game. Of course, he does a lot of mind-reading here, imagining what Draisaitl and Knoblauch are thinking, so he may not be correct in whole or in part about what actually went on in their minds, but Ferraro has credibility, and not just because he scored 408 regular season goalS. He’s got a long history of calling them as he seems them and, generally, getting them right.

He’s also one of the few announcers who will take a goal against and identify by name which players made mistakes and exactly what they did wrong. Too many commentators act like they’re still on the team, so it’s not sporting or kosher to describe in detail exactly who and what went wrong on a goal against. They don’t want to step on toes, but this makes their game analysis drab and mundane.

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It’s likely some players might not like being singled out by Ferraro, but he’s not calling the game for them, he’s working for the fans.

If you’re a student of the game, he’s as good as it gets (with Kevin Bieksa also in the running).

2. The Oilers got off to a slow start, with their stars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, leading the way to the bottom.. Both seemed to be going at 1/2 speed in the pre-season, then 2/3 speed even as the regular season started. The same was true in the game against the Flyers, where both McDavid and Draisaitl — united on one line to give them a jolt and a boost — continued to play poorly. Draisaitl in particular looked slow and uninspired, free-lancing on defence, a step behind on his attacking reads, and then came his misguided cross-checking penalty at the end of the second period.

Since he got benched, Draisaitl has been on fire. He and McDavid were sensational against Nashville, Draisaitl making major contributions to 12 Grade A shots, McDavid to ten. That’s more than twice Drai’s usual rate of significant offence in a game.

3. My own theory on the slow start? The Oilers stars were all banged up in the playoffs, with McDavid down a quart or two, and Draisaitl running on fumes. They need time to recuperate, get healthy and then get back in playing shape, but I suspect time ran out on them in their short summer. They did not have the time to fully get their game legs back, as witnessed by Darnell Nurse missing games right into pre-season. McDavid evidently sensed he wasn’t ready and pushed to play more pre-season games than had been planned. But there’s only so much the body and mind can do. If the body isn’t ready to go full speed, it can’t do it. Only now are McDavid and Draisaitl approaching full game ready-ness.

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4. Perhaps Knoblauch’s benching of Draisaitl was a jolt #29 needed. I suspect Ferraro’s take pretty much nailed the psychology of coach and player. From my own long career in newsrooms, I’ve seen all kinds of people, introverts and extroverts, high flyers and quiet contributors, big ego performers and low ego grinders. Some folks can take criticism and get better, but for others it makes them wilt. I suspect Drai’s ego is healthy — extremely healthy — and he’s just the kind of person who thrives on both pats on the back, but also the odd hard kick in the butt. He can take it and make something out of it, and that’s just what he just did.

5. Knoblauch is one of the strangest NHL coaches I’ve ever seen. What I mean is, I’ve never seen a coach who has such a high level of emotional intelligence, an ability to calmly say the diplomatic and smart thing about his team and opponents. He’s almost never harsh or angry. He’s understanding.

Coach Comatose, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman called him last winter, and that’s how Knoblauch can indeed come across.

I admire his cool and his perceptive mind and tactical sense. I thought Jay Woodcroft was a good teacher, and I believe that Knoblauch shines when it comes to instruction as well. I’ve noticed a marked improvements in the defensive habits of the players under him. Of course, all good teachers have to find ways to tune in their students, to make sure they’re getting the message. I suspect Knoblauch has all kinds of strategies and tricks in that regard, with the (short) benching of Draisaitl just one of them.

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P.S. This in from Paige Martin of the Oilers

Oilers practice in Dallas today:

– Janmark skating on a line with Nugent-Hopkins and Arvidsson
– Podkolzin skating with Ryan and Perry
– Skinner in starter’s net

No surprise here as these are the lines we saw at the end of the Nashville game.

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