Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch nearly became an Edmonton police officer
Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch has enjoyed quite an impressive start to his NHL career, but he nearly saw his life go in a very different direction.
The 46-year-old bench boss has amassed 94 wins and has gone to two straight Stanley Cup Finals in his first two years as head coach of the Oilers. Knoblauch also holds the NHL record for most playoff wins in a head coach’s first two seasons, hitting 29 wins.
The Saskatchewan native has cemented himself as one of the league’s premier young coaches, but things could have been very different for Knoblauch. The Oilers coach was on the Jason Gregor Show on Tuesday, where he discussed how he first got into coaching.
According to him, he almost became an Edmonton police officer.
“I thought [coaching] a little bit [at the University of Alberta]… I always thought I was gonna be a police officer, most likely here in Edmonton,” Knoblauch said. “Then I went away, played some hockey… I was approached about the possibility of coaching the Lethbridge Hurricanes as an assistant coach.
“I didn’t get that job; they gave it to somebody else, but it opened up my doors and mind to get into coaching. I ended up getting a job that summer with the Prince Albert Raiders.”
The motivation to become a police officer was first planted in his head after having billeted with a few members of the force. He explained to Gregor why that career path was so appealing to him at the time.
Knoblauch also revealed that teaching was going to be a backup plan if the police officer thing didn’t work out.
“Through my hockey, I had been billeted with police officers, so I knew a lot about it,” Knoblauch said. “My sister became an RCMP member, and it was always on my mind.
“I went to school at the University of Alberta as a backup plan, and I got into education. Not that I thought I was gonna be a teacher, just something else to have. It came in handy, it opened up a door to get into coaching, it probably helped me get that first job.”
Knoblauch certainly has the qualities to be a cop and even a teacher. He is one of the more calm and measured coaches in the NHL and rarely, if ever, loses his composure in high-pressure situations.
After serving as an assistant coach with the Raiders for a season, Knoblauch then moved on to become the head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice for a single season before moving out East to coach the OHL’s Erie Otters between 2012 and 2017.
From there, things started to pick up for the young coach. He was hired as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2017 and served two seasons in that role before becoming the head coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack. After the Oilers parted ways with Jay Woodcroft in 2023, they opted to give Knoblauch his first NHL head coaching gig.
It seems like a position of authority was always in the cards for Knoblauch, whether that be controlling the bench, teaching a classroom, or enforcing the law.