Bob Stauffer on how the Oilers really got Kris Knoblauch.

Well if this isn't one of the coolest little hockey stories I've heard in a while.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is coming off of what has to be described as an incredibly successful season as a rookie head coach in the National Hockey League, helping the Oilers turn their season around after an early collapse under former head coach Jay Woodcroft and leading the team all the way to his first Stanley Cup Final appearance.

It was a bold decision on the part of former Oilers general manager Ken Holland to recruit the relatively untested Knoblauch to take over mid-season, but it was a gamble that paid off for the Oilers and one that may have been destined to be. As it turns out, it may not even have been Holland himself who originally recruited Knoblauch to the Oilers.

On a recent episode of the What Chaos podcast, long time voice of the Edmonton Oilers Bob Stauffer revealed how an encounter with Knoblauch 8 years earlier may have foretold his destiny as a future coach of the Edmonton Oilers. To hear Stauffer tell it, he was meeting with Knoblauch on an extremely warm day, one that left the Oilers bench boss dripping with sweat.

Stauffer tells the tale of meeting up with Knoblauch on that fateful day, the day of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in Florida.


"I met Kris Knoblauch there, he was coaching Erie," revealed Stauffer. "It was so hot that he walked to meet me for a drink and he was sweating in a shirt and I had to get him a golf shirt."

Well Stauffer is of course a long time employee of the Edmonton Oilers and the only shirt he had for his friend was one with Oilers branding on it.

"All I had that was gonna fit him was an Oilers TV shirt, an orange one," said Stauffer with a smile.

Not only did Knoblauch wear the shirt but it would even draw the attention of rival NHL teams who were wondering, 8 years prior to him being hired by the Oilers, if the Oilers had hired Kris Knoblauch.

"There were a couple of teams there and they are all looking like 'Is Kris Knoblauch working for the Edmonton Oilers, what's going on here?'" said Stauffer with a laugh.

So as it turns out, it was Bob Stauffer 8 years earlier who planted the seed for what would one day be Kris Knoblauch behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers.

"I would say all great broadcasters are about 8 years ahead of everybody else," said Stauffer.