Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch recalls interviewing with Paul Maurice for NHL job

The Stanley Cup Final will feature two head coaches with vastly different levels of experience, but they do have some shared history.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch recalls meeting Florida Panthers head coach and then-Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice back in 2015 at the NHL Draft, which ended up being a memorable one for his current club.

At the time of the draft, which just happened to be in Sunrise, Fla., Knoblauch was the head coach of the OHL’s Erie Otters, whose roster featured a generational and future NHL star in Connor McDavid.

Knoblauch recalls setting up an interview with Maurice for an assistant coaching position with the Jets. Maurice did not end up hiring Knoblauch, while McDavid went first overall to the Oilers.

What Knoblauch remembered from that interview was getting an offer from Maurice to be a mentor to him and offer some guidance as he made his way through the coaching ranks.

“I did reach out a couple of years later when I went to Philadelphia about my possibilities of becoming an American league head coach or going to the NHL as an assistant and I remember him offering me advice,” Knoblauch recalled.

Nine years after their first meeting, the two will go head-to-head for the Stanley Cup.

For Maurice, this will be his third attempt to win a championship and second in a row Knoblauch, meanwhile, is in his first season as an NHL head coach.

When asked if there is any thought about going up against a coach with the amount of experience Maurice has, Knoblauch didn’t give it a thought.

“I look at what our team is doing and what we need,” Knoblauch said. “Through the pre-scout and our preparation, we have to know what the Florida Panthers are doing and where they’re successful. Just have to worry about our team.”

When asked how much Stanley Cup Final experience matters, Knoblauch showed some football knowledge.

“Experience is good. I don’t know how much experience is beneficial. You can ask the Buffalo Bills how important Super Bowl experience is.”

The Bills, of course, famously lost four Super Bowls in a row in the early 1990s and are still searching for their first title.