"I was not motivated": Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch gets brutally honest about slow start to the season after gruelling Stanley Cup playoff run

Kris Knoblauch and the Edmonton Oilers are firmly in a playoff spot as they are at the top of the Pacific Division. They are looking to go one better than last season but it didn't start well in September.

The Oilers were three games shy from playing the maximum a team can play in the playoff format in 2023-24. The team's season ended with an agonizing defeat in the Stanley Cup finals on July 24. However, they were already back in camp and played their first preseason game less than two months in.

The start that followed was something that the team didn't expect. Edmonton dropped five of its eight preseason games and lost five of its first seven matchups in the regular season.

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."

Kris Knoblauch firm about wanting to be in a better position during the playoffs

Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch added that the team wasn't in the best of situations heading into the playoffs last season because it didn't have a home-game advantage. They are looking to do better this season by clinching the Pacific Division and keeping the home advantage throughout.

"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."

After being 10-9-2 on Nov. 24, the Oilers are now 34-17-4. After the Four Nations Face-Off, they have a tough stretch of games against top teams like the Capitals, Lightning, Panthers and Hurricanes.