Knoblauch behind bench with Gallant in COVID protocol
Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch fills in behind the Rangers' bench during a game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
LOS ANGELES – Kris Knoblauch was enjoying a day off in Hartford Sunday, when he got the call.
"We were in Utica on Saturday night, traveled home, got home about 3 in the morning, and then it was a day off,’’ Knoblauch said Monday, before he took his spot behind the bench for the Rangers in their late game against the L.A. Kings in Crypto.com Arena. "And then I got a phone call, sometime in the afternoon, saying, ‘It's looking like you're gonna travel, and you're gonna meet up with the [Rangers] team. Just pack your bags and get ready and we'll confirm it and we'll see if we can get a flight.' ’’
Knoblauch, the coach for the Rangers’ Hartford Wolf Pack farm team, needed to come join the Rangers in L.A. and serve as acting head coach Monday, after coach Gerard Gallant entered COVID-19 protocol Sunday. Knoblauch said he left Hartford about 7:30 p.m. and got into L.A. about 2:30 a.m.
Knoblauch, 43, is in his third year coaching Hartford, and this is the second time he’s had to come in and run the Rangers because of COVID. He got called up last season when then-coach David Quinn, and his entire bench coaching staff, came down with COVID-19. Knoblauch went 4-2 in his six-game stint then, including a stunning 9-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in his first game.
"It's exciting for me,’’ he said of coaching the parent Rangers. "Obviously, whether you're a player or coach, you want to be in the National Hockey League. And last year I was not sure what to expect; this year, I know a little bit what to expect. I know the players a little bit better… Hopefully the team plays as well as they did last year.’’
Under the NHL’s current guidelines, players, coaches and staff who are fully vaccinated and test positive for the coronavirus must isolate away from the team for at least five days. After that time, if they are not experiencing symptoms, they can return. So if Gallant is able to return after five days, he would end up missing two games – Monday against the Kings and Thursday in San Jose against the Sharks. If all goes well, he should be able to return for the final game of the current road trip, Saturday in Philadelphia.
Knoblauch said he spoke to Gallant Monday morning by phone, and his arrangement this year will be similar to last season, when he and Quinn would talk and Quinn would set the line combinations, defense pairs and power play and penalty kill units and map out the game plan. Gallant will do the same this time around.
"They're just communicating to me and I just try and make sure things run as smoothly as possible,’’ Knoblauch said.
This season, Knoblauch and his staff have guided the Wolf Pack to a 15-9-2-2 record in 28 games. His record overall with Hartford is 60-38-9-7.
Knoblauch said he and his staff at Hartford run systems that are very similar to the Rangers’ so that players who get called up by the parent club can fit in seamlessly, knowing what to do in given situations. The coaching staffs spend a lot of time together in training camp going over systems, so he was confident he understood everything he needed to.
He also happens to watch a lot of Ranger games on TV.
"Anytime we have a day off, we're not playing that night, I'm watching the games,’’ he said.
Knoblauch said he was "very proud’’ of the Hartford trio of Tim Gettinger, Morgan Barron and Jonny Brodzinski, who made up the fourth line for the Rangers in their 4-1 win Saturday over Anaheim.
Notes & quotes: D Ryan Lindgren was scheduled to play in his 150th career game Monday . . . Barclay Goodrow was the latest to enter COVID protocol. Artemi Panarin returned to the lineup and Alexis Lafreniere shifted from left wing to right wing on the line with Panarin and Ryan Strome… D Patrik Nemeth also returned after missing four games with a personal matter. D Nils Lundkvist was scratched. RW Anthony Greco was activated off the taxi squad, but was scratched… G Tyler Wall was added to the taxi squad.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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