http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Knoblauch+knew+interviewing+Bears+coaching+position+risk/6742015/story.html
By Evan Daum, edmontonjournal.com
EDMONTON - Kris Knoblauch knows that life as a hockey coach can be a gamble.
The former head coach of the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League lost his job a few weeks ago after his general manager, Jeff Chynoweth, learned that Knoblauch was set to interview for the University of Alberta Golden Bears head coach position.
“I thought for my family and my career, it just made so much sense to try and get that position at the U of A and that’s why I took a chance. I trusted some people I should’ve been more cautious about, but it was certainly a risk that I was willing to take,” Knoblauch said.
Knoblauch’s firing by Kootenay was the culmination of a Golden Bears hiring process that started in mid-April for the former Bears standout, who spent five successful seasons between 1999-2004.
“I was in the office one day and there were rumours about me going to the University of Alberta and I hadn’t contacted the university, nor had they contacted me. That day, there was a message from my secretary to call Stan Marple,” Knoblauch said of the beginning of his involvement in the Bears job search.
“I returned that call and that’s when we discussed the possibility of returning to the university as a coach.”
Knoblauch then became part of the process to find the Bears next head coach, a position that came open in late March when Marple, who spent a year as interim head coach, was reassigned to the newly minted general manager position.
“That day, when I got contacted by the university, I talked to my employer — the Kootenay Ice — about my interest in the job and they gave me a one-week window to pursue it, but this was the middle of April and the job closing date didn’t come until May 15th, so there was really no possibility for me to really pursue it in that week time frame,” Knoblauch said.
It was at that point Knoblauch began a gamble that would eventually cost him his job, despite giving the Ice the impression that he was no longer interested in returning to the U of A.
“Absolutely, I took a huge leap of faith,” Knoblauch said about pursuing the Bears job. “The coaching position with the University of Alberta meant a lot to me. It was a risk I was willing to take, because I thought it was the best thing for me.”
Knoblauch isn’t bitter about Ian Herbers being named head coach of the Bears, but the former WHL championship-winning coach is frustrated by the process, which resulted in his firing only moments before interviewing for the Alberta job.
"Certainly, there wasn’t a guarantee that the job was mine, but I was under the impression I was a very good candidate. Everything short of the job being guaranteed to me,” he said. “After this process was over, I’ve heard many names of people being kind of given the same sales pitch of applying.”
Marple, for his part, has expressed disappointment that Knoblauch lost his job, but felt there was no wrongdoing on the part of the selection committee.
"At the end of the day, I feel very bad for Kris that he lost his job over this with the Kootenay Ice, but again I don’t know what his contract entailed, or if he had the legal right to apply,” Marple said. “I do feel the process was successful in the sense that we hired the best coach that we could’ve for the position.”
Despite losing his coaching job, Knoblauch is not ready to leave the coaching ranks.
“Coaching is my passion and I truly love it, so I’ll continue that,” Knoblauch said.