What McDavid's praise for Cooper means for Knoblauch, Oilers

EDMONTON — Did Connor McDavid throw shade at his head coach after the Tampa game?

Or was he innocently paying respect to his Olympic coach, Jon Cooper, who no one would disagree is one of the very best in the business?

Well, all I can do is tell you what I’ve learned after 30-some years prowling through NHL dressing rooms.

One, McDavid is the face of the NHL. He knows how heavy his words are.

He weighs them and disperses them with purpose. He knew how he would be interpreted, and he repeated his praise of Cooper — just in case anyone missed it the first time.

Why?

Another tip I’d give any young hockey reporter: If you’re looking for some quotes from your team on a guy who plays for some other team, don’t ask them after that guy’s team just kicked your team’s butt.

I’ve received plenty of short, not-so-polite answers from players over the years when trying to gather quotes for a piece on some hot shot who walked into Edmonton and blew the Oilers out of their barn.

But the Oilers’ captain broke that rule, issuing unsolicited quotes about Tampa being “perfectly coached,” and “extremely well-coached” moments after a 5-2 loss on Saturday, in the midst of a playoff race.

Was it some residue of playing for Cooper on Team Canada? Undoubtedly.

Does it work when he’s not your coach anymore, and your own coach has spent the entire season trying to get the Oilers to play up to par? Not so much.

In our experience, there are certain things that aren’t spoken about in “a good dressing room.” On the record, that is.

1. Any perceived weakness your team has (eg., bad goaltending).

2. Any particular teammate whose game is below where it should be. Say only things that will build him up.

3. The coach’s decisions on lines, goalies, or anything, really. As a player once said, “The coach is always right.”

Show me a dressing room where players are gushing praise for the team that just whipped their behinds, and I’ll show you a team that doesn’t mind losing.

But clearly the Oilers room is not that. I’m in there almost every day. There are no leaks, no bad eggs, and not one player who is happy with their team game this season.

Nobody is pulling the reporter aside and denigrating a teammate.

They’re proven winners, these Oilers. Not Cup winners, but a team that’s reeled off series after series over the past five years.

McDavid has grown into an excellent captain. His room runs the right way.

But he has learned, over the years, how his words carry. So why the unsolicited love for Cooper — not once, but twice — after the Lightning win in Edmonton on Saturday?

And what does it mean when we couple it with Leon Draisaitl’s parting shots, after a 4-3 loss in Calgary that sent the Oilers stumbling into their Olympic break on a three-game losing streak?

“We’re a different team. We’re not the same team,” an exasperated Draisaitl said that night. “We’re not as good (as last season) right now. We’re not even close. We need to understand that.”

Where do the changes start, we asked him?

“It starts with the coaches,” he said. “Everybody. You're never going to win if you have four or five guys going, and it starts at the top. Our leaders can be better.”

On Saturday, eyebrows raised as McDavid gushed over Cooper.

“They have a great system, they’re perfectly coached. They all know what they’re doing all over the ice. It’s impressive. They’re a great team,” he said.

“They’re extremely well-coached, they’re extremely well-organized. They’re very rehearsed in everything they do. It’s very impressive. And when you do break them down, they have a heck of a goalie to backstop them.

“We’ve been playing together a long time,” he said of his Oilers, “and we feel like we’re somewhat rehearsed and organized. Not today, though.”

So, as Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch runs a Monday practice, then hops on the charter for a two-game road trip through Utah and Vegas this week, how do you think he is feeling?

It’s clearly a luxury, having a superstar like McDavid to send over the boards every night. But that luxury comes with a cost.

For instance: Knoblauch coaches a team that just acquired shutdown centre Jason Dickinson, yet against Tampa, Knoblauch deployed McDavid’s line against Tampa’s top unit. McDavid’s line got caved in, and one might wonder why you even acquired Dickinson if not to relieve McDavid of some defensive pressure?

Well, it’s not that simple in Edmonton.

Here, coaches don’t simply pull McDavid off the ice when the opponent’s best player hops over the boards. Todd McLellan never did it, nor did Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft or even Ken Hitchcock during his short stint.

But this season, while fellow Art Ross running mates Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon have even-strength goal differentials of plus-66 and plus-48, respectively, McDavid’s number is plus-11.

He has 116 points, and he’s plus-11 at evens. Yes, the goaltending and team defence are factors. But this has not been a stellar year defensively for McDavid.

You’ve got Dickinson. Is McDavid the guy who should be playing head-to-head with the other team’s top producer?

So, it’s a complicated space, that runway behind the Edmonton Oilers bench, where one gets an excruciatingly good view of the NHL’s 31st-best goaltending department, with an .886 save percentage at five-on-five.

There, No. 97 looks over his shoulder when he feels like he has languished on the bench for too long. No words, just a look from the greatest player on earth, two piercing eyes that inform of his readiness to be called upon.

And every once in a while, like after the Tampa game, there are a few words.

Either way, spoken or merely implied, the coach hears them.

Loud and clear.