Gritty Oilers’ Forward Loses the Fight, Wins the Room in OT Thriller

Kris Knoblauch wasn’t quick to throw his goaltenders under the bus after a 9-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, but he didn’t beat around the bush when it came to one of his struggling forwards. When asked about Trent Frederic‘s production and impact on Edmonton, Knoblauch didn’t hesitate to respond.

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“We would like more out of Trent. He isn’t happy with how he is playing. We’d like more offence but also more tenacity and physicality. He is not moving his feet as well as he can. There are a lot of guys on the team who can play better and he is one of them,” the coach said.

Frederic got the message.

Monday night, as the Oilers were trying to earn a bounce-back win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was Frederic who got the team going with a fight. Taking on the toughest guy in the NHL in Mathieu Olivier, Frederic lost the fight, but that wasn’t necessarily the point.

“Huge credit to Freddie (Frederic),” said Connor McDavid after a 5-4 overtime win. “Taking on that guy, trying to give us a spark. Can’t say enough good things about him—that was huge. Not a lot of guys take on that guy.”

“I got to give a huge shout out to Freddie, that’s a tough opponent,” said Jake Walman. “Big boy, and there are very few guys that would do that sort of thing, step up for this team.” “Credit to Freddie for getting the team going, you know that’s not an easy task to do,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.

Frederic was one of the players who spoke after Saturday’s loss and was asked about his lack of physicality. “I’m trying to check my way out of it,” he explained. He added that he’s trying to get people to fight him, but no one wants to accept a fight from a guy who only has one goal in 15 games. He said he gets it. He found a taker on Monday and paid the price for it, having to go in of repairs and miss part of the first period.

As hard as it was to believe he couldn’t find a dance partner, Frederic found one. He picked the one guy that was going to make his life difficult, but he understood the assignment and won the Oilers over for stepping up despite understanding that he was going to have a rough go of it.

The hope is that this goes a long way, both for Frederic and for the team. Like the fight, the game wasn’t pretty. Still, the Oilers found a way to come back in the third period and pull out a win. Frederic needs to find a way to let a fight (even if it was technically a loss) motivate him to play a bigger, heavier style. The Oilers need it.

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