Mr. Ingram taught a young Kris Knoblauch, now Knoblauch coaches his son Connor<\/p>\n
While Kris Knoblauch<\/a> acts as the teacher for this Edmonton Oilers<\/a> team, it\u2019s Connor Ingram\u2019s dad who taught the coach a thing or two back in the day.<\/p>\n Imperial, Saskatchewan, some 679 kilometres away from Rogers Place, is a town northwest of Regina that fans may already know as the hometown of Knoblauch.\u00a0<\/p>\n But now, with Connor Ingram up with the Oilers, the two most well-known natives of Imperial, almost 20 years apart in age, have joined forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n How was the bar in Imperial on Sunday?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a while since I was in that watering hole,\u201d said Knoblauch post-game. \u201cI believe it\u2019s just called the Imperial Hotel. Hopefully they had the game on and they were cheering.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s been trials and tribulations for Ingram<\/a>, who\u2019s battled his way back for a new opportunity with the Oilers organization, and is rebuilding his game. While his numbers in Bakersfield haven\u2019t flown off the page, his performance on Sunday could give fans renewed confidence in the team\u2019s goaltending.\u00a0By necessity, Ingram stepped up for 28 saves in his first start since Feb. 22 to earn the 4-3 win<\/a> over the Vegas Golden Knights, with his family ties to Knoblauch six and a half hours away.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[My dad] was a high school teacher,\u201d Ingram told reporters afterwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s right \u2013 Ingram\u2019s dad taught a young Kris Knoblauch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI knew the family very well,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cConnor was probably the only one I didn\u2019t know just because he was the youngest of the family. <\/p>\n \u201cHis mom and dad worked for the school. Mr. Ingram was our seventh-grade homeroom teacher, was my football coach, track and field coach, volleyball coach, you name it.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the family very well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Crowded creaseWith the injury to Tristan Jarry<\/a> keeping him sidelined for the next couple of weeks, Calvin Pickard<\/a> and Ingram are the tandem through Christmas and New Years for an Oilers team learning how to endure this season.\u00a0Despite all their injuries and the adversity they\u2019ve faced, the Oilers sit just two points back of the Anaheim Ducks for tops in the Pacific Division<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But at the end of the day, it\u2019s a children\u2019s game they get paid adult money to play \u2013 it\u2019s not real life. Ingram has battled through the real-world struggles losing his mother, and has persevered to restore his dream of playing in the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been dark days\u2026If you surround yourself in life with good people, when you need them, they\u2019re going to be there,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cAnd I think when you go through struggles, you find out who the people that really are around, and those are the people you want to keep around.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to play in the NHL. Like I said before, you don\u2019t take any day for granted. Every day you\u2019re here is a good day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew he was a quality goaltender\u201d<\/p>\n The Oilers appeared to be cruising ahead 4-0 in the second period in their sixth game in nine days. But then the Golden Knights started to claw back, forcing some big stops from Ingram, and some good defensive plays by Darnell Nurse and Spencer Stastney at the tail end to ensure the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n Knoblauch admired his goaltender\u2019s play at the end of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe hasn\u2019t played an NHL game for almost a year,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cHe started off in Bakersfield and maybe the stats aren\u2019t ideal, but I think he was under a lot of difficult circumstances there. <\/p>\n \u201cWe knew that he was a quality goaltender.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHis game is really calming. He\u2019s square to the puck, minimal movement. Tonight, I thought he played really well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n