Mike Knuble used to tuck his son, Cole, into bed when he was little.
“Dad, do you think I can play in the NHL?” Cole would ask before falling asleep.
“Of course,” Mike would reply, hoping like any parent that it would work out. He’d tell her that’s too far, so now have fun playing hockey and let’s see how it goes.
But Cole was determined. In elementary school, when he was asked to write a letter about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he always wrote: hockey player.
Monday night in South Philly, the child who was wearing a Flyers Jersey as a rink while learning how to skate, with whom he would later mingle with Alex Ovechkin, and who went to bed dreaming of following in his father’s footsteps as an NHLer, became just that. In the process, he and Mike became the first father-son combo to play for the Flyers.
» READ MORE. Matvei Michkov scores twice, including a power-play goal in the Flyers’ 3-2 win over the Avalanche.
With injuries to several veteran forwards, the Flyers recalled Cole from the American Hockey League’s Lehigh Valley before hosting the Colorado Avalanche. He took his rookie season by achieving his goal of no shutouts and showed the qualities he can bring to an NHL lineup in 13 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time in the Flyers’ 3-2 win, skating with fellow youngsters Denver Barkey and his. Alex Bump.
“He is a fast player, what we need,” coach Rick Tocchet said the postgame. “We need some quick players. And there were two times when the puck was inside our blue line, they were going to get it and he got it. We lack that. It was unreal. Because (if) he doesn’t come out and they keep it, who knows what happens?
Once criticized for his skating, Cole used his speed and dog-on-a-bone mentality to chase down and pressure the Avalanche, especially in the third period. His trademark high hockey IQ helped him read plays in the defensive zone and create offensive opportunities, like when he created the Bump for a quick layup in the second.
And the 22-year-old striker impressed the bench with his courage.
Standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 195 pounds, he was rocked by former Flyers linebacker Noah Juulsen in the middle circle. In the third period, he took a shot in the defensive zone, skated up the ice and veered wide left before going around veteran blueliner Brent Burns to the net. He may have had a shot, but it’s hard to tell because at this point he was facing the full force of 6-3, 218-pound Josh Manson.
“Yeah, definitely the first one,” he said when asked if the big hits were “Welcome to the NHL” moments.
“I was telling the guys I was leading the league in every game, so I got three. But yeah, I’ll take a shot. I don’t know. I’m just trying to play, so I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Big shoes to fill
Monday was Cole’s first game. He knows it will be tough to match his dad’s game results, “but I can get him on something, so we’ll see what that is,” he said with a grin Oct. 9 in Allentown.
The elder Knable played 1,068 NHL games, signing with the Flyers two days after Cole was born, and spending several seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Mike played 338 games in orange and black over two seasons, 2005-09, and 28 games in 2012-13, his final season.
“I think the short season, my oldest son Cam and Cole, met Wayne Gretzky in the hallway, and Wayne got a little confused about them; “Oh, I had so many points, and I’d have another point if your dad had just scored for me,” Knuble recalled of his former Rangers teammate.
Although the family didn’t return to Philly for Mike’s final season, opting to stay in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cole remembers things like the PECO power play, fans leaving hats outside the family’s home. Haddonfield when Mike scored a hat trick and skated Learn to Skate at ages 3 and 4 before moving on to the Flyers Training Center.
“There is definitely pressure. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t,” Cole told The Inquirer about not only being the son of a former NHLer who also spent three years with the Washington Capitals, but a former Flyer.
“Definitely, when I was drafted, I felt like I was definitely overshadowed. I feel like I’m slowly snapping out of it, but I don’t really focus on it. I know I’m my own player.
“It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. Growing up, kids were always saying things to me. “You’re only here because your father,” all that. So I definitely dealt with that, but when I was younger, I felt younger;
» READ MORE. The Flyers signed Cole Knuble, son of former NHLer Mike, to an entry-level contract
The pressure comes from all directions, including the fact that the younger Knuble hasn’t got his dad’s 6-3, 230-pound frame. But he has an inner confidence and conviction, and he knows he wasn’t drafted in 2023 as a top executive because the GM and his father were teammates. There was no goodness here.
As Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr told The Inquirer last December, Knable is “one of my favorites … So competitive, great motor, smart, plays every position.” That’s why the fourth-rounder became the fourth member of the team’s 2023 NHL draft class on Monday, six months after his junior year at Notre Dame, swooped in and joined. Matvey MichkovBarkey and Oliver Bonk make up.
“Cole’s Dad”
Mike and Cole’s mother, Megan Knuble, landed from Michigan on Monday morning. They, along with Cole’s siblings (Monday was his sister Anna’s birthday), and other family members and close friends, watched from the stands as he made his NHL debut at No. 54. Proud father Mike was spotted on the NBCSP broadcast taking pictures on his phone.
He watched his son grow up and prove people wrong, as all the doubters — whether the kids were questioning his talent or whether Cole was “pretty devastated” as he went through the first year of the draft — lit a fire.
“He was a little undersized growing up, but I think that really helped make him the player he is today,” said Mike, who is now a college scout for the Edmonton Oilers.
“And you watch him, he’s crafty and he’s got a knock all the time, right? He has a board and always plays right and the duke sticks to him. He always keeps his head up and he has great vision. I think it happened for him, as a positive, being a smaller guy because you had to hold your head up because the kids were bigger than your frame to get out. you have to be brave, and you have to know that sometimes you’re going to lose the battle of inertia and physics, right?”
Mike began coaching Cole around age 8 at the Fox Motors Hockey Club in Michigan until he moved to North Dakota to play for Fargo of the United States Hockey League. The drive home wasn’t always roses, but at the end of the day, he was just a dad.
“I wasn’t moving things around and I wasn’t mumbling. Some coaches will just get on with things. It’s like, man, this is kids’ hockey. Their development is the biggest thing. It’s not about us winning and losing all the time. when i leave the room it’s over.
“I’m back with Cole’s dad and a smile on my face.”
That smile was all over the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday. From the Nables in the crowd to the one on the ice under the sport’s brightest lights, doing it on the same rink where his father skated.
“Yeah, the fans are as loud as I remember,” Cole said. “It was so amazing to be there. And then the song “Orange and Black” brought back good memories.
Back to Philly. Back in the jersey he wore as a tike. It feels pretty full circle and always was meant to be.
Only the question remains. Mike took her to Rita’s after the game too, just like the old days.
