Feb. 3, 2005: Oilers coach takes on minor hockey team during NHL lockout

With no NHL hockey due to the 2004-05 lockout, Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish took on duties behind the bench of the Whitemud Thunder, MacTavish's son's team.

The NHL lockout began on Sept. 16, the day after the collective bargaining agreement between the players and coaches expired. It left many NHLers with nothing to do.

"At that point, I felt it gave me and provided me a unique opportunity to help out with my son's team," Craig MacTavish said.

Having played with some of the hockey world's greatest players taught some MacTavish lessons that he was able to pass on to the Whitemud Thunder.

"That was why Wayne Gretzky was so great, the play never died with him. He always found a way to protect the puck and make a play to his teammate," MacTavish told the kids.

The added attention on the team didn't seem to faze Craig's son Sean MacTavish.

"No, there's not really any extra pressure. It's just been normal for me," the younger MacTavish said.

Once the lockout ended later that year, MacTavish resumed coaching the Oilers for the 2005-06 season, which ended with the Oilers losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final.

In the video, CBC's Min Dhariwal shows Craig MacTavish in the rare set of circumstances where an NHL coach takes on an atom hockey team.