If there was any doubt that the Edmonton Oilers are getting Classic Babcock, and not Babcock Lite, Tuesday’s media conference introducing their new head coach erased it rather quickly.
With a day to process the 35-minute question and answer session with Mike Babcock, associate coach D.J. Smith and Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, the conclusion is clear: Babcock hasn’t changed much.
Babcock Remains Defiant
He’s still the unapologetic, defiant, slightly arrogant guy who could talk his way out of a plane crash. Promise to be kinder and gentler? No chance. He sees an Oilers team in desperate need of tough love, and players who seem receptive to it, and promises to give them what they want.
They’re going to get the Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Babcock, the Detroit Red Wings Mike Babcock. From an Oilers perspective, that’s good. You don’t hire a guy famous for tearing a strip off of players and tell him he can’t tear a strip off any of your players. They wanted a bad cop and that’s who they’re getting.
Babcock apologized for nothing Tuesday, which is fine. He doesn’t owe anybody in Edmonton an apology for anything. He has a clean slate here. He didn’t take much responsibility for anything he’s done in the past, either, beyond saying he could have used a better tone and that everything he did to the long list of players who hate him as a person was done with the best intentions.
He totally dodged the Columbus incident, beyond saying nothing really objectionable happened there, he just resigned because his wife told him he should leave an unsupportive situation. That doesn’t sound like somebody who plans on turning over a new leaf and straying from the formula that made him so successful back in the day.
Stars on Notice
Every coach who has ever come to Edmonton in the 11 years of the Connor McDavid era (this is coach number six) said the team relies too much on McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and needs to be a more balanced group. And all five of the previous coaches gave in to the temptation and essentially turned the Oilers into a two-line team, while allowing the players at the top of the food chain to shuck some of their defensive responsibilities.
It wears out the top two guys and results in the bottom half of the lineup suffering from atrophy. The bottom six dies on the vine. Babcock told the room this is going to change. He plans on creating a four-line team and he plans on making sure McDavid and Draisaitl commit to playing a complete, 200-foot game and leading by example on that front.
