The Edmonton Oilers have identified Mike Babcock as the best man to lead the team out of its downward trajectory, a stunning and remarkable turn of events that illustrates how desperate and lost the organization truly is. After 11 years of wasting one of the best duos in hockey history and heading into what might be the final season of the Connor McDavid era, ownership and management are in full panic mode.
A Desperate Gamble
They look like those who hoarded toilet paper during the pandemic—knowing trouble is coming and scared. They know they need to do something, but they do not know what. So they settle on a guy with a long history of toxicity and bullying, a person reviled by a long list of former players, chided by a former boss for using mental abuse, and forced to resign from his last job before he even coached a game. A guy who has not won a playoff series since 2013 and has not coached in the NHL since 2019.
Babcock's Recent Record
Babcock won a Stanley Cup 18 years ago with a team that had five Hall of Famers on the roster. But in seven of his 10 years in Detroit, he failed to get that team past the second round. Since 2010, his playoff history is a litany of early exits: eliminated in Round 2, Round 2, Round 1, Round 2, Round 1, Round 1, missed playoffs, Round 1, Round 1, Round 1, fired, forced to resign. Out of the NHL since 2019.
In hitching their wagon to Babcock's star, the Oilers made themselves the laughingstock of the NHL for the third time in the last two months. What a mess.
Cup or Implosion
Cup or bust? More like Cup or a complete and total implosion. If this works out, if Babcock manages to turn this roster into a Stanley Cup champion, the Oilers can laugh last and get "I Told You So" etched inside their rings. But if this goes sideways, it will bring the whole thing crashing down. The Stanley Cup window will slam shut. Players' reputations will be tarnished. Jobs will be lost.
General Manager Stan Bowman and Hockey Operations boss Jeff Jackson must be tied to this decision. If Babcock goes down, they have to go down with him. You do not bring a person like that into your dressing room, fully aware of his history, and shrug your shoulders and move on if that history repeats itself.
The Apologists' Narrative
The apologists are working overtime on this one. They say Babcock is just an old-school guy, that he might be the best thing for them, that he is a winner. But there have been a hundred old-school coaches in the NHL, and none of them have Babcock's track record of toxicity. The narrative that he is a firm task master and a proven winner is contradicted by the fact that he has not won a playoff series in over a decade. The Oilers' decision is a desperate gamble that could have catastrophic results.
