Babcock Doubles Down: Will Oilers Regret What They Asked For?

Mike Babcock didn’t walk into Rogers Place on Tuesday looking for forgiveness. He walked in there because he says he’s been asked to help deliver a Stanley Cup to this team. “When Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman tell you they want you to coach the team, it’s hard to say no,” Babcock said.

If anyone expected the man who resigned in disgrace before coaching a single game in Columbus to arrive in Edmonton with his hat in his hand, they clearly haven’t been paying attention. Babcock was unapologetic, blunt, and almost defiant — which, depending on your perspective, is either exactly what this franchise needed or a slow-motion disaster waiting to happen.

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The most telling moment came when he was asked directly whether he ever felt he crossed the line during his career. “To be honest, no,” he said. There was no carefully worded PR apology. There was little remorse for anything he was accused of doing. He sidestepped the work he might have done in the last three years to improve as a person. He came in, and he had one goal: not to avoid being Mike Babcock.

The part that a lot of Oilers fans aren’t going to like is that the Oilers not only knew, but they’ve embraced this. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman sat across from Babcock and listened to him say, “If you’re not 100% all in on Mike Babcock, I have no interest in being the coach.” With that, they were sold.

So the Oilers don’t get to be shocked if this gets hard. They chose it.

Babcock said, “…we walked through how the interaction is going to be, and how straightforward, and obviously they’re comfortable, or I wouldn’t be here. And I thought that was important to have that happen, so they can’t be suddenly uncomfortable.”

In other words, the second they think it’s too hard, he’s going to say, ‘I warned you.’

Babcock’s promise to the dozens of media members in Edmonton waiting for him to show remorse was essentially this: the stars will be pushed the hardest. The depth players will be empowered, not buried. D.J. Smith is there to tell him when he’s wrong, and Smith made clear he’s not afraid to do it. Bowman framed it as a family built on mutual trust and accountability and he expects that Babcock will keep that in mind.

But when it comes time to get to work, there are expectations that better be met.

This Is What The Oilers Wanted. There’s No Turning Back Now

There’s an honest version of this that could work. Babcock isn’t entirely wrong that being demanding or telling the truth isn’t the same as being cruel. He acknowledged — once — that his tone has sometimes been the problem, not his intentions. He wants to have fun, and he, like the Oilers, is all in on winning.

But the guardrails he described — his staff, his players, his GM — are the same kinds of guardrails that existed in Toronto and Detroit, and would have in Columbus had he made it to even one game. None of it changed him as coach, or a person. It probably won’t now. Again, the Oilers don’t really want him to change. Bringing in a watered-down version of Babcock solves nothing. The Oilers figure the good will outweigh the bad. Time will tell.

The Oilers are all in on Mike Babcock. He made sure of it before he signed. That allowed him to walk into the presser today with no feeling like he needed to apologize. He didn’t.

Next: Reading Between the Lines of the Oilers’ Biggest Decision