Confirmed with Link: Mike Babcock Hired as Oilers Head Coach | Presser

[Salvaged Ship]

The team sucked hard without McDrai though.

It's a chicken and egg situation. Are the top guys playing too much because the rest of the roster is dog shit? Or is the rest of the roster dog shit because they don't get enough ice time / responsibility?

Yep, agree. The other guys sucked, you can moan about overplaying your top guys but when the rest of the roster Bowman brought in was dogshit then what do you expect? Its as much on Bowman as it was on Knoblauch, and it will be the same with asshole Babs.

 

[McHelpus]

"The players asked for this"

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

I love how Babcock is literally saying he’s going to cross the line and will need to be reeled in.

The amount of times I’ve seen players repeat the same doofus mistakes or take shifts off, I actually want a coach that sometimes crosses the line. Some guys need to get woken the hell up at times

 

[Tarus]

The team sucked hard without McDrai though.

It's a chicken and egg situation. Are the top guys playing too much because the rest of the roster is dog shit? Or is the rest of the roster dog shit because they don't get enough ice time / responsibility?

Impossible to tell until they start playing games.

I'm inclined to think that Knob was scuttling the team and was making it difficult for some players with his usage. He had guys sitting on the bench for long stretches that then get asked to go out cold and play hard and they'd get stuffed as a result. We saw this with Tippett, and the players absolutely hated it then too.

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

He's going to have a short shelf life

 

[oXo Cube]

My take is Babcock will probably bring a lot of the coaching elements many of you begged for over and over under Knob but you just don't like the baggage that comes with it or the package it came in

My take is Babcock will try to implement a more balanced approach to deployment, but will abandon it very quickly when he realizes that less Draisaitl means more Frederic.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Soli destroyed BBO's thread for his own.

Will Soli get a multi-legged gift in the mail?

 

[KCC]

Once Babcock sees how poorly Jarry keeps playing maybe that will be enough for Bowman to get rid of him. lol

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Are you being intentionally obtuse?

It's about establishing new priorities, and a greater attention to detail.

Again, what does that mean? If we're talking defense we did exactly that during the two Finals runs.

He said Yzerman went from an offensive dude to a player that paid more attention to the other details of the game and then started winning cups.

Is that not what we want from McDrai?

We HAD that in 2024 and 2025. Wasn't everyone around here running Skinner out of town because we had amazing defensive metrics and he couldn't make a save?

 

[oXo Cube]

He's going to have a short shelf life

He won't, because Stan Bowman likes being employed and if he cans Babcock he might as well resign in the same press release.

 

[BobbytheBrain]

Yah, that seems clear.

I think it's more clear there was a rift between players and Knob too. Like I said to another poster who argued w/ my take that Coffey got them to 2 finals, not Knob

The everyone on the team player importance happened during Woody. That's well documented. I think the residual affect took place, and you could slowly see it disseapear the longer Knob was here. The results's from Arvy and Skinner stand out.
Now one of the big talking points is how the top guys play and their minutes. Games like NYR, Bouchard being trotted out for OT despite giving away the game, to McDrai being trotted out every third shift while some players play 6min.

I will continue to say it, Knob and his record was a mirarge, and the players are desperate to go the opposite route

 

[KCC]

He's going to have a short shelf life

100%. I don't think this is a long term thing honestly. Maybe a few years assuming it goes well enough and McDavid wants to keep playing in Edmonton.

 

[Oilers88]

Bowman called out Knoblauch's dogshit bench management last season.

Honestly Bowman has been throwing Knob under the bus at every press conference. I think Stan believes he's doing an A+ job, and Knob is the reason Frederic didn't score 40 this year.

 

[MessierII]

The team sucked hard without McDrai though.

It's a chicken and egg situation. Are the top guys playing too much because the rest of the roster is dog shit? Or is the rest of the roster dog shit because they don't get enough ice time / responsibility?

Not entirely true. Both the last two years towards the end of the year one or both big guys go down and all of a sudden the depth guys started to score more.

 

[McBooya42]

It's not that hard to sit there and say "I've made some mistakes but I've learned from them and taken steps to be better."

But he can't even manage that.

He pretty much did say that though.

 

[Paralyzer]

100%. I don't think this is a long term thing honestly. Maybe a few years assuming it goes well enough and McDavid wants to keep playing in Edmonton.

Could be that DJ Smith will take over Babcock once he's done his part IMO.

 

[BobbytheBrain]

Probably, Bowman should have gotten better players also.

Arvy was the best 5v5 player in the NHL this year

 

[belair]

Probably, Bowman should have gotten better players also.

Knoblauch had a lot of players to work with last season and he never really got anyone going on the depth lines. If he had 'better players', there's a good chance he wouldn't have even known it.

 

[oXo Cube]

He pretty much did say that though.

No he didn't. He said things like "The players in Columbus already decided to hate me before we even played a game" and "I don't think my approach is wrong very often."

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Honestly Bowman has been throwing Knob under the bus at every press conference. I think Stan believes he's doing an A+ job, and Knob is the reason Frederic didn't score 40 this year.

I think back to what Ken Holland said after the Kings' season ended, "I don't think I did anything wrong."
No doubt Bowman thinks on the exact same wavelength.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

The team sucked hard without McDrai though.

It's a chicken and egg situation. Are the top guys playing too much because the rest of the roster is dog shit? Or is the rest of the roster dog shit because they don't get enough ice time / responsibility?

Crazy…when Stan had depth they made it to the Cup final and when he got rid of depth they get bounced in Round 1

 

[Oilhawks]

He pretty much did say that though.

He didn't outright do a Canadian "sorry" but he did insinuate he was looking to continue to grow and learn as a person, which is about as much as you'll get from a guy with his ego. (And all I expected.)

 

[McBooya42]

Bowman called out Knoblauch's dogshit bench management last season.

Like we all weren't saying it too. It takes a team to win. Talking about defined roles for everyone, and getting everyone involved has been an ongoing issue. Lets move forward.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

Knowing Bowman he probably signed Babcock to an 8 year contract with an NMC. Probably the only forms he has available on his desk.

I am still in shock Bowman, with his past, is tying himself to Babcock. Talk about not giving a shit about your reputation as a human being. I know its much more than Bowman with the Babs hiring, its just amazing this organization gives zero shits about it’s reputation.

 

[Jarvi]

Mike Babcock is the exact same person and hasn't reflected on anything for a second.

Good. He was winner because of who he was, not who the internet softies think he should be.