Mike Babcock had his first on-ice practice as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers Thursday, and it was four hours of high-speed, detail-oriented skating and learning for both coach and players.
After running two sessions of about two hours each for groups of about 20 players, Babcock said of his first coaching day since his controversial departure from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, he said no lineup decisions have been made.
“My feet hurt right now,” he told a media scrum. “I want to be real careful here today. I don’t know enough to actually talk even as long as I just talked. I’m just going to keep watching and hopefully by the time a couple exhibition games are done, I’ll have a better handle on what’s going on.
“What I wanted to do is, we’re going to play without the puck. In order to play here, you’ve got to be fit and we’re going to play 12 forwards and everyone’s going to be important. I think it’s important you establish a standard for what’s accepted and everybody knows.”
Babcock, who was cleared to work for the Oilers following the league’s conclusion of an investigation into his conduct while with Columbus in 2023, signed with Edmonton this spring after the team fired Kris Knoblauch before his new three-year contract had been started.
Babcock resigned from the Blue Jackets less than three months after taking the job. At the time, his requests for personal photos from players, which he said were part of an effort to get to know them, drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.
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Babcock said Thursday if the Oilers hadn’t approached him, he would be back on his property in Ohio bow hunting for deer.
“I would say this to you. If they hadn’t come and talked to me, it’s not like I was looking for work. When I see my deer pictures in the morning, I can’t believe I’m doing this as a matter of fact.”
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He said the Oilers leadership group of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman convinced him they want to win a championship and “I’m going to do what I can to help them out.”
“I’ve talked to these guys a lot. They told me what they want. Now that’s my job, to make sure they get what they want.”
Draisaitl said the first practice under the new coach was intense and detail oriented.
“You know, he’s energetic. He wants things done a certain way, and he wants it done right,” Draisaitl said. “I think anyone in the building could hear it and probably see it. Details are great. He cares about the little things, so it was a good first day.”
Draisaitl said every coach has his own tendencies and it will take the Oilers players time to get used to Babcock’s ways.
“It takes a week for him to get used to us and us to learn the drills and whatnot,” Draisaitl said. “So, it was good. It was uptempo. It was great.”
Defenceman Ryan Shea agreed that Babcock was stressing details and speed on Day 1.
“I think that was his big message today,” said Shea who was signed to a five-year contract as a free agent this summer. “Everything was upbeat. Everything, he wanted everything quick and just the little things, like he wants everyone finishing the drill, stopping at the net, everything that it takes to be a good player and a good team.
“He was harping on to that a little bit.”
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