Mike Babcock is back in Toronto, and this time he’s coming in with the Edmonton Oilers instead of behind the Maple Leafs bench.
The 63-year-old will face the team he coached for more than four seasons Saturday at Scotiabank Arena, his first game in Toronto since the Leafs fired him 23 games into the 2019-20 season. Edmonton arrives as the Pacific Division leader, while Toronto is stuck near the bottom of the Atlantic Division and trying to stop a slide that has turned ugly fast.
The Leafs were blown out 7-2 by the Oilers in Edmonton on Oct. 24, and Toronto enters this one having lost five straight on its current six-game homestand, all in regulation. The club is 8-11-2.
Babcock said Friday that, despite how things ended, he still looks back fondly on his run in Toronto.
“I loved it. I worked with real good people.
I enjoyed the heck out of my first three years, worked with good hockey men. I didn’t enjoy my last year and a half as much.
But that’s the business,” Babcock explained. “I really enjoyed my time here.
We went to a situation where we were able to draft Auston [Matthews]. The team got better.
We made the playoffs and set a franchise record for points. We didn’t have enough success in the playoffs but that is often what happens with young teams.
In the end they gave me a five-year holiday, which I really enjoyed.”
Babcock’s Toronto tenure came after he had already built a heavyweight coaching résumé in Detroit, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2008, and with Canada, where he earned Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014. That pedigree helped make him one of the NHL’s most sought-after coaches, and in May of 2015 the Leafs handed him an eight-year, $50 million contract that made him the highest-paid coach in league history at the time.
The early going in Toronto was rough, but the picture changed with the arrival of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and sophomore William Nylander. The Leafs reached the playoffs in each of Babcock’s next three seasons, though each run ended in the opening round.
During that stretch, Lou Lamoriello handled the general manager role for Babcock’s first three seasons under team president Brendan Shanahan, before Kyle Dubas took over ahead of the 2018-19 campaign. Dubas’ first year brought another strong regular season, but the Leafs again fell short, losing Game 7 to the Boston Bruins by a 5-1 score.
Babcock’s record in Toronto finished at 173-133-45 in the regular season, with an 8-12 playoff mark.
Now he’s back on the other side, coaching an Oilers team that has plenty of star power and a real shot at ending Canada’s Stanley Cup drought, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl driving the charge. Babcock said he’s enjoying this stop more than he expected.
“I didn’t know I would have this much fun doing it [coaching the Oilers]. It’s been great.
Lots of laughs and enjoying the guys,” said Babcock. “We have a really good leadership group.
We got fun people. We got good pros.
They have fun and I’m having fun. It’s been good.”
McDavid has been just as effusive about the atmosphere around the team. The 29-year-old is on a 200-point pace, with 11 goals and 38 assists, and has recorded at least one point in all 20 games this season.
“It’s been really good. The coaching staff brings a lot of juice.
It’s been great. Even a practice like today you can feel the energy out there on the ice,” McDavid said Friday.
“I feel at times we were missing that a little bit last year. Brings a lot of juice - him and all the coaching staff - and it rubs off on the players.
Definitely good feeling.”
McDavid also said Babcock has quickly established expectations in Edmonton.
“He’s come in and set a standard here that we strive to meet every day. When we don’t we hear about it.
That’s what we want. He’s been great honestly.
I can’t say anything else. He seems to care for the people around him which is important,” he said.
For McDavid, a Toronto native, Saturday night in his hometown always carries a little extra buzz.
“Obviously for us it’s an important game. We have a lot of Toronto guys here.
This is a hometown game for a lot of guys and we want to make sure it’s a good one. Saturday night in Toronto.
It’s really fun. Something that everyone looks forward to,” said McDavid.
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