The Edmonton Oilers have opened the season in a way that quiets a lot of noise. An 11-3-3 start, even with back-to-back losses mixed in, is the kind of beginning that makes a lot of preseason worries look a little overblown. And for now, Mike Babcock has plenty to point to as proof the move behind the bench is working.
That’s the easy part, though.
The Oilers have been winning while dealing with several significant injuries, and that alone says something about how the team is being managed. Babcock has had the group playing organized hockey, and from the outside it looks like the players have bought into what he’s selling. He’s also handled himself well with the media, which has helped soften the reaction for plenty of Edmonton fans who were uneasy about the hire in the first place.
But this version of the story is still incomplete.
So far, the Oilers have not really had to stare down much adversity. That matters, because it’s one thing to look sharp when the wins are coming and everything is rolling.
It’s another thing entirely when the season turns messy. Every team runs into rough patches over an 84-game schedule, and Edmonton will too.
Whether it’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl going quiet for a spell, goaltending slipping, or the depth scoring disappearing, there will be a stretch where the Oilers have to fight through ugly hockey.
That’s when the real test of Babcock begins.
The concern isn’t about how he talks in public. That has always been one of his strengths, and it was a big reason he was so respected during his long run with the Detroit Red Wings.
The bigger issue has always been what happens behind closed doors, with players, when things go sideways. If the Oilers hit a rough patch and the atmosphere changes, that’s when people will learn more about whether this is a different Babcock or the same old one.
Right now, the Oilers are clearly playing the way he wants them to play. That suggests buy-in, and it suggests a team that looks well coached. But a strong start does not erase the baggage that comes with his name, and it does not answer the biggest question hanging over this season.
Maybe Babcock really has changed. Maybe he understands this is his last chance if he slips back into old habits.
That’s possible. Still, it’s too early for Oilers fans to treat the hire as a finished success story.
He has earned credit for the start. He has not earned a pass.
In Other News...
McDavid Took A Heavy Hit And Oilers Tempers Boiled Over
Connor McDavid took a heavy hit at Rogers Place and, as often happens when the Oilers captain gets roughed up, the temperature in the building rose fast. Edmonton was already in a chippy game against Anaheim, with penalties piling up and bodies finishing every play, and Evan Bouchards power-play goal late in the first period had already helped steady things on the scoreboard.
The hit on McDavid set off the kind of reaction the Oilers have been trying to channel all season, with Vasily Podkolzin jumping into the scrum and the officials sorting through the aftermath. Edmontons frustration was obvious as the physical play kept building, and the sequence left the Oilers facing the kind of discipline questions and emotional fallout that can linger well beyond one shift. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Debut New Look With One Awkward Trend Hanging Over It
The NHLs new Hometown Remix jerseys have already started making the rounds, giving all 32 teams a fresh look built around pieces of their own cities. Around the league, clubs such as Florida, Chicago, San Jose, Montreal, Pittsburgh and Columbus have already worn the design in recent games, and the early results have been rough enough to turn the rollout into a minor curiosity.
Edmonton is next up, set to unveil its version in an upcoming home game, and the timing comes with a little extra baggage attached. The first wave of Hometown Remix appearances has produced more frustration than fanfare, so the Oilers will be hoping the new threads land better in the building than they have for several of their peers. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Fans Have Every Reason To Be Furious Over This Call
A strange sequence during the Oilers-Ducks game left plenty of people in Edmonton shaking their heads, and not just because of the fight itself. Vasily Podkolzin and Drew Helleson got tangled up in an altercation that quickly turned into one of those moments where the NHLs rulebook seems to matter less than the interpretation on the ice, especially when the explanation coming back from the officials was anything but clear.
For Oilers fans, the frustration goes beyond a single whistle. The league has long wrestled with inconsistent standards on fighting and supplemental discipline, and this was another example of how murky those calls can feel in real time. The Aggressor Rule has been floated as a cleaner way to handle situations like this, but for now Edmonton is left with the same old complaint: too often, nobody seems to know exactly what the punishment should be until after the damage is done. [Read more 🡒]