Mike Babcock is set to be back behind an NHL bench.
And despite how his last stint ended in Columbus, he still plans to be tough on players as he takes over as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
"Anytime you make anybody feel uncomfortable in your life, you should take a look at yourself and you should say, 'How could I do that better?' And I think that's what you do, is as a person, is you try to always be better at what you do. The situation in Columbus, they've had a full review, and I'm thankful to the NHL and NHLPA for doing that. It didn't work out for us. We're excited about making it work here," he said during an introductory press conference.
Babcock resigned from the Blue Jackets in 2023 without having coached a game after ex-NHLer Paul Bissonnette accused him of improperly viewing players’ smartphones on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast. He has been out of the NHL ever since.
He said issues in Columbus appeared before training camp even began.
"I hadn't benched anybody, I hadn't talked to anybody, I hadn't sat anybody out, and it was evident that we weren't together as a staff right from the get-go," he said. "My wife gave me a call, and she said it's time to get out of there. I've been retired, I was pretty good at it. I got back to being retired."
Now, he's back out of retirement to lead an Oilers team that lost in the first round of the playoffs after two straight seasons falling to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Babcock met with the leadership core of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman prior to his hire and said they all approved of his hard-nosed style of coaching.
"We're all committed, all in on winning, and obviously, in that time period, we had gone through enough things and talked about enough things that they felt comfortable with the process, or I wouldn't be here. I was very clear to them, unless you're 100 per cent all in on Mike Babcock, I have no interest in being the coach," he said.
The Oilers were cleared to hire Babcock by the NHL on Thursday after the league concluded an investigation into his conduct with the Blue Jackets in 2023. The investigation was conducted at the request of the NHL Players' Association once reports of Edmonton's interest in Babcock surfaced.
Babcock, 63, previously coached parts of 16 seasons with Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto, leading the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2007-08.
"We were looking for someone that clearly had experience and a winning pedigree," general manager Stan Bowman said.
The Oilers fired Kris Knoblauch in May after losing to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs. Edmonton was coming off two straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final, falling to the Florida Panthers both times.
Babcock's coaching methods have faced criticism over the years from the likes of former players Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri and Johan Franzen. Now, he'll be tasked with leading McDavid to glory with just two years remaining on his deal with Edmonton.
"A lot of times being hard on people is confused with telling the truth. ... Sometimes the truth is hard. No matter what happens when you coach, when you scratch people, when you sit them, when they're at the end of their career and you don't play them, it's hard for them for sure. You try to do that as respectfully as you can. Why? Because you think you're a good human and that's the right thing to do. Sometimes it's not perceived that way," Babcock said.
"You're allowed to grow as a human being, you're allowed to get better and I think that's what this league is all about. ... I actually don't think my intentions are wrong that often. I think sometimes my tone is for sure and we have to work at that."
--with files from The Canadian Press
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