Mike Babcock and Connor McDavid rolling into Toronto for a Saturday night game against the Maple Leafs is almost enough electricity to overload the entire system.
The best player in the world, off to the best start of his career, and the former Leafs coach back in Scotiabank Arena for the first time since his controversial hiring in Edmonton — is as good as it gets on an NHL marquee.
“It doesn’t matter how many times I come here, it’s always a special building to me,” said the Oilers captain, who brings a 20-game point streak into Saturday while boasting the second-best plus-minus in the league (his plus 17 last year was T56 on the strength of 138 points).
“I was a Leafs fan growing up as a kid. This building obviously means a lot to me. It means more, of course.”
If there is going to be a big-stage vibe check a quarter of the way into what was thought to be a high-risk situation, it is this: McDavid and the Oilers arrive in Toronto at 14-3-3, playing the exact kind of hockey they wanted to be playing 20 games into the Mike Babcock Experience.
“He’s come in and set a standard here that we strive to meet every day and when we don’t we hear about it,” said McDavid. “That’s what we want. He’s come in and been great. He seems to care for the people around him, which is obviously important.”
There is a tangible buzz around the team this year. Part of that comes from getting a chance to rest and re-energize after two long playoff runs and short summers. Physically and emotionally, the tanks are full. But they Babcock and the staff are cultivating that enthusiasm even more.
“The coaching staff brings a lot of juice and it rubs off on the players,” said McDavid. “Even at practice like today you could feel the energy out there on the ice. I feel that at times we were missing that last year.”
The Oilers went to two Stanley Cup Finals, so they knew how to play a little defence and they knew how to win a tight, low-scoring game. The narrative that they are like turtles on their backs when the situation calls for a 2-1 win are greatly exaggerated.
But this year seems different. There is a sense of pride in what they are doing and they are seeing immediate tangible results, which makes the buy in that much more complete.
And if Babcock’s reputation was for intimidation and mind games, they aren’t seeing any of that now.
“Our record speaks for itself in the hockey department, but on the personal department he’s been phenomenal,” said Oilers winger Zach Hyman, who is in his second tour of duty with Babcock, having served under him for five seasons in Toronto.
“Guys have really enjoyed being around him. He’s brought new life into the locker room.”
Babcock is not one to wax poetic on his personal feelings or spend much time dwelling on the past. So the Toronto media people hoping for a trip down memory lane, with some navel gazing thrown in for good measure, didn’t get it.
Instead, Babcock echoed what his players are saying about the here and now.
“I’m very thankful for those guys coming to see me,” he said of the leadership group. “I didn’t know I was going to have this much fun doing it. It’s been great.”
So far, so good. The Oilers are winning, developing better habits and getting some of the best goaltending in the league.
Life is good.
That the Leafs are on a five-game losing streak (all of them at home) only makes it better. The sky appears to be falling in Toronto, so this is a perfect time for the Oilers to be visiting. The Leafs embarrassed the Oilers 7-2 late last month and this would be a perfect time to return the favour.
“It’s an important game, we have a lot of Toronto guys,” said McDavid. “This is a hometown game for a lot of guys and we want to make sure it’s a good one.”
The second time around with Babcock gives Hyman another chance to repay his coach for the faith he showed in him 10 years ago. While a young Hyman faced many critics in Toronto, Babcock saw a potential that the future 50 goal scorer would realize in Edmonton.
“You always have to have somebody who believes in you, especially early on in your career when you’re trying to make a name for yourself,” said Hyman.
“He was somebody who believed in me right from the start. There were a lot of doubters in Toronto early on in my career … but he was somebody who always had the confidence to put me on the ice and trust my game.
“It’s really fun having a second stint with him being older now. I was 24 when we started and now I’m 34. Everybody knows how highly I think of him and it’s been a great start here in Edmonton.”
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