Mike Babcock suggested if a team isn't all-in on him and his approach, then he would have no interest in coaching it. The Edmonton Oilers seem all-in on him, even if he didn't apologize for his controversial coaching style.
While Babcock appeared somewhat contrite in his introductory press conference in Edmonton on Tuesday, the question of whether he has learned anything from his now-infamous run-ins with players over the years went largely unanswered.
There were multiple questions asking whether Babcock would apologize for his untoward actions toward some NHL players he's coached throughout his decades-long career. But Babcock did not do that.
Indeed, when he referred to himself in the third person in discussing the conversations he's had with Oilers stars, Babcock more or less skirted the issue, preferring to talk of the buy-in he got out of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman.
"Unless you're 100 percent all-in on Mike Babcock, I have no interest in coming in and being the coach," Babcock said. "Being hard on people, a lot of times, being hard is confused with telling the truth. When a kid sits at your kitchen table as one of your children, and they ask you a question, you should tell them. That's called love.
"Sometimes the truth is hard for them, no matter what happens when you coach – when you scratch people, when you sit them out, when they're at the end of your career, and you don't play them – it's hard for them, for sure. You try to do that as respectfully as you can."
Babcock could've easily said, straightforwardly, that he made mistakes in his career – including his spectacular two-month stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets that saw him resign before coaching a game – and that he was truly sorry for any pain he caused while imposing his will on his players.
Babcock didn't do that – at least, not for public consumption. And optics do matter, so that's a clear error right off the bat in Babcock's era with the Oilers.
Babcock left more questions asked than answered in his introductory press conference.
How is he going to react if Edmonton comes out of the gate losing 10 or 12 of their first 20 games? What will he do to create an environment where players aren't fearful of coming to him with sensitive personal information? What specifically did he learn when dealing with the ramifications of his actions with the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets? We didn't get answers to those questions, which aren't going away.
Babcock dancing around the questions wasn't a huge surprise. It felt like he was doing the bare minimum to answer a handful of questions, trot out some cliches and focus on the future rather than deal head-on with the past.
You might say that's human nature, and that's a fair argument. However, Babcock has been marked by indefensible actions in his old-school, no-verbal-punches-held coaching approach, and those marks won't fade away simply because he's back in a position of responsibility.
Babcock must take better ownership of his rollercoaster NHL ride, and no amount of distractions or word salads is going to take the heat off him, once and for all. Babcock made some terrible mistakes in the name of winning hockey games, and if he doesn't improve in the slightest, that might be another.
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