Connor McDavid is fully on board with the hiring of Mike Babcock -- the Edmonton Oilers captain is all in. This is what he wants: to be pushed by a no-nonsense old-school coach who will hold even the best players accountable. 

McDavid and the rest of the Oilers' leadership group got their wish, and it will be fun... scratch that, fascinating to see how things turn out. 

McDavid spoke with TSN's Ryan Rishaug and said he thought this week's press conference to introduce the new coaches went well. "It's an exciting day for the Oilers.

He added:

“We brought Babs in to be hard on me and Leon. The top guys — that's who we want to point the finger at. All I can speak to is him being our head coach today, and we want Babs to come in and be hard on Leon and Nuge and Boosh and Ecky and Heisy, and me. We want to push those guys, and we want him lifting up everybody else.” 

If that means reduced ice time or hard conversations, so be it. McDavid said they've never had that, essentially suggesting that every other coach has backed down when it came to forcing the top guys to do the right thing; the thing that's best for the team. 

But what happens with things go sideways?

McDavid is ready for it. 

There's tough, and then there's Babcock, or at least what many of his detractors say about him.

When asked about Babcock's reputation, McDavid said he wasn't going to comment on anyone's past, but he's looking at the opportunity in front of them. In fact, one has to logically assume it's the not-so-warm and fuzzy Babcock the Oilers are intentionally hiring.

McDavid also discussed the leadership meeting with Babcock and said they did have questions for him and Babcock had questions for them. "Both sides left the meeting feeling pretty good about where things are at." He said there will be a standard set from day one and everyone is united, understanding the goal in Edmonton. "It's different, that's what I'm excited about."

They're excited about Babcock and associate coach D.J. Smith. He called their coaching group elite. This group doesn't see it the same way many people do. They want a hard-a$$.

Mark Spector also spoke with McDavid and he had an answer. 

“I know (Babcock) alluded to the fact that it's easy to say in June — and it is easy to say in June. It might be a little bit different when it's November. But we've all agreed that this is what we want. This is what we're looking for. I don't plan on having that happen to me very much. But when it does, it'll be deserved, and we'll move forward, and we'll learn from it."

The Oilers have to do something different, argued the captain. 

“The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. Babs is different. He gives us a different personality, a different approach to our group, and an approach that we’ve probably have never had."

He added, “We've tried it the same way for a really long time. Let's try it different.”

There's a logical question worth asking here: Why hasn't this leadership group found a way to push itself? Why was it necesssary to go to the extreme and bring in a guy like Babcock?

That's an interesting question that seems hard to answer. Perhaps the best person to ask is somone like Steve Yzerman. Babcock referened him during the media availability and noted that it took Scotty Bowman to come and show Yzerman a different way. His game became more well-rounded as a result and the Detroit Red Wings one three Stanley Cups. 

Maybe this is the kind of thing that requires an outside perspective. Are the stars too close to it? So close, in fact, that they can't see where their best efforts are actually hurting the team's chances of winning a championship?

It's going to ask a lot of a group that seemingly hasn't been able to find that final gear on its own. And, the organization realized former coach Kris Knoblauch wasn't going to pull it out of them. 

“Everybody in that room is going to have to sacrifice themselves. Everyone's got to take a little bit less, so everybody can take a little bit more." He added, “As some of the best players in the world, we've always taken it upon ourselves to lead the charge on the ice. We want to take everything head on, take all the accountability — take everything possible."

The Oilers believe the change, as rough as it will be at times, is the solution. It's the one thing they've not tried. They're desperate, but they might be bang on. 

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