‘My Feet Hurt’: Babcock, Oilers Open Camp with Uptempo Practices
Babcock said he plans to start Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line while stressing speed, detail and a 12-forward approach.
- On Thursday, Head Coach Mike Babcock led his first Edmonton Oilers practice at Rogers Place, running two high-speed sessions for about 20 players focused on establishing detail-oriented standards.
- Babcock, cleared by the league following a 2023 investigation into his conduct with the Columbus Blue Jackets, signed with Edmonton this spring after the team fired Kris Knoblauch.
- Leon Draisaitl described the practice as intense and detail-oriented, noting "it takes a week for him to get used to us and us to learn the drills and whatnot." Babcock confirmed he plans to start the season with Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on the same line.
- In a surprising lineup change, veteran defenceman Mattias Ekholm skated on the bottom pair with Shakir Mukhamadullin, a shift from the Swede's usual role as a staple on the top defensive unit.
- The leadership group of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman convinced Babcock they are committed to winning a championship. He stated, "I'm going to do what I can to help them out.
20 Articles
20 Articles
GazetteXtra
Mike Babcock is back on the ice in Edmonton, and the pace left even him sore
Mike Babcock has his first on-ice practice as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. The practice on Thursday was four hours of high-speed skating and learning. Babcock emphasizes fitness and establishing a standard for the team. He was cleared to…
Ckpg Today
‘My feet hurt’: Babcock, Oilers open camp with uptempo practices
EDMONTON — Mike Babcock had his first on-ice practice as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers Thursday, and it was four hours of high-speed, detail-oriented skating and learning for both coach and players. After running two sessions of about two hours each for groups of about 20 players, Babcock said of his first coaching day since his controversial departure from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, he said no lineup decisions have been made. “My fe…
Winnipeg Free Press
'My feet hurt': Babcock, Oilers open camp with uptempo practices
EDMONTON - Mike Babcock had his first on-ice practice as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers Thursday, and it was four hours of high-speed, detail-oriented skating and learning for both coach and players.
Whoa! Veteran Oilers d-man busted down to bottom-pairing in first Babcock practice
This in from Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now, the Oilers lines and pairings at the teams’s second practice session. Of note is Mattias Ekholm essentially busted down from the top-pairing to the third pairing with Shakir Mukhamadullin. Howard-RNH-Hyman Frederic-Dickinson-Kapanen Stonehouse-Marjala-Raty Pitlick-Michaels-Griffith Tassy Harvey Walman-Murphy Ekholm-Mukhamadullin Leppanen-Cibulka Sjolund-Akey Levi Ungar More to come
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