{"id":252674,"date":"2026-07-13T02:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T02:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/nhl-insider-warns-oilers-stars-about-mike-babcock-not-gonna-be-afraid\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T02:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T02:13:29","slug":"nhl-insider-warns-oilers-stars-about-mike-babcock-not-gonna-be-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/nhl-insider-warns-oilers-stars-about-mike-babcock-not-gonna-be-afraid\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Insider warns Oilers stars about Mike Babcock: &#8220;Not gonna be afraid&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5190951\" data-slug-id=\"2807476\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mike Babcock isn&#8217;t expected to change his coaching style in Edmonton, and Elliotte Friedman believes the Oilers know exactly what they&#8217;re getting.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts, Friedman said Edmonton turned to Babcock because the team needed a different approach after last season.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This team was really off the rails at the end of last year; if they want to be challenged, they got a guy who&#8217;s not gonna be afraid to challenge them,&#8221; Friedman said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>The Oilers made the coaching change after moving on from Kris Knoblauch, with general manager Stan Bowman bringing in the Stanley Cup-winning coach to lead a veteran roster that includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/connor-mcdavid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Connor McDavid<\/a> and Leon Draisaitl.<\/p>\n<p>His return hasn&#8217;t been without questions, though. Babcock resigned as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/columbus-blue-jackets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Blue Jackets<\/a> head coach before coaching a game after an NHLPA investigation found he had asked players to show him photos on their personal phones during one-on-one meetings, leaving several, particularly younger players, uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>When Edmonton emerged as a possible destination earlier this year, the NHLPA asked the league to review Mike Babcock&#8217;s previous conduct before he returned. The NHL ultimately cleared him to coach, and the Oilers hired him in June 2026.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Mike Babcock says he has learned from his time away from the NHL<\/h2>\n<p>Mike Babcock addressed his departure from Columbus and said the experience made him reflect on how he approaches people. Speaking during his introductory press conference, he said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Anytime you make anybody feel uncomfortable in your life, you should take a look at yourself and you should say, &#8216;How could I do that better?'&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s what you do, is as a person, is you try to always be better at what you do. The situation in Columbus, they&#8217;ve had a full review, and I&#8217;m thankful to the NHL and NHLPA for doing that. It didn&#8217;t work out for us. We&#8217;re excited about making it work here,&#8221; Babcock added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Oilers are also bringing in one of the most successful coaches in NHL history. Babcock has a 700-418-183 regular-season record across 17 NHL seasons and ranks 10th all-time with 90 playoff wins.<\/p>\n<p>The 63-year-old is the only coach to win a Stanley Cup, two Olympic gold medals, an IIHF World Championship and a World Cup of Hockey. He also took the Anaheim Ducks to the 2003 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/stanley-cup-final\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Stanley Cup Final<\/a> before spending 10 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and led the team to eight 100-point seasons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Sonali Verma<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/news-nhl-insider-warns-oilers-stars-mike-babcock-not-gonna-afraid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Babcock isn&#8217;t expected to change his coaching style in Edmonton, and Elliotte Friedman believes the Oilers know exactly what they&#8217;re getting. Speaking on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts, Friedman said Edmonton turned to Babcock because the team needed a different approach after last season. &#8220;This team was really off the rails at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}