This key detail completely changes how we view the Oilers...

The Edmonton Oilers have solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the National Hockey League and it's in the details that matter as head coach Mike Babcock has implemented a new style and mentality to the Oilers locker room and we are finally starting to see those results click. Welcome back to Oilers Digest. I'm your host Joseph Greco and In today's video, we're going to be doing a complete breakdown on Mike Babcock and what he brings to the Oilers, a team that has been so close to crossing that finish line and getting a Stanley Cup within the last two, three seasons, but have fallen short. And what Mike Babcock has done in the early stages of the season, despite a lot of negative feedback and reactions when he was first brought on by the Oilers organization, myself included, someone who knew what he would bring to the team in terms of on-ice results, a defensive more of a team structure, but. I definitely was someone who was maybe a little concerned about what he has done in the past in terms of off-ice decisions and antics, but so far so good for Mike Babcock in terms of his start to his tenure as an oiler. And the biggest thing that we've seen is Mike Babcock has done a great job bringing a four-line, three-defensive pairing. Structure that is doing a phenomenal job protecting leads something that in the past we've seen the Oilers kind of go back and forth and back and forth and that's why we saw so many five goal games because number one they just weren't getting the goal tending and number two they were just focused too much on always going for offense and forgot to sometimes just maintain a strong lead and as we can see here the Oilers are nine oh and oh when leading through two periods of very positive stat that I continue every video to highlight because Great teams win hockey games when it's that final 20 minutes that you need to kill it off. You need to score, keep scoring, or defend a lead, whatever it may be. You have the lead through two periods. How do you close it out? And they've continued to close it out very well so far. And when trailing, they've suffered two losses and only one win. So that is one area where, I mean, ultimately, we haven't seen them trailing much so far this season through two periods. Obviously, you do want to try and continue to try and battle back when you face adversity down after two periods. But again, it's been far and few in between. And unfortunately, the cases where they were trailing after two periods, it was cases where they were well out of the game or the goals were just a large mountain to climb. So very, very positive start for the Oilers again. Very impressive to continue finding ways to win when leading through two periods. Something that, again, not necessarily was present in the last few seasons. A team that somewhat would let the game get out of their hands in the dying moments and were not able to close out games as effectively or were sometimes always needing to battle back. So that was another thing previous years. The Oilers were always behind, needing to score three, four goals to tie. So far this season, they've been leading a lot more. And obviously, again, 11-2-2 to start the season. Starting to really pull away from the rest of the division. 24 points on the season. A very, very, very positive goal differential in that regard as well, which is something that head coach Mike Babcock, I'm sure, is a fan of pretty much outscoring their opponents night in and night out. And Leon Draisaitl, someone who earlier this weekend spoke to the media indicating that. Mike Babcock has done a great job kind of keeping everyone accountable from the stars to guys making their first game, playing their first game of the season, indicating that no matter who you are, you get called out whenever you're doing something that you're not helping the team to win. And we've seen that with Draisaitl where he kind of gets caught off on a shift and Babcock, you know, pulls him off right away or Draisaitl And McDavid are taking shorter shifts, so you see it in the stars that those guys are starting to be more accountable in their play, and that's just a trickle-down effect. Once you see the two top players on your team hold themselves more accountable and the coach hold them accountable, everyone else feels that they need to elevate their play to prove their worth to the team and buy in on the mindset of the two-star players in Draisaitl and McDavid He did say, of course, there's a little more leeway for the top guys on the team, but at the end of the day, the identity is that we play as a team We're all going to play the same way No one gets to cheat for offense. And this is a very, very encouraging sign It almost makes you wonder what the energy and message was behind Chris Knoblauch, considering we would see a little bit too long of a leash with McDavid and Draisaitl skating out there too long for shifts, getting away with a weak back check night in and night out. But it's a very good thing that the players obviously felt that they needed it. And it's a very good thing that they so far have not Really argued back against it You're seeing them continue to buy in on this mindset. And again, when the two guys buy in the rest of the team is going to continue to do so. So very encouraging signs in the early stages of the season. And when asked about the comparison between Knoblauch and Babcock Leon Draisaitl indicated obviously different coaches They both have their strengths, but he says that The attitude has completely changed in the locker room and it's a different tone. He says that he felt that that tone shift was needed because they need someone who's going to pretty much, I guess, yell at them tell them that what they're not doing is great. And at the stage of their career, I guess he feels that they understand how to play. They just need a coach where. They bring in a different mindset to the game. And again, so far, early signs showcasing to be paying out in terms of this mentality and coaching style. So the early results are the Oilers are constantly leading and constantly protecting the lead. Two things we didn't see in previous seasons. The expectations on the stars have been applied. So a lot of times you see that the talking in the offseason, that change, change, change, and change does not come. I was someone who about a week and a half ago said I wasn't a fan of McDavid, Draisaitl, playing 23, 24, 25 minutes, night in, night out In the last few games, we've seen a lot more even spread of time on ice with Nugent Hopkins and Dickinson returning to the lineup. So obviously Babcock maybe was overplaying them just due to the injuries, Which is understandable The buy-in, the buy-in, the buy-in is something that I haven't really seen from this team in a very long time. They've bought into the habits and the mentality that Babcock is bringing to the organization. And I think everyone's just really on the same page. And Matthias Ekholm really emphasizing that idea. He says that he thinks they are a very structured team and they've done a good job eliminating gray areas. He says that, you know, there's a few things that they still need to iron out, but... The whole coaching staff, they've done a very good job pinpointing the gray areas in the game and eliminating that. So even Colton Doc yesterday against the Rangers on Sunday, he said that Mike Babcock has done a great job pretty much ensuring that the team isn't cheating for offense. They are committed to their back checks and Bob Stauffer has indicated that a big message in the offseason and early in the season has been. Being better without the puck, Mike Babcock saying that it's his mission to make sure that this team continues to play better without the puck, defending because he understands that this is an offensively gifted team, especially when you look at the driving forces of the offense at McDavid and Draisaitl, two of the best offensive players in the last 10, 15 years. So Babcock understands offense will come. He just wants the team to continue to buy in defensively, understand what to do without the puck. And again, so far, so good. Can't really complain. And for guys like Ekholm and Draisaitl and Bouchard, you're seeing real adjustments in their game and you're seeing the results. I mean, Ekholm even saying that defensively, you know, He believes that in the past, you could definitely say that the team has not been the best defensively and it's been visible where the team has had those gray areas of the game and they're not really sure what to do, how to close out games or how to play positionally. And so far, he has said that he feels that it's taking a lot more of an organized approach. This year compared to previous years, which is kind of alarming because again, this has been a reoccurring thing where guys have kind of taken shots at Knobloch for maybe not making adjustments or not doing things on the fly or maybe not having the best structure to their strategies. In the first few weeks of the season, I was a little concerned because all they were doing was just praising Mike Babcock for his ideas and all this, whereas pretty much indicating Knobloch maybe never made adjustments, never really had a strategy to the game. And You know, obviously not ideal, but again, in the early stages of the season, we're seeing this idea of, you know, one band, one tune. They're all playing the same tune. They all have the same message. It starts from the top, and that's Mike Babcock indicating that you've got to be A five-man unit every time you step on the ice. You've got to play together. You've got to support one another. You've got to be better without the puck. Commit to the plays defensively. And again, the results are certainly showing because if you take a look at their defensive results in the early stages of the season, certainly undeniable, better five-on-five this season. The power play wasn't clicking in the first five, six games of the season, and they were getting by with their five-on-five play. A lot more improvements from... Bouchard, in my opinion, at 5-on-5. I thought Ekholm was someone who would take a step back this season. He's been unreal 5-on-5 defensively. McDavid, Drysdale, certainly buying in 5-on-5 defensively. And Ryan Shea has been a huge surprise for the Oilers. One of the best offseason moves. He's been a rock in that top four defense. And again, results are certainly there. If you take a look at what they're giving up to other teams in terms of high-danger shots, They are. Ninth in the league when it comes to giving up high danger chances. So finding themselves in the top 10 percentile of defense metrics is something, again, maybe in previous years, not so much there. In the first few games and sometimes throughout the season, we've seen the goaltenders maybe allow goals that they should not let in. But in the last three, four games, particularly Jari with two back-to-back shutouts, Tompkins on Sunday against the Rangers, an impressive game in that regard. A lot of that effort and that work is not necessarily the goalies. Making big saves, but rather the goalies making the saves they're supposed to because the defense is doing a great job boxing guys out and limiting the chances to just low danger or medium danger chances, which are pretty much shots from the blue line shots from the face off dot less width in the crease. So some great defensive metrics and even goaltending metrics for the Oilers. A huge 180 on what we've seen in previous years, and again, the priority right now is to be better without the puck, give up less, and again, we have been seeing that. The players are starting to see the progress. I'm someone who flagged some of the issues with the penalty kill and the defensive metrics in the early stages of the season. But we all knew new coaching staff, it would take a while to adjust. And Nugent Hopkins believed Saturday against the Islanders was their best defensive efforts. He thought they played a very solid game, and I would have to agree. And the good news is for the Oilers is this new defensive buy-in is not impacting the offense whatsoever, as Connor McDavid... He's literally putting up historic numbers. He might hit 100 points by Christmas, and he has more points. Connor McDavid has more points than six NHL teams have so far this season, and he's not the only one who's making history. Evan Bouchard becomes the first defenseman since Al McGuinness to get 25 points in the first 15 games. Sorry, not McGuinness. My apologies. My apologies. All in all, impressive start to the season on all facets. I want to throw it over to you guys. Let me know, how would you grade Mike Babcock's start as an Oiler through the first few games of the season? Is he exceeding your expectations? Do you think it's overall been positive, but there's still work to do? Certainly, I think on the penalty kill, still needs to improve. Or C, do you think you're unconvinced? Do you feel, are you believing the idea that they've just had weak opponents somehow through the first month and a half of the season? Let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section below. I hope you enjoyed the video. Give me a thumbs up if you enjoyed. Subscribe if you're new, and I'll catch you in the next video. Toodles.