'This is what we want': Oilers' McDavid all in on Babcock as coach
EDMONTON — On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers announced their new head coach. On Wednesday, they got a new captain.
The old one never spoke like this.
Asked what it will be like if, for the first time in his NHL career, a coach sits him down for a shift or two when he’s having a bad night, McDavid ended his quote with: “It's time to have that happen in Edmonton.”
Let’s back up two weeks, to the original story of the meeting between Mike Babcock and the three Oilers leaders — McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman — that ended with the players telling GM Stan Bowman, “We want to be pushed.”
That was confirmed Wednesday in a Sportsnet.ca exclusive with McDavid, who has heard all the talk about Babcock being hard on players. So we asked McDavid about what it will feel like when it lands on his doorstep?
Here’s the full quote:
“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,” McDavid said. “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.
“It's time to have that happen in Edmonton. It’s time.”
“I’m excited about that challenge to be pushed by a coach,” he concluded, “because it's been a........
