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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. All right, welcome back, everybody. It's 4.34 in oil country. Bob Stauffer with you. Do want to mention to you the guests and orders now. Receive your certificates to Japanese Village.
It's a true celebration for the census quality ingredients and unmatched grill side experience. Book your seat at jvevington.ca. Again, as we opened up with on today's show. From ownership to management to the players, Mike Babcock is the choice, okay? They're a uniform in this, and that's that. You can think whatever you want.
You can text us, and a lot of you are, and we'll get to some of those texts a little bit later on in the Ashley Fine Forest text line at 780-451-8800. But we are going to head off to the River Cree Resort and Casino Hotline. Welcome back to the show, Frank Cervalli, for Summer's Drilling, your trusted water well experts. Since 1917. Visit summersdrilling.com to request a quote today.
Hello, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you doing, Bob? It's been a busy day. Busy day on a couple different fronts for you in Las Vegas. Obviously, I wish we were there. I wish you were in Edmonton, and I wish the Edmonton Oilers were hosting on the precipice of hosting Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final tomorrow. But this show is called Oilers Now. You heard my statement as I came in.
And out of the break, basically said from ownership to management to the players, and it is important because the players play a significant factor in this, Mike Babcock is their man. Your thoughts?
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Chapter 2: Why is Mike Babcock considered for the Oilers coaching position?
What a massive tactical error. Explain why. Well, let me put it to you this way. We have no clarity yet on Bruce Cassidy and his availability.
And I take it from the words of the deputy commissioner, Bill Daley, when he spoke about it at the press conference last week in Raleigh and said, we'll see what happens at the end of the year, meaning the end of this Stanley Cup final for the Vegas Golden Knights. And for the longest time, we've known that That was the Oilers' selection. That was their choice.
They wanted Bruce Cassidy, and Bruce Cassidy seemed to want certainly the Edmonton Oilers as well. So now we've arrived at this point where it appears, at least according to your words, that that is the choice, Mike Babcock, from ownership to management to players. And they're making this decision now. Why?
Well, they needed to go through it.
Why? Because, well, hold on a second. Hold on. I'm not done yet. So Mike Babcock is, there's only one other coaching vacancy in the NHL, and it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. Right. They're not bringing back Mike Babcock. No, they're not.
Mike Babcock is going to be there two days from now, two weeks from now, two months from now, because the Oilers are the only team that could or would hire Mike Babcock. So why? Why go through this right now? I get the idea, and you've heard me.
I've been a proponent of keeping your options open, going down a dual track of interviewing other candidates, but now saying that he's the guy and basically waiting or pending NHL and NHLPA approval. How did we go from one end of the spectrum to the other? How did we go from Bruce Cassidy to the other end of it?
And it's, look, it's a fair perspective for you to have, Frank. We don't know how long, well, I got a pretty good idea how long this has been in the works for.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of hiring Mike Babcock for the Oilers?
We would have to assume that it wasn't just today that there was a conversation with the NHL.
I talked about it on May 20th. May 20th, I talked about Mike Babcock on my show. That's how long that this has been a thing. Right. So we've known it's out there. Why do this before you have gotten an answer and finality on Bruce Cassidy?
Yeah. Well, has it occurred to you maybe the players have made, have impacted the decision? Obviously the management has. Obviously, I mean, I've shed insight to not, you know, not only did Mike Babcock speak to Daryl Gates, he met with Daryl. And... as well as Harrison Cates, as well as key players. They had all of the key components to an organization.
We've seen this in the National Football League. Josh Allen was in on the coaching decision for the Buffalo Bills franchise.
Totally different sport. Doesn't make, doesn't, there's no, it's an apples to oranges comparison. So what you're saying is the owners. Doesn't make or hold any weight with me.
How, and I guess one of the questions, how long do you wait? Like you say, yes. Do we a hundred percent know that the owners were ever going to get an opportunity to interview Cassidy?
No, but you could at least make that determination after the Stanley Cup final, which is mere days away from coming to a conclusion no matter what.
There might be some people that would suggest You need to get on and get preparing and get to work and decide what you're going to. Now, we have no idea how long this is going to take the league. We don't. And I have no idea. And I give Darren Traeger credit.
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Chapter 4: How do players influence coaching decisions in the NHL?
I have no idea, Frank, who Darren's source was. He did reach out to the NHLPA. They had, quote, unquote, no comment as to the fact that the orders were going down this path. Just like I have no idea as to who your source was when you reported that the orders had expressed looking for an opportunity to interview.
Bruce Cassidy and were denied of that as were ironically enough the Los Angeles Kings which we found out later in the day right after your report there was I believe it was John Rosen who put out reports suggesting the Kings I think he even went as far as to say they'd had discussions and of course we know that's not the case because and there might have been discussions but there were not direct discussions because the Vegas Golden Knights and Kelly McCrimmon had not allowed there to be an interview process to take place
So I guess that's the question, is do you wait for Bruce Cassidy? And you're saying that the Oilers have made a tactical error here.
Yes, because there was no need to jump into this. It was one thing to talk to Mike Babcock, to continue to interview, to take the temperature of your players and or other people in your organization. Sure, do all the due diligence you need. But the way you've presented it, and I'm just using your own words, which is saying that he's the choice, he's the guy.
Didn't need to go that far before you actually got finality on the Bruce Cassidy situation. That's my point.
And so I understand the dynamics. Okay, let me ask you a different question, Frank. Do you think that Babcock truly felt supported when the things happened in Columbus? Supported by who? Management? Ownership?
Yeah, I could tell you that Jarmo Kekulainen and the Blue Jackets gave Mike Babcock a full-throated support and approval. And it was the NHL Players Association that stepped up and said, if you want to make this a fight, we can make it a fight. We are going to contest his ability to coach in this league.
Where do you think the NHLPA... Where do you think the NHLPA is at right now knowing that the Oilers players, including some of the most important players in the league, I think it's fair to assume we're likely talking about the reigning Ted Lindsay award winner, he won it for the fifth time yesterday, that he's on board with these discussions and on board with the choice of Mike Babcock.
Bob, the guy who's never wanted to be part of it now all of a sudden is? What was he going to say? Oh, no, we're too soft. We can't handle Mike Babcock.
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Chapter 5: What are the concerns surrounding Mike Babcock's past coaching experiences?
The only reason he's been brought in is because they had to, because it wouldn't be possible to get this push through without someone like him and the other Oilers leadership group being able to vouch for them wanting Mike Babcock. If not, it would be a non-starter. They had to go to the players and bring them in because it was such a toxic departure for From Columbus.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess we'll find out what ends up ā do you envision ā I'm going to ask you this. You've got great league sources, Frank. Do you envision that Mike Babcock will be the next head coach of the Edmonton Orders?
If everything that you said is true, which I have no reason to doubt, then yes, I believe that he will become the next head coach of the Oilers because I don't see anyone standing in his way. There were no charges filed. There was obvious hints of mental manipulation. There's no alleged physical or sexual abuse. There's no other reason to withhold someone's ability to earn a living based on that.
So unless the PA decides to fight this, which I don't see happening, the league, I'm sure, appreciated that Mike Babcock was willing to get out of the way last time and resign so that it didn't become an even bigger story than it was. And by the way, he did get paid. They reached a settlement. He never coached the game, but got paid a chunk of his contract to do so and leave.
um so yes uh i'd imagine that he would then indeed become the next head coach of the edmonton oilers and i think my one overarching question is this and i understand again we've talked about this ad nauseum what the requirements were for this role someone who's experienced and has won before and we also talked about how short that list got bruce cassidy
right now contractually unavailable then you've got peter laviolette now off the board and if it wasn't la then it might have been toronto and the oilers talked to him i believe on multiple occasions so i would have called him a finalist for this job as well then you've got Craig Berube, who they interviewed. You've got Barry Trotz, who's retiring as GM in Nashville. And then Mike Babcock.
That's it. It's a short list. In terms of the timing, Frank, I'm just going to... Wait a second. Wait a second. Wait, wait, wait. Here's my question for you. Mike Babcock has not coached in the NHL since 2020.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: How does the Oilers' management plan to handle the coaching transition?
The fourth longest tenured head coach, sorry, I think it's the 10th longest head coach, 10 tenured head coach in this league has been employed since 2024. That means that nearly 30 out of 32 jobs. And in fact, I would think that an entirely new franchise came in and would have had a crack to hire him.
Almost all of these jobs have turned over except Jared Bednar and John Cooper and maybe someone else. Why is it that all of these other teams have passed on Mike Babcock except for the Columbus Blue Jays?
Oh, you're assuming that why is it they've passed. I'm going to take it the other way. I mean, we were told about a month ago by both Pierre Lebrun and Darren Drager that Mike Babcock had no interest in coaching again.
Wait, wait, wait. You actually believe that? Maybe. You bought that. You bought that disingenuous I'm retired thing.
Well, I'm going to suggest to you that the Edmonton job is fairly appealing, Frank. This makes for wonderful radio, by the way.
It's not fairly appealing. I'd call it one of the most appealing jobs in the league.
So if I'm Mike Babcock and I'm looking for a chance to get back in, this job's about as good as any.
He said yes to Columbus. He said yes to Columbus.
Well, he's at a different place now. He has a wonderful opportunity, assuming that this gets pushed through, and I envision it to be. And I'm going to give you another reason why timing matters. Because you know what? We had a situation where we had a relatively inexperienced coach, and I liked Chris Knobloch for a long time.
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Chapter 7: What factors contributed to the Oilers' decision-making process?
Now, I will tell you that Ingram did a lot of really good things during playing time, but Jerry gave them a pretty good start in game four. Jake Wallman seemingly could, I wondered at time whether or not, and I get it with Jake, a little bit in and out at times, but elevated in the playoffs for two consecutive years in a row.
I'm going to tell you right now, a guy like Mike Babcock, and I've known guys that have played for him, he is going to have identities. Instead of having 19 different line combinations in the first 40 minutes of a game, he is going to have identity for the forwards, and he's going to try to get the most out of it. And you talk about timing.
I would suggest to you that it was incumbent at the orders, get going here. And for once, after back-to-back years in the Stanley Cup final...
Yeah. That's all I'm talking about. I believe Bruce Cassidy was and should have been the number one choice and the number one. We don't know. If you wanted to argue. Wait a second. Wait. If you wanted to argue that Mike Babcock is the number two or the second choice. By all means, fill your boots. I'm not going to fight you on that.
If you want to say he's a better coach than Peter Laviolette, who's on to his seventh team, he's becoming the Mike Keenan of this generation. Sure. OK, I could buy that. None of this, none of this conversation has satisfied the point that I've made, which is why now? Why not 10 days from now? There's nothing else happening in the league. The draft didn't happen yet.
None of that happened before the Stanley Cup finals concluded.
So John Shannon, to his credit, has stated from day one he believes Cassidy will be available to interview for jobs. He is the only one of our regular insiders that believes that to be the case. The majority of the insiders are like, well, we don't know what the contract is. Maybe Kelly McCrimmon's sitting there and saying, I don't want Cassidy coaching at Edmonton or L.A.
Well, we know he's not coaching in L.A.
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Chapter 8: What can we expect from Mike Babcock if he becomes the Oilers' head coach?
right now, and it looks like he won't be coaching at Edmonton. I would rather pay Cassidy $4.5 million next year not to coach than potentially lose out to, say, Edmonton or Los Angeles in a playoff series and cost myself $6-plus million per home gate per playoff game. Yeah. We don't know.
And maybe there comes a point... The door was open when the deputy commissioner said it. The door opened when he said... He doesn't say things. He's an attorney. He doesn't say things by accident and words don't leak out of his mouth. And maybe... When that was said, that's when I said the Oilers then need to wait and see this through to the other end.
And if you're telling me that the Oilers have other intel that Bruce Cassidy was never going to happen...
then i'd say okay that makes sense to me but the fact that they arrived at this point now for no reason it's unforced it's completely unforced and i would say they they're going through their due diligence and as part of the discourse somebody allowed this out and darren draker will give darren credit because as you know we never out our sources but you give darren credit for finding it um
And again, it's my belief, knowing that this is a 100% unanimous decision here, you've got to know progressive organizations would have top players involved, at least in this.
They had to have them involved. He's coming off of being essentially removed from his post by the union. To not have them involved would have been malpractice, malfeasance.
They were involved either way. They chose him. That's the deal here. Collectively, again.
But they didn't even talk to Bruce Cassidy yet. How do you know they wouldn't have chosen him? That's my point. How do we know?
And we don't know. And, Frank, you know what's going to happen here, right? Once this gets finalized, then, of course, Vegas is done. And, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Anybody can talk to Bruce Cassidy. But do we actually believe that? Do we 100% know that Cassidy would have been available? You're saying yes.
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