Are the Edmonton Oilers getting the new-head-coach surge from Babcock?

We’ve seen it time and time again, an NHL team brings in a new head coach and goes on an immediate tear.

It’s the new coach bump. But there is nothing new about it. And while there are no guarantees, it’s definitely a thing.

Teams know it. Fans know it. And you and I know it.

Just think about it. Things haven’t been going well for your team for a while now? Can’t win the big game? Nothing seems to be working right.

Let’s fire the coach, put all the blame on him and give everyone else who was part of the problem a clean slate.

All of a sudden, the pressure’s off and everyone gains a new level of focus. It doesn’t last forever, obviously. But it leads to a surge of some kind more often than not.

The latest and perhaps best example we’ve seen was the Vegas Golden Knights pulling the plug on Bruce Cassidy at perhaps the worst possible time in a season.

Except it turned out to not be the worst time, as the insertion of John Tortorella at the end of March saw the team win their next four on the in a row on the way to claiming 15 out of a possible 16 remaining points to head into playoffs with a full head of steam.

They went on to beat the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks four games to two, before sweeping the President’s Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

It came to an end in a 4-2 series loss to the Carolina Hurricanes for the Stanley Cup, but the reset was undeniable.

So, how much of this does Oilers head coach Mike Babcock think we’re seeing with is new club out of the gates this season?

“I know nothing about it,” Babcock said. “I know when you’re a first-year head coach in the NHL, your first year goes good and the second year you get fired.

“No, you can look at it place after place after place, it’s reality. The second year for lots of guys is the toughest year. Now, is it the buy-in, is it the message the same, is it that you’ve got three guys hurt.”

He’s speaking from personal experience, of course.

“I know when I went to Anaheim, my second year wasn’t as good, but (Paul) Kariya left and (Jean-Sebastian) Giguere was hurt,” said Babcock, who coached the then-Mighty Ducks to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division with a 95-point season before falling to the New Jersey Devils in the 2002-03 Stanley Cup Finals during his first season behind an NHL bench.

The next year saw 76 points and a fourth-place finish to miss playoffs entirely.

“So, what part had what part?” Babcock asked. “Was the coach not as good? I mean, maybe it was all of it together. I don’t know the answer.”

Whether the Oilers’ early success is due to simply having a new head coach, or if Babcock is laying the foundation for consistent performances and sustained progress, his players enjoying their present situation.

“I love it,” said forward Colton Dach. “He communicates well and I think I respond well with that. Good or bad conversations, it’s going to help your game.

“Doing that, he’s very detailed. He explains it very well. I think I saw some stuff in the media where they joked he was fast-paced, he talks fast, but that’s what an NHL practice is. So, you’ve got to understand it and I think he does a really good job of teaching it.”

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