Babcock will coach against his former team for the first time in Toronto on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SNO, SNW, SNP, NHLN), when his current team, the Oilers, will go for a fourth straight win.
"Yeah, but I mean, this is (seven) years ago; the Beatles broke up, remember," Babcock told reporters while smiling during a press conference after the Oilers practice Friday.
The Maple Leafs hired Babcock on May 20, 2015, signing him to an eight-year contract.
Toronto finished last in a 30-team NHL with 69 points in 2015-16 and won the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Auston Matthews with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
From there, the Maple Leafs made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three consecutive seasons, including setting what at the time was a franchise record with 105 points in 2017-18, but they lost in the first round each time.
He was fired on Nov. 20, 2019, just 23 games into the 2019-20 season.
"I loved it," Babcock said of his time in Toronto. "I worked with real good people. I enjoyed the heck out of my first three years here. I worked with good hockey men. It was enjoyable. I didn't enjoy my last year and a half as much, but, you know, that's the business. But I really enjoyed my time here. We went from a situation where we were able to draft Auston and then the team got better. We made the playoffs. We set a franchise record for points. We didn't have enough success in the playoffs but that's often what happens with young teams. In the end they gave me a five-year holiday, which I really enjoyed."
Babcock is coaching in the NHL regular season for the first time since Toronto fired him.
The Oilers have won 14 of their first 20 games (14-3-3) and Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 49 points (11 goals, 38 assists), bringing his 20-game point streak into the game against the Maple Leafs.
Babcock, now 63 years old, said he's having more fun coaching the Oilers than he even thought he was going to have.
Being back in Toronto might spark some memories, but it's not something Babcock seems too concerned with, especially when it comes to how he might be received and remembered by the Maple Leafs fanbase.
"Well, I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about that," he said.
