BLOG: Babcock's detailed approach on display early on in Camp

EDMONTON, AB – “A lot of new ideas, and we’ll play fast,” Zach Hyman said.

While plenty of details are still fluid as Head Coach Mike Babcock works through the first few days of Training Camp this week, his message to the Oilers' players about how he wants them to play this season appears set in stone: speed is key.

“I think the theme, I'm sure you guys [the media] have seen from watching, is that everything is fast,” Hyman added. “We're working really fast. Pretty low-event scrimmage. There's not much space out there, so it’s been good.”

Hyman & the Oilers ramped up the intensity in a full-team scrimmage on Friday, where the quick speed and lack of space available for players in the competitive 25-minute intrasquad exhibition signalled that the gaps are tightening and the message is getting through early in Training Camp in advance of Opening Night on Sept. 29.

Babcock has been setting the standard for what’s expected of his team early on, driving home the important details and emphasizing the players’ need to find roles within a new system to give each player responsibility and ownership in the lineup.

Preaching a rigid but fast attacking style of play is at the top of Babcock's to-do list, and doing it over a shortened Training Camp & Preseason is a larger task but one he's ready to take on with the Oilers.

"To have great detail. They've got to still play. They've got to understand," he said. "So we were kind of in the mix today. Yesterday, we had more tempo. Today we're standing on new groins and hip flexors, so I just knew that tomorrow we'll go again.  So just trying to figure that out, not get anyone hurt and try to get better.

The 63-year-old took a bird's-eye view of Friday's scrimmage and was already putting some of those observations to work in the afternoon's later session, focusing on more one-on-one conversations with players while things like lines, chemistry, and others play themselves out in Camp.

"I just watched the guys for individual stuff," he said. "Made a few notes on some guys to talk to them about their game a little bit, but I try to be real patient on making any judgments on any players.  You just watch as it goes and try to catch them doing it right as much as you can.

That approach has been on display since the start of Training Camp, with a quick huddle on the ice to explain the drill quickly breaking up into the correct formation and execution – only if there isn't something Babcock sees that needs changing.

Hyman, who played under Babcock with the Maple Leafs in 2015, said he’s familiar with how the coach communicates and runs practices, using drills centred around that day’s message while not hesitating to blow plays down to correct mistakes.

The 63-year-old has different ways of getting his message across, Hyman said, and he does it to be as transparent and direct as possible with his players to make sure the little details are managed at all times.

"Yeah, it happens fast," Hyman said. "He's a great orator, so he's able to get his point across just by speaking. Not a lot of work on the board. He gets everybody together really quickly, explains the drill, and then you do it. If you don't do it right, he'll stop it, walk you through it, and then you can see it.

"There are different ways that you can learn what you're doing, whether it's him speaking, whether it's a walkthrough, whether it's video in the locker room. The theme of the days are pretty clear, and the drills resemble what we're working on."