“You're getting called out on whatever you're not doing right to help the team win, and we've asked for that,” the German said. “ We need that, we wanted that, and we're getting it, and that's a good thing. We all understand within our group that no one is allowed to do anything more than anyone else, right?"
"Our top end guys, they might have a little bit of a longer leash when it comes to offence, but at the end of the day, our identity and the way we play, we're all going to play the same way, and we're all going to have the same mindset towards that. So he's very hard on that and that's the way it should be.”
Edmonton’s overall growth has been accelerated by a number of early-season injuries, pushing others into a bigger share of the responsibility and allowing their depth options to earn their own confidence, which will only build on what they’ve established as a team through the first full month of the campaign.
Babcock picked out Colton Dach as a player who’s thriving right now thanks to some added responsibility, with the forward from Fort Saskatchewan playing with extra confidence that he’s earned himself after being put in the right position to succeed.
“No one wants injuries, but I think you might as well embrace it,” he said. “We want to win today. And so you might as well embrace what's going on in your life and then get the best out of that possible thing.
"So when I look at the whole situation, and I look at a guy like Dacher, I can just tell in practice, he's making plays he didn't make three weeks ago because he feels good about himself. I would like to tell you I helped him with his confidence. I didn't. What he did is he worked hard, and he did something right, and he earned his confidence.”
