Mike Babcock met with the media after practice on Wednesday, discussing the team’s shootout struggles, lost leads, the decision to part ways with Peter Holland, and more.
Are you enjoying, for lack of a better term, the rhythm of a game every second day here? It’s practice – game, practice – game.
Mike Babcock: I mean, obviously, it’s great to play. It’s way more fun to win. Your group would have 10x more energy today if you had found a way to win the game last night. But we’re doing lots of good things and we’re trying to get better each and every day and get ready for tomorrow. It’s a big game for us tomorrow. We were fortunate last night with the way the league went. And now we go from here.
In your time with the shootout, has your approach changed with how you view it?
Babcock: It’s way more important suddenly. Didn’t matter last year. Weren’t in the mix. Didn’t matter when you had so many points. You got your point and whatever. For your life, it’s got to become a speciality. We could’ve come out and worked on it today, but we talked about that. We thought that would be a negative thing today, so then we’ve got to find more time to work on it. There are breakaways all the time, but it’s not the same thing. Goalies face breakaways in games and shooters face breakaways in games, and it’s no big deal. Suddenly it’s the shootout and it’s a different deal. What we’re doing isn’t working. We’ve got to fix it.
How is Hyman?
Babcock: Oh, he’s fine. He wanted to practice today and they wouldn’t let him.
Do you get a sense when you see some of those third-period leads slip away that maybe the team is worried about making mistakes, especially against good teams?
Babcock: Well, I think initially you don’t think like that. When it goes bad, it’s like anything in life. If you do something and it doesn’t go very good, the next time you have momentary doubt. Push through it. Suck it up and push through it, and let’s get going. We walked through that today. We didn’t talk about scoring chances as much. We just talked about the activities around each night.
I’ve got it written down right here. In the third, we had six around their net. They had 12 around ours. Any way you look at it that means you’re being a little more careful. Tight and tentative never got you anywhere in life. When you get in your car, normally what you do is you don’t put one foot on the break and one foot on the gas. The long skinny one on the right – you just push it down and the car goes better.
How long has it been since you’ve become aware that there could be players from Arizona that can make an impact like Auston?
Babcock: I lived in Anaheim and my son played hockey. We played those teams, so you’re pretty aware. It’s the same thing with California. There are lots of places. I lived in Michigan a long time. There are lots of places in the US that have good hockey. Obviously, just population driven alone, eventually one day they should be a dominant hockey power. They probably think they are already, but… anyone of those hockey hotbeds, where they have NHL players that have stayed and helped work and they have lots of rinks, there is an opportunity for players to develop.
Frederik Andersen talked about turning the page after the Tampa Bay game. What improvement have you seen most of all with him lately?
Babcock: I don’t remember Tampa at all, so it must not have gone good? Okay. We think Andie is a real good goalie. At the start, he was injured. He missed the World Cup. He came in here. I wasn’t overly shocked. The other thing that happens in this league – there are lots of players that earn a much different salary. No one knew what you made before and suddenly people know what you make. You establish yourself with a bigger salary. No one really cares but you because you want to earn that salary and you put extra pressure on yourself. To come to a place where they have NHL media every day and they ask you all these questions, you get in your own way. I think he’s gotten through that obviously.
Two assists for Peter Holland last night. Just a situation where…
Babcock: Well, it’s good for him. We’re playing him next so I watched. We went through it today. Holly was a good player for us. He did lots of good things. It didn’t work here for him. There are lots of players in the league when you look at it who are in a situation and they go somewhere else and they get a new opportunity. You want everyone to do well, period. If it’s not working here and they’re not finding a way to help themselves or to grow as a player, or to help you, it’s important that they move on. When they move on, you’re not cheering against them at all when they do well. Except when they play you. How’s that?
Do you get a sense of how much Auston means for the Arizona hockey community and the torch that he’s carrying for a lot of young kids down there?
Babcock: You know, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about it, to be honest with you. But what I would say to anyone who is a good young player in the game who is a really good human being — who has a chance to be a special player — has an obligation to himself, to his family, to his franchise, and to all the fans. The reason we all – you people included – make a living in this game is because of the fans. It’s important to distinguish yourself in that way. As far as me going to Arizona and checking it out, I haven’t done that. I don’t know much about that part.
