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Mike Babcock met with the media after practice on Monday, discussing Nazem Kadri’s big first half, the team’s rapid improvement, the play of the blue line group, Ben Smith’s status, and more.


People are going to look at Nazem Kadri’s numbers and be impressed by him. What stands out about the changes in his game for you?

Mike Babcock: I think Naz made a lot of changes last year. One of the things that I think has helped Naz this year is being the man in the middle on the powerplay. He gets a lot of action in tight. He’s got courage in those spaces and he’s finding ways to score. That gives you his numbers. The other thing is, Nylander on that line – especially when Willy is playing real good and on the puck – gives them an extra offensive bump. But, obviously, I still think Naz is early in his journey as a player. He did a lot of work this summer. He’s got to do a ton again next summer. He’s got to keep getting more fit. The more work you do, the more you prepare professionally yourself, the more benefits you have. All you have to do is look at football and look at Tom Brady to see that.

We’re now at game 41, where are you seeing the biggest improvements?

Babcock: Let’s not get carried away here. Ottawa outchanced us, we won the game. We’ve got a lot of work to do here. I think understanding what’s expected of them, understand that we’re good enough to win every night if you play right… those things are positive. I guess our biggest improvement is understanding and expectations. We know where we’re supposed to stand, and we expect to have success. In saying that, it is game 41. I’ve been in the league a long time. Lots of things can go good and lots of things can go bad. I think it’s just real important for us to focus on our five-game segment and keep trying to win.

Do you think this team is getting used to being a winning team and learning how to win game in and game out?

Babcock: We’ve done that here of late for sure. In saying that – knock on wood here – it wasn’t that long ago that one of the teams in the league was on an eight-game winning streak and suddenly you go the next ten and you don’t win. That’s the thing about consistency. Experienced teams seem to just ride the ups and downs. My mom used to put a note on the fridge, “let your ups be longer than your downs.” There is nothing more true in the NHL than that.

I believe earlier this year you were talking about the tendency sometimes for the young kids to want to put on a show at home. Do you find this team is now finding a balance?

Babcock: No, I don’t think that. I thought we were going real good at home and then we haven’t gone as good at home and we’ve got to get that back. But, obviously, just simple, structured game, playing right, being prepared…. I think you want to get caught up in the energy of doing well and having fun and knowing you’re getting better, and I think you want to be professional with your approach. When things are going good, you better work even harder because in life they have a tendency to turn. You’ve got to just keep grinding.

Do you think you’d be able to play this many rookies and find success?

Babcock: Yeah, I don’t know. I spent a lot of time doing things in the summer on napkins and stuff like that, and you try to work all this out, and you don’t really know for sure. You don’t know who is going to be ready. So, for me to be able tell you who all is going to be on the team… I couldn’t even do that for you. I didn’t know what Zaitsev would be like. I didn’t know what kind of impact a lot of guys would have. So no, and yet once they start showing they can play in the NHL, you expect them to be good NHL players and you expect them to get better.

Has Nikita Zaitsev’s experience expedited Morgan Rielly’s growth at age 22, do you think?

Babcock: I think so, for sure. They’re real good players playing together. And yet that pair can get way better than they’ve been here this last bit, and they know it. They’re conscientious guys. They’ve got real good skill sets. They’re getting better. Just as you get to know the players, you get to know the structure of the other teams. You get to know the penalty kill, the powerplay. You’re going to get better.

Do you find there is some continuity with the pairings since Martin Marincin has been out?

Babcock: [Hunwick and Polak] do an unbelievable job on the penalty kill. They just don’t seem to get scored on very much. Gards and Carrick really get the puck going and I think really support the groups. They also get more o-zone starts than anyone else. And then the other guys get the hardest matchups each and every night. We seem to have it going not bad there. Obviously, we’d like to get Marty back and healthy. [Frank Corrado] has played now, too, so that’s a positive thing. It’s nice to have eight guys at practice. You can practice way harder, but also have numbers.

Any update on Ben Smith’s progress?

Babcock: I asked the same thing to Smitty today. I asked him if he’s ever coming back. We could obviously really use him. He’s a diligent pro and does things right. He’s skating good. I think he gets his pins out the 19th and then we’ll go from there.

How much did you know about Curtis McElhinney before he arrived here last week?

Babcock: Not much. I’m like everybody else. I can look on the internet and find out where he’s from, and do all of that kind of stuff. You ask around, too. You know he’s a pro and he’s been in the situation many, many times. I think one of the biggest things when you’re a goalie – especially the backup – if you just feel in your mind and your heart that you’re going to win, you have a good chance and the rest of the team thinks that, too. I thought he did an excellent job for us the other night. We look for more of that.

When it comes to the backup, what do you expect from that position as it relates to the team? A certain amount of points?

Babcock: It wouldn’t be bad. You don’t want to get [zero] points. That’d be awful. Let’ just say a guy plays 20 games and you get no points – tough way to make the playoffs. I just expect that you want to win every single night. They always get the worst start at least here. If you’re playing for me, you get the back to back all the time. That’s 18 games alone. That’s the toughest start. The team is not as fresh. That’s the reality.