One of the key storylines during the offseason was the choice by the Edmonton Oilers to hire former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock to replace Kris Knoblauch, whom they fired after the club was eliminated in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks.
Babcock is now tasked with getting the most out of the Oilers while superstar captain Connor McDavid is under contract during the next two seasons.
Having already coached some of the biggest names in the NHL during his time with multiple clubs, Babcock has also coached some of the NHL’s biggest stars while on the international stage with Team Canada, including former Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.
Mike Babcock Makes Surprising Admission About Former Boston Bruins Star Patrice Bergeron
Under Babcock as head coach of Team Canada, Bergeron has a pair of gold medal wins from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, along with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Speaking on the Jake’s Takes podcast, Babcock opened up about coaching Bergeron with Team Canada and noted just how much he learned from him.
“I coached Bergeron,” he said. “I’m thinking 04 at the World’s 2010, 2014 Olympics, 2016. Like this guy did everything right. He knew. Great man. Just knew how to do (things). They’re teaching you stuff. Like I don’t care if it’s Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, all these guys over the years that taught you a ton… I think that’s what it’s all about.”
Bergeron, who succeeded Zdeno Chara as Bruins captain, retired in 2023 following Boston’s shocking elimination in the opening round of the postseason against the divisional rival Florida Panthers.
It was also Bergeron who helped deal Babcock and the Maple Leafs several devastating blows in the postseason, including in 2018 and 2019 at TD Garden.
Patrice Bergeron Is Officially A Hall Of Famer
Bergeron, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, deserves that honor as much as anyone, in the words of his former head coach Claude Julien.
“To me, it was a no-brainer,” said Julien, who coached Bergeron from 2007-2017. “It’s got to mean a lot to him, especially on his first try, because he wasn’t a superstar, but he was a complete player. He was a coach’s dream because you could rely on him offensively in the big moments, you could rely on him defensively also in the big moments. (You could) rely on him for big face-offs.
“Every part of the game he was one of those guys that a coach could lean on when you really had to. Patrice was that player that could do it all.”
“When you talk about Hall of Famers, it’s not just about the guy that scores goals or the guy that stops every goal, it’s the guy that did everything during the game,” Julien continued.
“And not only did he do it in a great fashion, but what better athlete for your young kids to follow because Patrice, the way he handled himself off the ice, how he dealt with interviews, everything else, he really handled the whole situation of a hockey player on and off the ice as good as you could find.”
Mike Babcock Makes Surprising Admission About Former Bruins Star Patrice Bergeron