Shortly after the Edmonton Oilers made the hiring of Mike Babcock official as their new head coach on June 23, an old interview clip resurfaced.

It showed the former Detroit Red Wings captain, Henrik Zetterberg, being asked whether Babcock deserved credit for the team’s defense. This exchange happened when broadcaster Pierre McGuire asked Zetterberg whether Babcock helped him, as found in the clip posted by an X user.

"Well, I think it comes when we start in Sweden," he said. "When you start up in Sweden, you have to play good defense, as I said."

Rather than crediting the coach first, Zetterberg gave a different answer. He mentioned that the strong foundation was built through Sweden's hockey system, which was built solidly even before Babcock.

The post with the resurfaced clip claimed that Zetterberg "gave zero credit" to the new Oilers coach. Babcock has been credited with building a strong defense and with building two elite forwards in Detroit.

With the Red Wings, he won four straight Central Division titles, along with a Stanley Cup win in 2008, according to NHL.com.

When Babcock departed from Detroit for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015, Zetterberg thanked the coach for his time. And he cleared that the split was mutual.

"I want to thank Mike for the time he had here, but I think both him and us probably decided it was time,” Zettenberg said in an interview in September 2015.

During his 10 years with the organization, Babcock posted a 458-223-105 record, led the team to five first-place finishes in the Central Division, reached the Stanley Cup Final twice, and recorded eight 100-point seasons.

As the old video started to go viral, pressure is increasing for Babcock.

Oilers turn to Babcock

The Oilers have officially hired Babcock as their 19th head coach in franchise history ahead of the 2026-27 season. They brought one of the NHL's most celebrated coaches back into the league after a three-year gap. He now enters the team as a coach with a 700-418-183 regular-season record.

The record is all across parts of 17 NHL seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit, and Toronto.

Babcock's résumé is still very strong even now. He is the only coach in the sport's history to have won a Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals with Canada. Babcock also led them to the IIHF World Championship and the World Cup of Hockey, according to the Oilers' official site.

However, before this hiring, there was a huge talk about his history after he asked players to share photos from their cellphones in the Columbus Blue Jackets. The NHL reviewed his time with Columbus in 2023 and cleared Babcock to continue coaching.

The resurfaced Zetterberg clip became a part of the same discussion, as Babcock is now set to start fresh in Edmonton.

What do you think of Babcock's return to coaching? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at NHL Fan Central.

Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar