‘Ridiculous’, ‘Unacceptable’: Babcock rips Oilers & Tristan Jarry after opening night loss

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
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Well, that didn't take long. Controversial new Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock let his team have it after their wild, season-opening 6-5 loss in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks. 

The Oilers' defensive and goaltending woes carried over from last year, with Tristan Jarry allowing some softies. And Babcock, while trying to maintain his composure, did not let Jarry or the team off the hook.

The Oilers set the tone by falling behind early on a shorthanded goal by the Canucks ten minutes in. They played catch-up all game long, and fell behind 5-2 midway through the third period before staging a furious comeback to at least force overtime, before ultimately losing. 

"We made poor decisions, and I mean, we gave up six tonight...the bottom line is if we want to work and want to do things right, we're going to have a lot of success. And if we want to play like that, we're going to be chasing the game. You know, I'll be honest with you, I feel fortunate we got a point," said the head coach. 

When it came to Jarry's goaltending in this one,  Babcock was pretty frank when he was asked if he needed more from him. 

"Obviously, you know, that was pretty clear. Everyone knows that, so we just might as well move on. Our part is to play way better. That was ridiculous.

"Tonight was an indication that we have serious work to do, and so we're going to just have to have a look at it tomorrow and show the players and clear it up... 

"Playing like that and getting away from what we're supposed to do is unacceptable for us. So, we got to set a better standard for ourselves."

Babcock's entire post-game media comments can be seen here.  

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