Babcock’s Exit
Absolutely one of the stranger episodes in modern NHL history. And there have been a few.
Mike Babcock’s professional coaching career ended with an ugly thud this week. He resigned as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, but let’s be honest. He was pushed. Pushed by embarrassed GM Jarmo Kekalainen and team president John Davidson after both rubber-stamped his hiring earlier this summer after a “thorough” vetting process. Got to go through the private phones of a few players, but never got to coach any of them in even a practice, let alone a game.
Comparisons? The only one that comes to mind was back in 2006 when Neil Smith, a Stanley Cup champion with the New York Rangers, was hired and fired by the crosstown New York Islanders in a period of less than six weeks. Back then, the issue was control, and who wielded it in the Isles front office. Owner Charles Wang - remember him? - decided he wasn’t prepared to cede the power Smith wanted, and so gave him the boot in favour of backup goalie Garth Snow.
Babcock’s arrival and departure was obviously a different business, but no less shocking. Shocking that he apparently learned nothing during his exile from the ranks of highly paid NHL coaches. It would never cross my mind to ask an employee to go through their private cell phone, but then again, I’ve never won a Stanley Cup like Babcock. So apparently we think differently. Or at least we have different thoughts on what our authority allows. You might have thought Babcock would have walked the straightest of possible lines at least for a year, but he didn’t, and now his career is over. Unless the Lethbridge Hurricanes decide he’d be a perfect hiring alongside Bill Peters.
This crazy story still leaves lots of unanswered questions. Like why did Boone Jenner issue a statement in Babcock’s defence, and how can he continue as the team’s captain? Paul Bissonnette and Spittin’ Chiclets broke the story, and will the podcast now become a front line source for NHL news? Or were they already? Why wasn’t Kekalainen fired for such an egregious screwup? And is it any wonder why few players, Johnny Gaudreau aside, seem to want to play for that franchise?
The media part of this is fascinating. North American sports departments have been gutted, and there are few strong, critical voices of the NHL or NHL teams anymore. Clubs employ their own writers and broadcasters, as does the league. Newspaper writers also work for rightsholders (as I did with the Toronto Star and Sportsnet) and reporters - most, not all - seem to have gone from being loud voices challenging the status quo to proponents of the league, it’s outdoor games and expansions, it’s advertising on jerseys, and of course the Bettman administration, which rarely gets challenged despite how stale and unimaginative it has become. Bissonnette et al, however, are another beast entirely. I don’t pretend to know Spittin’ Chiclets well, but the Babcock episode certainly lends an authenticity to their work. While others were publishing pretty sanitized stories of Babcock’s return to the NHL, only Spittin’ Chiclets was willing to go hard with a very controversial story.
I first met Babcock back at the 1997 world junior championships, and from there watched him climb the ranks until he was considered the best of all the NHL coaches. The bidding war between Toronto and Buffalo when he became a free agent was fierce, and the Sabres cried foul when he picked the Leafs. His departure from Toronto was weird, and still has never really been fully explained, and now this. This was his second chance, one that some thought he didn’t deserve. But now that’s gone, and unless Donald Trump or Lauren Boebert buy an NHL team, it seems almost certain Babcock is too toxic for any club owner. That’s a shame, but he brought it on himself. Maybe absolute power corrupts absolutely, and maybe Babcock believed - despite his Toronto experience - that his profession, which for decades allowed coaches to get away with pretty much anything as long as they won hockey games, has changed. Next time you wonder why a coach doesn’t bench a star player, remember that. Remember who holds the power now.