Babcock resigning as CBJ Head Coach *Mod note, post #687*

[Djp]

If it was Rick Westhead that broke this story I suspect many opinions would be different. Fact is that the 'boneheads' at Spitting Chiclets did more to protect the players than the NHLPA.

Anybody defending this act is being deliberately obtuse. This has nothing to do with 'cancel culture' and everything to do with power dynamics and privacy. When was the last time your employer asked to see through your camera roll?

Elliote Friedman has absolutely zero credibility now in my opinion. A few days ago he was willing to sweep this under the rug ("For Mike Babcock and the Blue Jackets the standard is nothing short of perfection") and now he is reporting on the inevitable and predictable demise.

The conventional hockey media and the NHLPA was willing to bury this until a couple former players, with more connections than the jock sniffing nerds that work at Sportsnet, the Athletic, TSN, extrapolated upon just how widespread this was. A couple bozos in Biz and Whitney did a better job exposing this than the people that are actually paid to pay attention to this.

remove the like/ dislike of Babcock.

from an employment perspective. I e bern on a job where a new supervisor, new person above supervisor, or other senior staff member came on board and they want to learn some stuff about you.

not deep dark skeleton/ sex link stuff but just generally some stuff about you like spouse/ SO, kids, general area you live. Any interests, sports team you are a fan of, you’re hone town.
if you were gone on leave for two weeks folks might ask about your vacation and what you did. If it was a special trip like an outside the country they might ask to see some pictures.

but asking to look in your cell phone and your email, text messages is far differemnt— even you SO asking for this is an issue.

I don’t know all the details

 

[Pancakes]

I can’t help but shake my head at how the demand for scandals has run so far past the supply that THIS is what gets people frothing nowadays. No, I don’t think you should go through someone’s phone, but I also don’t think that’s an instant firing offense.

Maybe it wouldn't be if Babcock didn't already have a history of being a huge asshole at his previous jobs.

That for me is the takeaway. That Babcock is such an asshole that he couldn't help but be a big piece of shit immediately upon being hired by the Jackets.

Why keep him if he's already showing that he hasn't changed his stripes at all? This phone stuff might seem relatively innocuous on its surface but it's yet another pattern of troubling behavior from Babcock.

He had a chance to show he had reflected and become a better man and he blew it.

 

[Beau Knows]

I can’t help but shake my head at how the demand for scandals has run so far past the supply that THIS is what gets people frothing nowadays. No, I don’t think you should go through someone’s phone, but I also don’t think that’s an instant firing offense. Frankly I don’t blame Babcock for popping smoke and leaving if the organization wasn’t going to back him up on this.

I can't disagree with you more here. I don't think we know yet, that that's exactly how it happened. But if it is, it's totally unacceptable and a fireable offense.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I can’t help but shake my head at how the demand for scandals has run so far past the supply that THIS is what gets people frothing nowadays. No, I don’t think you should go through someone’s phone, but I also don’t think that’s an instant firing offense. Frankly I don’t blame Babcock for popping smoke and leaving if the organization wasn’t going to back him up on this.

I also wonder about the idea that any time a player, especially a young player is uncomfortable that means that a line has been crossed. People these days are uncomfortable leaving their house or answering the phone, the fact that they’re uncomfortable shouldn’t really be the line of what is appropriate or inappropriate conduct. I don’t blame a player for being uncomfortable with the biggest asshole in hockey going through their phone, I get that and think that does cross the line of what’s appropriate, but I also wince at how gleefully people throw Babcock under the bus and already have the torches out for Jarmo.

What a mess this might be for CBJ’s season, especially if this continues to circle around Jarmo, Jenner, and Gaudreau. I guess Fantilli will learn that the org has his back any time he’s uncomfortable (wish my Leafs hadn’t taken that path lol), but he might also see what this sort of thing means to a season. Is this level of discomfort worth creating a season long distraction? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it’s over with Babcock being gone and this was the right call, but I’ll refer to the first line of my post when I say I doubt that.

Interesting take when ones that are so angry over this resignation are the ones that appear to be "frothing" more than anyone in this thread.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

I expected something like this to happen with Babcock at some point but I really did not see him resigning before coaching even a single preseason game. Incredible stuff.

Exactly. I had Babs making it through at least Thanksgiving, but not past Christmas.

 

[Zen Arcade]

The charitable explanation that keeps Babcock as the villain is that Babs wowed them while screwing with the kids and they never heard any different, and so were responding based on their own experience. But that has me worried if the kids felt they couldn't go to Boone.

​

I wouldn't put it past him to quickly glance at the phones of guys like Jenner and then do a deep dive on the phones of the younger players while telling them that the leaders on the team thought it wasn't a big deal. Babcock is a weird dude.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

And yet the negative stories about Torts were consistently amplified to degrees so high it was almost impossible to tell.

I mean, I'm glad that folks are finally starting to come around on Torts, but using that to justify a "and that's why you should have known all along and have only yourselves to blame" narrative towards Jackets fans is still kind of garbage.

I'm not speaking in service of any narrative. Not saying there isn't one, but I have not followed this nearly close enough to have a read on how Jackets fans have conducted themselves throughout this saga (dont even understand what you're getting at, to be honest).

I've just always thought Torts gets too much flack/people make wild assumptions about him, whereas I've never cared for Babcock.

 

[LeafGrief]

Maybe it wouldn't be if Babcock didn't already have a history of being a huge asshole at his previous jobs.

That for me is the takeaway. That Babcock is such an asshole that he couldn't help but be a big piece of shit immediately upon being hired by the Jackets.

Why keep him if he's already showing that he hasn't changed his stripes at all? This phone stuff might seem relatively innocuous on its surface but it's yet another pattern of troubling behavior from Babcock.

He had a chance to show he had reflected and become a better man and he blew it.

This isn’t someone being a big piece of shit though. This is more egregious than a faux pas, but is not evidence of the man being Satan.

I have no idea why they hired him if they weren’t going to back him for something this minor.

Most of the rest of your comment is just piling on about how much of a dbag he is, which while true, just reinforces my thought that this whole thing is due to demand for scandal and this being the most convenient.

 

[CupInSIX]

I cannot believe I defended this guy when he scratched Spezza in front of his family. Lesson well learned on my part.

What a disaster of a hire for CBJ. Every sign was there and they went for it anyways.

This also should just about do it for his NHL career. Amazing he went to the Leafs as a probable Hall of Famer and here we are less then 10 years later, re-signing in disgrace from CBJ after being fired by Toronto.

To be fair I never saw what was so disrespectful about that. The Modano scratching seemed way more petty

 

[None Shall Pass]

If I'm the new coach, the first thing I'm doing when I walk into the locker room is saying, "Alright, everyone, let me see your phones!" and then doing the biggest Fozzy Bear "WAKKA WAKKA" that ever happened.

 

[Viqsi]

I'm not speaking in service of any narrative. Not saying there isn't one, but I have not followed this nearly close enough to have a read on how Jackets fans have conducted themselves throughout this saga (dont even understand what you're getting at, to be honest).

I've just always thought Torts gets too much flack/people make wild assumptions about him, whereas I've never cared for Babcock.

That wasn't really targeted at you specifically. Just frustrated at all the folks posting their LOLs for us daring to trust our guys and conflating that with somehow trusting Babcock, particularly since several of them are the same folks who were giving us crap over Torts.

 

[francis246]

They need to strip the C from Jenner. How do you release that statement without even touching base with the players first?

Are people forgetting that Biz broke the story using Jenner’s name? The line of questioning was probably directed at him individually and not in a general sense of the team as a whole. Biz’s initial story was about how Babcock did this to the captain not other players. So that’s probably why the statement was framed the way it was initially. If the story initially broke out about him being the guy Babcock targeted why would he consult his other teammates?

 

[bandwagonesque]

We knew Babcock was a new level of trouble, but given the number of times y'all kept crying wolf about the guy who ultimately became the best coach in our history (and some of y'all still do to this day), we opted to give him a chance that most of us didn't believe he actually deserved.

It was patently obvious immediately that the situation was far more serious than the descriptions of Jenner and Gaudreau suggested. It wouldn't make any sense for young players fighting for a spot to speak up and alienate their coach simply because they were asked to share a few photos from their phone. Your alluding to Columbus fans' sense of persecution is apt because I think it does explain the fanbase's response, just not in the way you're trying to suggest.

 

[Pancakes]

This isn’t someone being a big piece of shit though. This is more egregious than a faux pas, but is not evidence of the man being Satan.

I have no idea why they hired him if they weren’t going to back him for something this minor.

Most of the rest of your comment is just piling on about how much of a dbag he is, which while true, just reinforces my thought that this whole thing is due to demand for scandal and this being the most convenient.

He was on thin ice because his past behavior merited that.

If a report like this came out about I dunno Peter Laviolette or something I don't think it would result in an immediate firing. I could be wrong.

Then again, there may be more to this story than is being publicly stated.

At the end of the day it's not hard to be professional at work and not do things that make people uncomfortable. Tons of coaches around the league manage just that. But Babcock can't help himself apparently.

 

[Chips]

It sounds like the younger guys went outside of the room first to address their problems, which is not a good sign for the team either.

Are they even together yet? The report was it happened off site and the training camp hasn’t started. Sounds like Babs was calling people and asking to meet them ahead of stuff starting and they obliged.


I was assuming Babs did something but I’m not ready to assume the worse about the player leadership

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

That wasn't really targeted at you specifically. Just frustrated at all the folks posting their LOLs for us daring to trust our guys and conflating that with somehow trusting Babcock, particularly since several of them are the same folks who were giving us crap over Torts.

Gotcha.

I feel for you all. A very solid fanbase that is being dragged through some pretty gnarly shit in the organization right now. As a Sens fan, I can relate.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Yeah…ppl called this click bait. It was for a reason.

 

[bandwagonesque]

That wasn't really targeted at you specifically. Just frustrated at all the folks posting their LOLs for us daring to trust our guys and conflating that with somehow trusting Babcock, particularly since several of them are the same folks who were giving us crap over Torts.

Again, it has nothing to do with trust. It has to do with failing to acknowledge a reasonable conclusion and choosing to believe something far less likely.

 

[Viqsi]

It was patently obvious immediately that the situation was far more serious than the descriptions of Jenner and Gaudreau suggested. It wouldn't make any sense for young players fighting for a spot to speak up and alienate their coach simply because they were asked to share a few photos from their phone. Your alluding to Columbus fans' sense of persecution is apt because I think it does explain the fanbase's response, just not in the way you're trying to suggest.

The problem is that that assumes that we trust Biz/Whit, and those guys' past record with the Jackets has been something beyond mere trash. We've only ever existed as a punchline to them at best. So the idea that they had heard something that someone else had blown out of porportion and didn't bother to follow up because "lol columbus" frankly, given their track record, made more sense than Babcock gaslighting our vets and the NHLPA.

Maybe if it was a market that Biz/Whit didn't constantly crap on when they weren't ignoring it, we'd have listened to them.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. What did Jarmo think was going to happen when he hired a guy with a long track record of inappropriate conduct?

Just stupid and unnecessary, no one thought hiring Babcock was a good decision.

Only those heavily dosing on mescaline couldn't see that Babcock was a really horrible desperation hire. Everybody in the Columbus organization who supported or approved Babcock's hiring (or even just thought that it might be a good idea with a little luck) should be handed an empty box and shown the door not later than 9:00a Monday. Fantastic opportunity to blow out the deadwood before the season starts.

 

[Chips]

''Investigation by #NHLPA left no path for Babcock to continue as coach'' can be interpreted different ways.


True. I did that when he scratched Mike Modano over a decade ago.


So he got forced to resign because of a awkward interaction?

One of the reports so far is he spent several minutes going through a(t least one) players phone.


“Awkward interactions” was a seperate ESPN journalists report quoting an agent (and sounds kinda white washed with the full quote)

 

[TheLegend]

Up until now I’ve looked at this from a neutral perspective but this changed it for me….



This indicates there was more than just a few vacation pics on a TV screen.

 

[CupofOil]

Congrats Jackets fans, really fortunate that this all came out before the season started.
What a ridiculous, out of touch hire in the first place. Now their management gets a much needed mulligan.

 

[BlueDream]

Jarmo absolutely sucks. This is completely his fault and he shouldn’t have a job.

 

[Kranix]

but given the number of times y'all kept crying wolf about the guy who ultimately became the best coach in our history (and some of y'all still do to this day), we opted to give him a chance that most of us didn't believe he actually deserved.

It's unfortunate you encountered that. I for one am not seeing this as an opportunity to shit on Columbus, the team, the fans.