Oilers working to hire Mike Babcock as coach, officially cleared by NHL

[614 CBJ]

I'd like to be in Columbus when the Oilers play there next year

 

[Claypool]

If we want to talk about actual abuse to Franzen, then we should tar and feather Gary Roberts for punching him in the head during the 2008 Finals after he came back from his brain bleeding. We can also through Noodles in there for assaulting him with his goalie stick in 07, and Gudas and Klinkhammer for also hitting him in the head giving him a concussion each time.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Why would he have to be cleared? for being an asshole? What even is this soft shit

 

[SomeDude]

I don’t really understand why there needs to be much negotiation. What kind of leverage does Babcock have? He’s been out of the league for a good while and had to have an investigation done to make sure he’s even allowed to coach again. Somehow Bowman will make him the highest paid coach.

 

[Deranged Oreo]

if true would win over some more Oiler fans lol

Yeah, I don’t really see either way how that’s much of a detriment. Roslovic was good for small stretches but ghosted too much and well, Henrique is easily replaceable

 

[Deranged Oreo]

I don’t really understand why there needs to be much negotiation. What kind of leverage does Babcock have? He’s been out of the league for a good while and had to have an investigation done to make sure he’s even allowed to coach again. Somehow Bowman will make him the highest paid coach.

Most salaried jobs usually have some form of back and forth

 

[JOKER 192]

I love the message this sends. Endorsed by 2 of hockey's top players to boot.

Time to man up !!!!!

 

[Deranged Oreo]

I love the message this sends. Endorsed by 2 of hockey's top players to boot.

Time to man up !!!!!

Much like Vegas with Cassidy. if
He stays between the lines, I think most will forget about this by mid season

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

The NHL is a joke man.

I love my Habs and the management but the NHL? St8ght trash.

Yup.

I think I have a feeling I know exactly the type of person Babcock is.

I'd rather have a boss/manager that straight up just yells at me than one who plays headgames and chips away at my psyche.

At least you can understand what's happening when someone berates you and go from there. A person who belittles you, don't even know it's happening.

How the f*** does this guy get another job? He seems like a psycho bully type.

 

[rielledup]

The NHL's official statement on Babcock is quite funny.

NHL Statement on Mike Babcock | NHL.com

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League today released the following statement regarding its investigation of Mike Babcock: "The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock's tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith. Our investigation has concluded that, even in...

www.nhl.com

“The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith. Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League.”

Essentially, their investigation found Babcock to be an asshole, but that can't stop them from preventing a team from hiring him.

I took that to mean that the things that babcock did were viewed differently by different people but even if you take the view of people who thought he did something wrong what he did wasn't serious enough to stop him from coaching

 

[Johnny Concussion]

Just reading Johan Franzén's story makes me so sad that the NHL felt the need to bring back Babcock. The Mule worked his ass off and when he was at his lowest Mike Babcock attacked him.

Daniel Winnik said that Mike Babcock is "the only guy that has ever made me hate hockey."

Mike Commodore obviously has his issues with this man.

Mitch Marner was bullied into bullying his teammates.

He went through his players phones in Columbus.

What are you doing Edmonton/McDavid?

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

Just reading Johan Franzén's story makes me so sad that the NHL felt the need to bring back Babcock. The Mule worked his ass off and when he was at his lowest Mike Babcock attacked him.

Daniel Winnik said that Mike Babcock is "the only guy that has ever made me hate hockey."

Mike Commodore obviously has his issues with this man.

Mitch Marner was bullied into bullying his teammates.

He went through his players phones in Columbus.

What are you doing Edmonton/McDavid?

McDavid has nothing to worry about, he'll be Babcock's favorite along with another select few. The rest should be trying to get the hell out of there ASAP, and I'm sure the guys that have played for Babs have let those Oilers players know what's coming.

I'd rather have Torts screaming in my face that I'm a useless piece of shit vs. what Babcock apparently does.

 

[River Meadow]

Why would he have to be cleared? for being an asshole? What even is this soft shit

He HuRt mUH fEeLiNgZ

 

[Beau Knows]

Why would he have to be cleared? for being an asshole? What even is this soft shit

There was apparently another situation or allegation (separate from the weird phone thing) that happened in Columbus that the NHL needed to review. The league likely dropped it in 2023 because Babcock had already agreed to step down, so they were happy to bury it.

With him returning they had to pick it back up, and it seems the NHL found nothing in that situation that was worthy of a ban from the league.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

McDavid has nothing to worry about, he'll be Babcock's favorite along with another select few. The rest should be trying to get the hell out of there ASAP, and I'm sure the guys that have played for Babs have let those Oilers players know what's coming.

I'd rather have Torts screaming in my face that I'm a useless piece of shit vs. what Babcock apparently does.

That's what I mean. McDavid is saying "I don't care if this man destroys you as long as I get my cup." McDavid was a part of the "leadership" group in the Oilers who wanted Babcock to coach them.

 

[jcs0218]

Interesting that Steve Yzerman and Doug Armstrong kept bringing Mike Babcock back to coach Team Canada, all the up to and including the 2016 World Cup.

This after all of these super horrible things were apparently going on for years.

Wouldn't Yzerman and Armstrong know if there was some kind of totally unacceptable conduct happening? Especially with Yzerman's history with the Red Wings organization (who Babcock coached for a decade)?

Is Babcock Mr. Nice Guy? No.

But none of the players who he supposedly abused and no witnesses to the supposed abuse have ever given concrete specific examples of things Babcock said/did.

The only specific examples that we know of are the Marner thing, the Blue Jackets player's phones thing, and him benching a few players here and there.

Everything else is "He is such a horrible person....but I am not going to give examples of why or how" type conjecture from players who didn't get along with him.

Again, I don't think he is the definition of Mr. Nice Guy.

But there are a lot of people on these boards thinking they have some kind of irreparable dirt on him, but are basing their conclusions on allegations from people who refuse to give concrete/specific evidence.

Mike Commodore says bad things about Babcock but won't give concrete/specific evidence?

Could it be that Mike Commodore was a crappy player who thought he was a good player and then got upset when Mike Babcock didn't share his opinion when Mike Babcock decided to bench him?

This thread about Babcock reminds me of the London 5 situation. Everyone thought they knew what happened based on a few Rick Westhead TSN articles, only to look very silly at the end when the judge of the trial basically said that the woman was full of shit and that the woman was a liar while the judge was reading the verdict.

 

[PuckFegula]

lol nhl is such a mess- best player is running the franchise but sucks at it, picks a coach with glaring issues- good work, guys. I guarantee a 4th liner is gonna pay for.. somethin, idk. Mike works to the beat of his own psychotic drum. f*** him, I can’t wait to see this shitshow implodes.

 

[Beau Knows]

The only specific examples that we know of are the Marner thing, the Blue Jackets player's phones thing, and him benching a few players here and there.

Is that not enough examples to show that he's an asshole? What more do you want?

 

[jcs0218]

Is that not enough examples to show that he's an asshole? What more do you want?

He is an asshole. Lots of bosses are assholes.

Doesn't mean they should be banned from employment.

People are getting very irritated by something that really means very little to their lives.

 

[Miami Wice]

I’m sure McDavid would trade all that though for a Cup and and an Olympic gold.

Nevermind multiple Cups and gold medals

While that is true about the trade, getting plenty of individual accolades plus adding some team accolades is what makes a player a legend and among the all-time greats.

Like Chris Kunitz has Cups plus OG, but he not legend and among all-time greats.

 

[Johnny Concussion]

He is an asshole. Lots of bosses are assholes.

Doesn't mean they should be banned from employment.

People are getting very irritated by something that really means very little to their lives.

He doesn't need to be banned. He just needs to stay unemployed. Teams have to be smart enough not to hire this f***ing loser.

 

[Beau Knows]

He is an asshole. Lots of bosses are assholes.

Doesn't mean they should be banned from employment.

People are getting very irritated by something that really means very little to their lives.

Right, and he wasn't banned which I think is the correct decision. But I think the Oilers hiring him is a huge risk they don't need to take.

 

[Freaky Styley]

McDavid has nothing to worry about, he'll be Babcock's favorite along with another select few. The rest should be trying to get the hell out of there ASAP, and I'm sure the guys that have played for Babs have let those Oilers players know what's coming.

I'd rather have Torts screaming in my face that I'm a useless piece of shit vs. what Babcock apparently does.

Torts can have his moments, especially with the media, but I don't think he's a good comparison to Babcock. I honestly think personality wise they are quite opposite.

Torts is a hard ass that demands accountability, but he's got a heart of gold. He's an old school guy that just has a hard line on the professional side of things.

From all accounts, Babcock is an egotistical bully that goes out of his way to make some people's lives miserable.

 

[RabbleMasterBlaster]

It really is incredible how badly the NHL and its franchises are managed.

Imagine paying millions of dollars to people to make decisions like this..

Because for every million in cost, they make back 4. So really, it's billionaires playing with their toys. Not sure why anyone would take any of this so seriously.

Being a fan of a sports team is generally a pretty silly concept anyways. None of this really matters. Once you realize you can spend your collective energy somewhere more productive, you'll realize the futility of professional sports anyways.

Just pull out the popcorn and watch the soap opera.

 

[Oleksiak]

McDavid has nothing to worry about, he'll be Babcock's favorite along with another select few. The rest should be trying to get the hell out of there ASAP, and I'm sure the guys that have played for Babs have let those Oilers players know what's coming.

I'd rather have Torts screaming in my face that I'm a useless piece of shit vs. what Babcock apparently does.

I don't think Babcock will appreciate McDiver's refusal to backcheck or the numerous tantrums. I'm not sure he'll be receptive to a coach telling him that he needs to start acting like a man instead of a gutless coward.