This is not a hot take, and I don’t even think it should be controversial. Mike Babcock has lost the right to be an NHL coach. His actions, spread out over multiple teams, are why he shouldn’t even be mentioned as a possibility. If you are a believer in second chances, Babcock had his second chance in 2023 when Columbus hired him on July 1st, 2023. They hired him after knowing about the Mitch Marner story from Toronto. Babcock didn’t even make it to training camp before he resigned on September 17. That was his second chance. The NHL doesn’t need him and the Oilers surely don’t need his antics.

He resigned because once again, his thirst for control and the need to show players he had all the power came through. Ex-NHLer Paul Bissonnette, co-host of Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, broke the story on their pod when he said he was told by an unidentified player that the veteran coach asked players during one-on-one meetings to see photos on their phones and would then stream them on his television.

The same day Babcock resigned, the following statement came out.

“Our players deserve to be treated with respect in the workplace. Unfortunately, that was not the case in Columbus. The club’s decision to move forward with a new head coach is the appropriate course of action.”

Those were the words of the executive director of the NHLPA, Marty Walsh. Columbus hired Babcock because they believed he’d changed. But they were wrong, and once again his natural instincts emerged. Babcock didn’t just make mistakes with the Blue Jackets and Marner. He has a history of it.

Mike Commodore

Former NHLer Mike Commodore has been very public in his disdain for Babcock for years. He’s spoken openly about it for over a decade. He has outlined how he feels Babcock tried to ruin his career on two separate occasions, the first when he was trying to break into the league with Anaheim. Here is a snippet of his conversation from a 2019 interview on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit regarding the Anaheim situation.

”I don’t know who Mike Babcock is. I’ve never heard of him, I’ve never had a run in with him, nothing when I was in Anaheim. There’s no previous history whatsoever. I show up to camp, fight everybody in camp, I’m supposed to play (when the season starts). I’m penciled in, but he has someone else he wants to play. Sends me down to the minors, carves me in the papers, says I showed up out of shape.
“I swear to God, I never showed up out of shape because I wasn’t talented enough to do it. I would have been in the East Coast League and done in, like, two years. … I was never able to get rid of that reputation, like, ‘The guy doesn’t work out,’ because he went to the f–cking paper and said that. I read it. I’m like, are you fucking kidding me?”

Commodore didn’t play a game that season. But midway through the year he got recalled and thought he might play at some point.

“They called me up and did a fat test on me. I’m not even playing in the game. They do a fat test on me, a pinch test. For anybody that’s done that test, it’s very subjective. Somebody that you put on the front of a magazine that’s ripped out of their mind, you can make them, like, five per cent body fat. You just grab the three points where there’s a little bit of extra skin.
“I was always around 10, 11 per cent body fat. They do this fat test and I’m 22 per cent body fat. It was a brand new strength coach, and he’s like, ‘Hey, I gotta fire this in.’ So, he hands it in to Babs, and Babs waits and gives it to me in front of the team. I don’t know any of these guys. So, I told him to go fuck himself. I’m like, ‘You know what, fuck you. Your test is fucked. Let’s go do a real test. I’m not fucking 22 per cent body fat, fuck you.’ And that’s when I was done in Anaheim.”

Then years later Commodore is a free agent, and his agent tells him Detroit is interested in signing him. Babcock is the coach.

“So, I hang up the phone, call Ken Holland and I’m like, ‘I would love to play for you. I would love to play in Detroit. I always enjoyed going in there, even when we got our asses kicked. I love the city; I think Joe Louis is awesome. You always make the playoffs. I would like to play there. But you know what I think about Babcock. We had beers at your golf tournament, and I was ripping on him. Does he want me on the team or not?’”
“So, I call that piece of shit (Babcock), and now I’ve got like 10 minutes left. He’s like, ‘Hey, Commy.’ I didn’t say this, but I’m like, don’t call me ‘Commy, we’re not friends. And I’m like, ‘Mike, please be honest with me. Do you want me on your hockey team or not? If you don’t, if you’re just getting me in here because you want to fu*k me over and end my career, please be honest with me. I just won’t sign. I won’t say anything, no hard feelings. But I know this is my last chance. I need to know wherever I go that I’m going to get an opportunity.’”

Commodore signed with Detroit but only played 17 games. He was a healthy scratch for most of them before being traded to Tampa Bay.

“I was like, it’s happening. I just got bought out, I have zero leverage. What am I going to do, go to the media? Nobody gives a shit. So, for the first three weeks I was miserable. I was pissed off. And after that I was like, you know what, this guy isn’t going to dictate how I live my life. Fuck him. He doesn’t want to play me, fine.
“I’m going to come to the rink, I’m going to run the stairs, I’m going to practice as hard as he’ll let me, because he would always blow drills down when it was my turn. I’m going to go one on one versus Pav, he likes doing that in the neutral zone along the boards. I’m going to do that and then I’m going to plan the parties. I’m going to be a good guy to be around and I’m going to have fun, so that’s what I ended up doing. Complete disaster. Career over.”

The story about the fat test in front of teammates fits with the other stories about Babcock. He loves embarrassing players in front of others. He likes to have control and show them who is in a position of power.

Mike Modano

Then there is the Mike Modano story where Babcock sat him out in the second final game of the regular season, costing him a chance to play game 1,500. Modano explained the situation last year on the Chiclets podcast.

“So, I got hurt, cut some tendons. I was in a rehab thing,” Modano said. “I come back talking to the doctors and, okay, when are we gonna time this return and stuff? I’m like, wow. I’m looking at maybe first week of March. I’m like, okay. So, March 8th.
“So now I’m penciling. Now I’m looking at my games played to the end of the year. I’m adding the numbers. If I get now till then, I hit 1,500 on the nut. We’re whittling down and now we have three games left in the season. I play game 1,498, but then the next game against Minnesota at home, healthy scratch. Then he plays me in Chicago for the season-ender to get 1,499. He said, ‘Mike, we didn’t bring you here to get 1,500 games, we brought you here to win a cup.”

This happened in 2011. Modano retired that summer with 1,499 regular-season games played. Winning the Stanley Cup had no impact on him being sat out. It was purely about power and showing the players who was boss. It was a pattern he’d displayed at multiple times in his career.

Johan Franzen

The story about how terribly Babcock treated him came from Johan Franzen’s teammate, Chris Chelios when he shared his version on the Chiclets podcast.

“Franzen was hurt at the time of the playoffs, we lost to Nashville… and some of the things he (Babcock) said to him on the bench… I don’t know what he said to him behind closed doors — but he was blatantly verbally assaulting him during the game. It got to the point for Johan — no one really knew he was suffering with the concussion and depression — he just broke down and had a nervous breakdown. Not only on the bench, but after the game, into the rooms in Nashville. That was probably the worst thing that I’ve ever seen.”

Johan Franzen said in an interview after Chelios told the story that “[Babcock is] a terrible person, the worst person I’ve ever met.”

Babcock’s thirst to wield power over his players wasn’t a secret. He didn’t just do it in private. He did it in front of teammates, and he felt untouchable because he was never disciplined for it. It just kept happening.

Mitch Marner

When Marner was a rookie with Toronto in 2016, Babcock asked him to list the players on the team, starting with who was the hardest working and going down to those who were the least hard working. Marner did so because he was a rookie and did what the coach asked, but then Babcock told the players who Marner listed at the bottom of the list. What a disgusting thing to ask a rookie player to do, and then to show his teammates makes it even worse.

After being fired from Toronto, Babcock, in an interview with Elliotte Friedman, said, “I was trying to focus on work ethic with Mitch — focusing on role models — it ended up not being a good idea. I apologized at the time.”

He apologized after veterans Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak confronted Babcock and told him his actions were out of line. Marner was so shaken up about it that he was in tears. Babcock’s response about it “not being a good idea” shows you everything you need to know about him. No remorse. He actually believed it was a good idea at the time. He’s a power-hungry, insecure coach who needs to display dominance over his players.

Even mentioning his name as a possible candidate in Edmonton is beyond disappointing and narrow-minded.

He never changed who he was. Never. He needs to show he is in control and powerful. Stop defending a repeat abuser of power, a coach who thrived on humiliating players. But even if you are naive enough to overlook his deplorable actions, maybe check out his coaching record.

He hasn’t won a playoff series since 2014, but because he won a Stanley Cup in 2008, that means he should be considered. People are so blind to the “he won” that they overlook he’s had no playoff success since 2014, and he’s treated multiple players like they have no value.

Babcock doesn’t deserve another chance to be a head coach in the NHL, and he surely shouldn’t even be mentioned as a possibility in Edmonton.

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Mike Commodore

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