When it comes to the National Hockey League’s investigation into
Mike Babcock’s time with the Columbus Blue Jackets, expect a quick process,
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported.
Nothing surfaced immediately, but insider Frank Seravalli reported Wednesday
there were “significant” claims of misconduct from Babcock during his two-and-a-half-month stint as the Blue Jackets’ head coach in 2023 that were unrelated to looking at photos from players’ phones with them.
Now, the league is looking to conduct its investigation swiftly.
“I had heard that the league wanted to deal with this pretty quickly,” Friedman said on Friday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. “I think that they want to reach a ruling and don’t want this continuing any longer than it has to. But, as I was reminded, Bettman has a lot of power in these situations, so a lot of it’s going to be up to him.”
There’s no known timeline for how long things will take, but with the Stanley Cup final finishing as soon as Sunday, the off-season will hit full swing sooner rather than later.
Hockey insider Chris Johnston, meanwhile, reported Friday sources have indicated to him Babcock will be able to coach at the conclusion of the investigation.
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Oilers aren’t backing down as Walsh backs players
Despite this, the Oilers aren’t backing down from the potential hire, Friedman said, and are willing to wait out the investigation into Babcock.
“The last I heard before we recorded this on Thursday is the Oilers were still prepared to wait this out and see where it goes,” he said.
NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh, meanwhile, has come out backing his players, deflecting some of the daggers that have been pointed towards Oilers players who have reportedly been steadfast in their support of the team hiring Babcock.
“There’s been some reports that the players have pushed this,” said Walsh on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Thursday. “Listen, it’s the GM, the president, the owner of a team, who hires a coach – not the players. Trying to put that on the players, that’s not the way it should work here.”
Former Blue Jackets upset
Consider some of the former players from the 2023 Blue Jackets team not enthused with the idea of an investigation into what happened with Babcock.
In conversations with some players who were on that team, Friedman said they revealed there’s a level of confusion and frustration in things being rehashed three years later.
“I had some interactions with a couple players who were on that Columbus team, and they were really upset that this came up three years later,” said Friedman on 32 Thoughts. “Basically, what a couple of them said to me was that was 3 years ago, we’ve moved on, and we don’t want to talk about this anymore. And I think they were a bit annoyed.
“They kind of felt that whatever was started three years ago should have been finished, and it’s not something they’re particularly interested in rehashing or going over at this point in time. Now ultimately, if you’re asked to participate in the investigation, I think you pretty much have to, but I think there’s been some frustration about it.”
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
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