Mike Babcock is a joke of a coach and there’s no other way to put it. He tends to waste effort, get in his own way, and make the players on his own team very uncomfortable. These were just a few of the reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs let him go and now as the freshly minted head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, ‘Babs’ is up to his old tricks.
Kudos to the Spittin’ Chiclets duo of Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette for essentially breaking the story as it’s being reported that one of the first orders of business Babcock felt was necessary as the new leader of the Blue Jackets was to go through players’ phones? Like what the…
Word is he’s asked players to show them all of their photos so he can get a sense of what type of person they are off the ice. What ever happened to sitting down for lunch and asking someone about their story and journey to the NHL? Or, doing some research on your own, in your office, to find out from old coaches, ex players and other hockey personnel throughout the player’s tenure to gather information.
Asking to go through someone’s phone is so wrong and puts the Blue Jackets’ players in a tough spot. What if they say no? Then what? Is Babcock going to give them less ice time or cut them from training camp because he didn’t get a chance to creep their camera roll.
Blue Jackets beat reporter Aaron Portzline of The Athletic confirmed the story, and that the team is investigating into the matter and both Babcock and captain Boone Jenner have not be available for comment.
It baffles my mind how Babcock is even back in the NHL after the debacle with the Maple Leafs. For those who don’t know, Babs once asked Mitch Marner, who was new to the Leafs at the time, to rank the players on the team from hardest worker to least hardest worker and was this done in confidence? Hell no! Babcock shared the list with the entire team and put Marner in a horrible spot. He also was so stubborn when it came to playing Marner and Auston Matthews together, after countless requests from the players themselves.
The veteran coach has been doing head-scratching things since day one and I’ve personally spoken with former players from the Red Wings who wanted nothing to do with him after only a couple of weeks and then avoided him throughout the rest of their NHL careers.
Listen, when it comes to coaching an all-star Olympic team, Babcock can get results. Because, well, anyone could have coached that team and they were going to win. It had nothing to do with his coaching abilities. We saw his tactics in Toronto and it went from bad to worse really fast. Now Sheldon Keefe is in place and things are looking up for the Leafs.
As for the Blue Jackets, management made their bed and now they get to lie in it. Get ready for the stubbornness, get ready for the lack of accountability and hearing all about ‘compete’, ‘starting on time’, and oh yeah, pissing off the entire roster. Babcock loves to make comfortable moments very uncomfortable and this is just the beginning in Columbus. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
