We knew this was going to happen, and it has come to pass.
Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is currently coaching the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta this season, and Sportsnet sent David Singh (with whom I have no beef) to check in on Babcock as he attempts to rehabilitate his reputation by re-starting his coaching career as a volunteer coach for Lethbridge
Babcock, who spent last spring analyzing playoff games on NBCSN, has of course “fallen from grace” after the Toronto Maple Leafs fired him more for not getting results and being the hire of former GM Lou Lamoriello instead of current GM Kyle Dubas much, much more than the Leafs fired Babcock for demeaning Toronto’s players.
By now, you already know that (during the period of time when I was busy managing my mom’s estate right after her death, and was away from the blog), Johan Franzen accused Babcock of bullying the crap out of him repeatedly. The fact that Ken Holland apparently told the Wings’ players that they could ask for a trade if they didn’t like Babcock’s tactics (and rumor has it that more than a few of them were pissed off during Babcock’s final years behind the Wings’ bench) doesn’t help…
But the bottom line here is that you and I both know that, long before Babcock’s 8-year, $50 million contract with the Maple Leafs ends in 2023, he’s going to earn a spot coaching in the NHL again.
So we come to the part of this story where I quote Sportsnet’s Singh’s article:
The subject of his former workplace prompts Babcock to think more broadly about the past. He has publicly stated his side of the Marner and Franzen incidents multiple times, but brings up both, and doesn’t hesitate to share his thoughts again nearly two years later. Of the criticisms levelled against him in their wake, he says that “some of this stuff doesn’t add up” and contends that if he were unfit to be a head coach, he wouldn’t have managed to hold down a position in Detroit for 10 seasons or been hired to coach Olympic and World Cup squads.
He’s asked to clarify what it is that doesn’t add up. “The reality is, after the fact, especially in today’s social media world, you can say whatever you want,” he begins. “It’s not my job to go out and say, ‘No, that didn’t happen.’”
He then says the Marner incident didn’t happen in the way it’s been portrayed. “That’s a complete farce the way it’s talked about and the way it happened. It didn’t happen like that,” he says. “I asked the kid to do something. He did it. The next player came in … So did I ever try to put Mitch Marner in a tough place? Mitch Marner played great for Mike Babcock.”
Babcock says he feels bad about the way Franzen remembers him, but the long-time Detroit forward’s words don’t seem to weigh too heavily on him given their gravity. “If I’ve done something wrong, I have to own that,” he says. “But I’m good with my life. I’m good with my moral fiber. I’m good with my family.”
When asked what he’s learned over the past two years, whether he has any takeaways from that period, Babcock says “sure,” before reemphasizing his previous point: “It’s real simple for me. Anything in my life that I’ve done that I should be feeling bad about and I should apologize for, I’m good with that. I have to own it and I should do that. But some of the math doesn’t add up. It just doesn’t.”
Babcock says more, of course, and it’s great and all that he and his son Michael are working together behind the bench in Lethbridge–and I wish neither of them ill…
But I sure don’t want Mike Babcock coaching in the NHL again, and we all know that getting behind the broadcasting desk with NBCSN was Step One of the Great Rehabilitation Narrative, and this, “I’m committed here in Lethbridge until March” spiel with Babcock coaching in Alberta is Step Two.
He’s going to coach in the NHL again, and as good a person as Mike Babcock is off the ice–he advocates for mental health charities, which is great–I don’t believe that Babcock should be allowed to coach at the NHL level again.
That belief is based upon a futile hope that NHL general managers take Johan Franzen’s word ahead of Mike Babcock’s, and Mike Babcock knows that he’s going to receive the benefit of the doubt when (not whether or if) he’s hired to coach an NHL team again.
That kind of sucks.
