It says a lot about Mike Babcock that, in answering to the accusations of a former player who called him a 鈥渂ully鈥 and 鈥渢he worst (person) I ever met,鈥 the former Maple Leafs coach had no problem identifying the victim in the sad saga.
The aggrieved party, the way Babcock frames it in his first interview since being fired by Brendan Shanahan more than 14 months ago, is not Johan Franzen, the tireless grinder of a Detroit Red Wing whose career ended under a dark cloud of concussion and depression, not to mention accusations of Babcock鈥檚 grim conduct. So forget for a moment that Franzen, in an interview with Sweden鈥檚 Expressen shortly after Babcock was axed in Toronto, detailed how Babcock鈥檚 clockwork verbal attacks left him 鈥渢errified鈥 to go the rink. Never mind that Chris Chelios, Franzen鈥檚 Hall of Fame teammate, has since told the story of a Babcock-induced tirade during a 2012 playoff series that drove Franzen to what Chelios described as a 鈥渘ervous breakdown.鈥 Pay no mind to the fact that Franzen has called that Nashville run-in 鈥渏ust one of a hundred things (Babcock) did 鈥 the tip of the iceberg.鈥
Let鈥檚 talk about the real victim here. The real victim, in the eyes of Mike Babcock, is Mike Babcock.
鈥淲hen a player that you鈥檝e coached says that about you, it stings you big time,鈥 Babcock explained to Pierre LeBrun in an interview that ran Tuesday on The Athletic.
Babcock added: 鈥淣othing can hurt you more than something like this.鈥
And just in case you missed the gist, Babcock continued: 鈥淪o when something like this comes out, that hurts you. And it should. No one ever wants to be perceived that way.鈥
Speaking of perceptions, if Babcock arrived in 海角社区官网in 2015 cast as a supercoach 鈥 a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Stanley Cup champion whose $50-million deal with the Leafs was the richest in hockey-coaching history 鈥 he currently exists as a woefully diminished asset. Sure, he is comfortably rich, still due to collect a regular cheque from the Leafs until 2023. But his professional name has been undeniably tarnished by the stories of the players he is alleged to have wronged with abusive behaviour and bizarre mind games.
Even if that鈥檚 true, at age 57 he鈥檚 clearly angling to make a return to the bench. With that in mind, his interview with LeBrun was presumably designed as an exercise in damage control in the lead-up to an impending debut as an NBC broadcaster. But like a lot of Babcock鈥檚 game plans in Toronto, let鈥檚 just say the execution is lacking. The ex-coach鈥檚 attempts to 鈥渃lear any air that needs to be cleared鈥 has an undeniable stench about it.
It鈥檚 not simply Babcock鈥檚 tone-deaf talk about Franzen. It鈥檚 not only his insufferable sanctimony and his affection for speaking in the third person. Take his apology for the so-called 鈥淢itch Marner incident鈥 鈥 the story that surfaced in the in the wake of Babcock鈥檚 firing that he had once asked a young Marner to rank teammates from hardest-working to least-hardest-working, then showed the list to the players who ranked lowest. In some ways, Babcock comes off as contrite in his retelling of that tale.
鈥淵ou do lots of things over 32 years as a coach that you鈥檇 like to have back,鈥 he said. 鈥淗ave you ever had a conversation with your wife when two words come out of your mouth and you鈥檇 like to reach with your arms and pull the words back? It鈥檚 human nature. In the heat of hockey, there鈥檚 lots of things said 鈥 When you look at Mitch Marner and the time he spent with Mike Babcock, Mitch Marner was a player. We had a good relationship.鈥
That鈥檚 highly debatable; there are sources close to Marner who鈥檇 call it laughable. But here鈥檚 what is not in question: That report, by the 海角社区官网Sun鈥檚 Terry Koshan, was rock solid and easily confirmed by multiple sources. Now Babcock insists it 鈥渨asn鈥檛 right.鈥 His quibble, mind you, is a strange one. Babcock says it wasn鈥檛 him that broadcast the list to the locker room. He infers it was Tyler Bozak, with whom Babcock says he鈥檚 鈥減retty sure鈥 he met with in the wake of speaking with Marner.
In one breath he takes the blame 鈥 鈥淚t was all on me鈥 鈥 in another, he casts an aspersion.
Looking back, it wasn鈥檛 long after that incident, which occurred in 2017, that there were voices inside the organization insisting the club would never reach its full potential until Babcock was far away from Toronto, not only because of his inability to communicate effectively with players but because of his tactical hard-headedness. Like him or not, he has been on the losing end of eight of the nine most recent playoff series in which he has coached. In a league of parity, he鈥檚 had an uncanny run of big-game futility.
So it鈥檚 beyond humourous that the interview with LeBrun attempts to break news by informing us that, when talk turns to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Babcock 鈥渇eels it鈥檚 time for someone new to lead (Team Canada).鈥 As if it was going to be Babcock鈥檚 choice. As if he was somehow removing himself from a race he had zero chance of winning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 someone else鈥檚 turn,鈥 Babcock said.
To which Canada鈥檚 best players, Marner among them, would surely say: It better be. Athletes, after all, talk. And while it鈥檚 true Babcock isn鈥檛 the only coach of his generation to be accused of being unreasonably cruel 鈥 and while his behaviour is easy enough to rationalize, given how he grew up in an era in which the hockey coach as dictator was an accepted Canadian model 鈥 Babcock is a rare high-profile coach who has been so forcefully accused of crossing the proverbial line from heat-of-the-moment sharpness to a more calculated kind of mean-spiritedness.
After Babcock was fired, don鈥檛 forget, ex-NHLer Mike Commodore took to Twitter to offer a critique of Babcock. 鈥(The Leafs) quit on you because you are a terrible human being. You are an average coach with an extremely oversized ego,鈥 Commodore wrote in one of his tamer dispatches. And if Commodore鈥檚 assertions could easily be dismissed as the stuff of axe-grinding, former Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser, an articulate and measured observer of the game, chimed in to offer more context.
鈥淎nyone who thinks (Commodore) needs to lay off Babs just doesn鈥檛 understand how much hate players have for him,鈥 Fraser tweeted. 鈥(Fans will) never truly understand some of the terrible undeserving things Babs has done to his some of his players.鈥
Precisely why Babcock allegedly reduced Franzen to rubble isn鈥檛 something Babcock cared to explain in the interview.
鈥淚 love players,鈥 Babcock insisted. 鈥淒o I push them hard? Absolutely.鈥
Franzen should have been the kind of player Babcock cherished. He was a tireless grinder who led the NHL playoffs in goal scoring en route to a Stanley Cup in 2008. He was instrumental in getting Babcock his only Cup ring. And Franzen, in an interview with Expressen in December of 2019, gave credit to Babcock as a 鈥済reat coach.鈥
鈥淏ut he’s a terrible person, the worst I ever met,鈥 Franzen said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a bully who was attacking people. It could be a cleaner at the arena in Detroit or anybody. He would lay into people without any reason. He would lay into a couple of the other players. The nice team players, the guys who don鈥檛 say very much. When they left the team he went on to focus on me. It was verbal attacks, he said horrible things 鈥 From 2011 on, I was terrified of being at the rink. That鈥檚 when he got on me the first time. I just focused on getting out of bed every morning from that moment. Last year I could sleep naturally for the first time since then.鈥
It says a lot about Babcock that, confronted with Franzen鈥檚 sad story, he found a way to make it about himself. He told LeBrun he had 鈥渞eached out鈥 to Franzen. He had the audacity to say he wished he 鈥渨ould have known about (Franzen鈥檚 struggle) then鈥 鈥 as though he wasn鈥檛 a party to it.
鈥淐an you imagine having someone say that about you when you have been involved in mental health as much as I have?鈥 said Babcock, a well-known spokesperson for mental-health causes. 鈥淏esides apologize, there鈥檚 not much I can do about that now. But does it sting? Does it hurt? Absolutely.鈥
Mike Babcock wants you to know that Mike Babcock is hurt. What he doesn鈥檛 seem to realize is that, in his attempt to launch a comeback, he only inflicted further damage to his battered professional name.
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