Mike Babcock has not been behind an NHL bench since 2020 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Edmonton Oilers are looking into hiring Babcock as their next head coach. First, the NHL had to clear Babcock, which they have done.
Now, the NHLPA is releasing a statement on Babcock being cleared to return to the league after a scandal led to his departure from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, according to Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
“While we found the allegations of Mike Babcock’s conduct as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ head coach very concerning, the League has decided that there is no current basis on which to restrict his employment. Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches,” the statement read.
Babcock was hired by the Blue Jackets in 2023, but resigned before ever coaching a game. Allegations came to light that he went through the photos on players’ phones, and the NHLPA revealed that multiple players were not comfortable with the situation.
There has also been a history of Babcock clashing with players, as former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri pointed out in his book, according to Kyle Cantlon of Yahoo.
“Babs was really into the psychological aspects of performance. He’d been a psychology major at McGill University, a fact that everyone seemed to know. As I’ve said, he was interested in ways to motivate players, to get the most out of them by knowing what buttons to press, what games to play. All that kind of stuff,” Kadri wrote in his book. “But over a long period of time, that can wear on you, and so these kids of coaches often have a shelf life. Obviously, there was some benefit because Babs had a lot of success. He was a brilliant coach. But again, his tactics could also backfire. And with players having changed so much over the past decade, there’s no longer a place in the league for mind games like that.”
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