From the NHLPA quickly investigating Mike Babcock's interactions with players to his subsequent resignation, Adam Proteau says disrespectful coaching tactics in the game should be on their way out.
From the NHLPA quickly investigating Mike Babcock's interactions with players to his subsequent resignation, Adam Proteau says disrespectful coaching tactics in the game should be on their way out.
In one of the hockey world’s most shocking situations of late – and certainly, in one of the most unprecedented moves in the history of the sport’s coaching profession – Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss Mike Babcock resigned from the role Sunday afternoon.
Babcock had yet to coach a single game for the Blue Jackets, but following an allegation on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, as well as an investigation by the NHL Players’ Association and the team itself, he stepped down from the position. He’s unlikely ever to get a shot at coaching another team in hockey’s top league.
It’s tough to feel bad for Babcock, who had to know coming into the Jackets job he would be under a massive microscope, and every element of his performance would come under public scrutiny. When it comes down to brass tacks, he made decisions he didn’t need to make, with reports he allegedly intruded on players’ personal lives by asking to see photos on their smartphones. Ultimately, his decision-making was his undoing.
Babcock has been one of the most highly compensated NHL coaches in history, earning $6.25 million per season over eight years in his previous job as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but no amount of money can restore his sullied image.
That said, for as bad as this looks for Babcock – and for Columbus management, which gave him a second chance to restore his reputation – it is a positive harbinger of where the game and the NHL could be headed. No longer can any “old-school” coach play emotional mind games with their players. No more can an inflated ego impose its will on athletes who need to be approached with nuance and delicacy to thrive as performers under pressure. No longer can one person’s name or image supersede the best plans to produce positive results in the win/loss column.
In older days, there may have been a third or fourth chance given to someone like Babcock, but can you imagine such a thing happening now? Probably not. There are some things you can’t come back from, and Babcock has likely crossed that line for the last time.
This situation, while regrettable, also is positive from the Players’ Association’s perspective. Under new executive director Marty Walsh, the NHLPA quickly began a swift and thorough investigation into the Babcock accusation. Although they did not come out and demand Babcock be let go (and really, how could they, as they don’t have that type of structural power to demand such a move), the PA did what it is designed to do – namely, to represent and advocate for its constituents. Players ought to feel good about the new regime that represents them.
Similarly, the days of an all-powerful coach who can make or break players are at the beginning of the end. It should have nothing to do with reputation anymore. If you can’t operate in hockey’s top league without respecting the best players on the planet, you probably shouldn’t be coaching anything other than a fantasy league team.
The Blue Jackets saga comes after another recent turning point in player and team relations – the story of the Chicago Blackhawks and their coaching and management team that turned a blind eye to first-hand player reports of abusive actions. Neither former Hawks GM Stan Bowman nor longtime coach Joel Quenneville were fired for not addressing the accusations in a timely manner, but after each of the two men resigned, the league made it clear they would have to get the approval of commissioner Gary Bettman before they could be hired by another team.
That process continued of late, with Bowman and Quenneville making statements at a coaching and GM meeting at the start of this month. But after the implosion regarding Babcock, it’s safe to say teams will be even more careful about giving either man another shot at having massive and unchecked responsibility over teams. No team wants to look as bad as the Jackets do at the moment. And it should be repeated that there is no shortage of capable coaching candidates for any team to take a chance on. The coaching recycling model that has been in place at the NHL level is now at an end.
Players are asked to sacrifice a lot to get the opportunity to play a sport and make themselves wealthy in the process. That’s a deal they accept with open arms. However, none of them signed up to be some coach’s pinata. They’re there to do a job, and make no mistake, if players went outside of the boundaries of acceptable behavior, they would deserve to be called out for it the way Babcock has.
There is no going back to the days of oppressive leaders who skip from one employer to another without accepting the responsibility they so eagerly demand from players. Long after Babcock’s name stops being newsworthy, there will be other coaches who attempt to walk the fine line between pushing players to be their best and imposing on them as human beings. But no coach from now on should be able to claim they innocently didn’t know they were doing wrong. If you cross that line, you do so with the full knowledge you’ll be held accountable, one way or another.
The old-school approach to player/management relations is hopefully on its way to being outlawed, and all management types must govern themselves accordingly. If they don’t, they’ll suffer the same fate as Babcock, and they’ll deserve it.