Babcock Asked About Mark Messier's Comments

Mike Babcock was asked after Thursday's morning skate about the comments made by Mark Messier. The former Oiler and Hall of Famer said he was "horrified" by the team's decision to hire Babcock, and "absolutely shocked" that the leadership group played such a big role in the decision. 

Choosing not to respond directly to the comments, Babcock offered nothing but praise for Messier. He called their two interactions very positive and pointed to the Oilers naming a training camp team after him. 

When asked if he heard the comments, Babcock said, "Yeah, they sent it to me yesterday. I just sent it to my family, so... You know, one of these teams is Team Messier, right? He won four Cups here. I'm younger than him, so when I'd watch him, hard, leader, two-way, competitive. Went to New York, hard, two-way, competitive, real leader."

He added, "I've dealt with him two times in my life, one time we were presenting Olympic gold medals here. My daughter was seven or eight then, he treated us great. Another time was at the Hall of Fame thing, he treated me great. Like I said, Team Messier is a legend here. It is ESPN that he does? He does great on that. I have nothing but respect for him?"