Mike Babcock is reportedly coming back to the NHL after being out of the league for three seasons due to allegations of mental abuse.
Mike Babcock, one of the more polarizing names in hockey, reportedly has a new home with one of the Philadelphia Flyers' Metropolitan Division rivals.
According to a report from TSN's Darren Dreger, Babcock is expected to become the Columbus Blue Jackets' next head coach when his existing contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs expires at the end of the month.
Babcock, 60, was fired by the Maple Leafs in 2019 after his team lost six straight games early in the 2019-20 campaign. However, his lack of success with the star-studded Maple Leafs may not have been the sole reason for his dismissal.
Babcock was accused of mental abuse by some of his former players following his firing in Toronto, including former Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen, who described Babcock as "the worst person I've ever met."
According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Babcock once drove star forward Mitch Marner to tears when he forced him to make a rankings list of his Maple Leafs teammates from hardest-working to those he believed didn't have a strong work ethic.
Despite the reported toxicity of Babcock's coaching style, he's still regarded as one of the top bench bosses in recent NHL history. He guided the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2008 and led the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season as a head coach during the 2002-03 campaign.
Overall, Babcock has a record of 700-418-19-164 as an NHL head coach, and in 16 full seasons as a bench boss, he's led his teams to 14 postseason appearances.
In 2021, over a year after his dismissal as Maple Leafs head coach, Babcock joined the University of Saskatchewan to serve as head coach of the men's hockey team. However, he resigned after just one season behind the bench and eventually announced his retirement from coaching.
"We always said we were going to retire at 60, and I'm 59. Basically, that's what it is," Babcock told Saskatoon's AM 680 CKOM last August.
Well, he's 60 now, and apparently he's not done coaching yet. Perhaps his time away from hockey has changed his perspective on how to connect with his players, but that has to be seen to be believed.