Babcock Fired

[Axeman33]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/boomer-...-select-picks/

If anyone is interested why Commodore (and by extension, lots of NHLers) hate Babcock so much, can listen to the first ~20 minutes or so of this for some insight

Any chance you can paraphrase. I'm curious, but not curious enough to spend 20mins listening to that.

[hockeyrobot]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/boomer-...-select-picks/

If anyone is interested why Commodore (and by extension, lots of NHLers) hate Babcock so much, can listen to the first ~20 minutes or so of this for some insight

While I do enjoy the stories.....Commodore sucked at the end of his career so I think he might just be bitter.

[Tobias Funke]

Any chance you can paraphrase. I'm curious, but not curious enough to spend 20mins listening to that.

Quotes from a Commodore interview a few years back.

My agent then told me the GM put a 15-minute time limit on the offer. I needed to make up my mind in 15 minutes or he was gonna pull the offer off the table. This was July 1st, free agency had just started 10 minutes prior. I called the GM and told him: ‘Ken, Mike Commodore here, I like you, you're a good guy. Is it you who wants me or the coach?’ Ken Holland said that he wanted me and so did Babcock. So I told him that I would love to play for Ken, and I would love to play for the red wings, but that I didn't trust the coach from previous experience. So I called the coach, by now I had 10 minutes left.

"I called him: ‘Babs, Mike Commodore here. Please be honest with me, do you want me on your hockey team or not?’ He said he did. I wanted to know if I’d get an opportunity. I told him I am not looking for anything special, but that I needed to know if I was gonna get a fair shot and a chance to play. He said ‘I want you on my team. You will get a fair chance. We need someone physical on the back end with a right shot. I want you. You will play.’

"I went to camp in Detroit, and got scratched out. I did injure my knee a bit so I missed couple of days in camp and the first four games. I got back as if it was nothing major. I came back, and the team won its first five games. I got scratched, but okay, the team was winning. We lost seven in a row, then I wasn’t even close to playing. Scratch, scratch.

"Finally, it was mid-November, Ian White got a puck to the face and was going to miss a week, we went on a road trip. A four-game road trip, and I thought to myself that this was my chance. I played three games, no two games, I think, three minutes a night… The only time I touched the ice was when the fourth line was on, and the faceoff was in the neutral zone. I was opening the doors for Lidström, that’s all I was doing, being a cheerleader.

[rataylor22]

While I do enjoy the stories.....Commodore sucked at the end of his career so I think he might just be bitter.

You're justified in having that opinion, but he makes it pretty clear it's nothing to do with playing time or being bitter.

[rataylor22]

Any chance you can paraphrase. I'm curious, but not curious enough to spend 20mins listening to that.

Tobias summarized it decently, but basically early in his career Babcock had the trainers lie about Commodore's fitness at fitness testing which gained him a false reputation for the rest of his career, and then late in his career he essentially ended his career by lying to him.

[hockeyrobot]

You're justified in having that opinion, but he makes it pretty clear it's nothing to do with playing time or being bitter.

Which is exactly what a bitter, party crazy former NHL player would say.

[ericdaoust]

I get the feeling Commodore's experience is pretty common among bubble players league-wide.

[rataylor22]

Which is exactly what a bitter, party crazy former NHL player would say.

It's pretty clear you haven't listened, aren't going to listen, and have no interest in getting the full story. Which again is fine, it's just weird to come to such a definitive conclusion with no interest in gathering all of the evidence.

[PenguinHunter]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/boomer-...-select-picks/

If anyone is interested why Commodore (and by extension, lots of NHLers) hate Babcock so much, can listen to the first ~20 minutes or so of this for some insight

I hear a lot of guys don't like playing for Bellicheck either... until they win the Superbowl... then they realize it is worth it.

- - - Updated - - -

You're justified in having that opinion, but he makes it pretty clear it's nothing to do with playing time or being bitter.

And what would you say if you didn't like a coach that didn't play you?

[rataylor22]

I hear a lot of guys don't like playing for Bellicheck either... until they win the Superbowl... then they realize it is worth it.

True Mike Babcock and Bill Belichick are very comparable in terms of success and winning

And what would you say if you didn't like a coach that didn't play you?

Again, like I said it's pretty obvious to tell who is interested in gathering information before making a judgement and who isn't.

[Mr. Guru]

Sometimes the information gathered could be misleading.

The worst Babcock story is him benching Modano so he doesn't get to 1500 games.

Too many stories of Babcock....When there is this many you start believing them. Especially when the boys from chiclets are pretty much confirming them.

[rataylor22]

There’s a chance that fringe (and non-fringe) players might hate a coach for reasons other than playing time. It all depends on if you want to absorb evidence and think critically or if you want to take the easiest/laziest assumption.

[tweetdrivr]

I’d guess you could attribute those interview quotes from Commodore to Jason Spezza too and be pretty much bang on.

[2014olympicgold]

Mike Commodore has turned his pettiness with Babcock into a 2nd career. His opinion means little to me as maybe a coach/GM doesn't want someone on their team who would do this?

However, Babcock has been weird/dumb with players, including scratching Modano on his 1,499 so he would not get his 1,500th game. The whole Spezza thing. So ya, I'm sure Mike's opinion, to a certain degree, is shared with others, however Commodore might have had a shorter NHL career because of Mike Commodore.

---EDIT---
Babcock’s contract was:
2019-20 – 5.875mill
2020-21 – 5.875mill
2021-22 – 5.875mill
2022-23 – 5.875mill

He had 5.875mill x 8yrs +3mill signing bonus. Wasn’t as front loaded as the media first made us think.

[Tobias Funke]

Sheldon Keefe has the highest winning percentage of any coach in NHL history