It seems Mike Babcock's tirades were not reserved to just players he was coaching. Andy Strickland, who now works for Fox Sports Midwest, is recounting an incident in 2007 where Babcock put him against a wall and started screaming in his face over a story he had written for HockeyBuzz.
"I, too was verbally attacked and intentionally intimidated by Mike Babcock outside the Red Wings dressing room back in 2007," Strickland posted to Twitter. "Former Detroit video coach Jay Woodcroft brought him to me. Had me up against a wall while screaming and pointing in my face because of a story I had written."
The story, which can be found here, details "tension inside the Detroit dressing room between the players and Head Coach Mike Babcock." Here are some interesting snippets.
Sources tell me Babcock and former Selke Trophy winner Kris Draper had a major blowup in Colorado in which the two exchanged one curse word after another,One player recently said that it's to the point where players roll their eyes when Babcock enters the dressing room.
Players such as Robert Lang, Chris Chelios, and Mathieu Schneider apparently are leading the charge against their Head Coach.
One player told me the Red Wings have almost no chance of signing the enormously skilled Pavel Datsyuk, who is eligible to become a free agent this summer, if Babcock is retained after this season.
I am hearing Babcock is the reason Brendan Shanahan elected to take his game elsewhere and factored in to Steve Yzerman's decision to retire.
It is interesting to note that Chelios himself recently said that locker room leaders had attempted to get Babcock fired when he was playing for the Red Wings, but GM Ken Holland wouldn't give in.
Since Babcock was fired as head coach by the Toronto Maple Leafs about two weeks ago, numerous stories have come out about his treatment of players within that organization, as well as players in Detroit. Mitch Marner, Chris Chelios, Johan Franzen and others have detailed incidents that left them puzzled, shaken and, in Franzen's case, ready to give up hockey entirely. In fact, Franzen has since called Babcock the worst human being he has ever met.
When Babcock was initially let go by Toronto, many analysts felt that Seattle would be a likely landing spot for him once he had time to unwind. However, given all the recent stories about his erratic behaviour, one has to wonder if Babcock will ever work in the NHL again.
-
