Mike Babcock Resigns Due to Investigation

After only 78 days as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Mike Babcock is stepping down. This comes after reports surfaced that Babcock forced players to airdrop their camera roll to his office TV and go through the pictures. Now, Babcock and Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner both came out and said the reports were overblown. This wasn’t enough to keep the NHLPA from launching an investigation into Babcock. Rather than go through the investigation and bring unwanted attention to the organization, he decided to step down instead. There is a lot to unpack here so let’s break it down.

What To Make of These Allegations?

Babcock has always been a pretty controversial coach. It seems like everywhere he went, there was some story about his coaching methods. When he was in Toronto he had Mitch Marner, who was a rookie at the time, rank his teammates by work ethic. Babcock would then show the list to the rest of the team. Also when Babcock was with Detroit, he would verbally attack Johan Franzen. It was so bad that Franzen dreaded going to work. So, Babcock is no stranger to controversy.

So now that we have Babcock’s history, let’s analyze this situation. As mentioned before, the allegations are that he made players airdrop their camera roll to his office TV, and they would go through the player’s camera roll. He said he did this in order to get to know his players. Jenner even said that Babcock only looked at pictures with him and his family, and hockey-related things. However, this is still a strange way to get to know your players.

Yes, players have come to Babcock’s defense saying that everything was overblown. However, the fact he was so quick to step down means that something questionable happened. He can say that he doesn’t want to be a distraction, however, if he was truly innocent, why not let the investigation play out? You just can’t trust Babcock or the few players that came to his defense, because of his history.

Where Do the Blue Jackets Go From Here?

So, the Blue Jackets basically have to start over with training camp starting on September 20th. They have promoted associate coach Pascal Vincent to head coach. However, this is more due to the fact that you can’t conduct a coaching search with the season being so close. You need someone that has some sort of relationship with the players. That is where Vincent comes in. He’s been with the team since 2021, giving him an established relationship with the roster. He also has had success at coaching at the AHL level. He won the Most Outstanding Coach award in 2017-18 while head coach of the Manitoba Moose. The hope is that he can take control and try to right the ship. The last thing that the Blue Jackets need is this story haunting them all season.

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