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Why did Mike Babcock resign? Exploring the reason behind Columbus Blue Jackets HC's resignation
Mike Babcock has officially resigned as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets surprised many by hiring Babcock to be their head coach on July 1. Columbus signed the head coach to a two-year deal, despite Babcock not coaching in the NHL since November 2019.
Babcock has a history of controversy. While he was the Detroit Red Wings head coach, he scratched Mike Modano in the final game of the season, which would have been his 1,500th game. He also verbally and mentally abused Johan Franzen, who has called him out for his bullying.
Meanwhile, while he was in Toronto, Babcock got Mitch Marner to rank his teammates on their work ethic and then shared the list with the entire team, which caused problems in the locker room.
Despite all the controversy around him, the Blue Jackets still hired Mike Babcock. But, before the season even started, the "Spittin' Chiclets" podcast revealed the head coach got all his players to share their camera rolls with them, and he then put those photos on his office TV.
The claims started an investigation and days later, Babcock announced his resignation.
“Upon reflection, it has become clear that continuing as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets was going to be too much of a distraction.
"While I’m disappointed to not have had the opportunity to continue the work we’ve begun, I know it’s in the best interest of the organization for me to step away at this time. I wish everyone in the organization well in the upcoming season.”
There's no question that if Mike Babcock remained the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets it would have been a distraction.
Also read: "I crossed a line" - Mike Babcock once admitted to his shortcomings on HBO documentary
Mike Babcock originally denied the allegations
After Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney made the allegations, Mike Babcock released a statement through the team declining the allegations:
“While meeting with our players and staff I asked them to share, off their phones, family pictures as part of the process of getting to know them better. There was absolutely nothing more to it than that. The way this was portrayed on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast was a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive.
"These meetings have been very important and beneficial, not only for me but for our players and staff as well, and to have them depicted like this is irresponsible and completely inaccurate.”
Following Babcock's resignation, the Columbus Blue Jackets named associate coach Pascal Vincent the new head coach, and he signed a two-year contract through the 2024-25 NHL season.
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