More skeletons from Mike Babcock’s closet came to light after his resignation.
Three days after Mike Babcock resigned as head coach of Columbus Blue jacketsFORMER Detroit Red Wings defender Jakub Kindl detailed how difficult Babcock made his life in an article titled “Seventh Defences,†which he published on a Czech news site titled Bez Frazi.
While Kindl, who spent parts of nine seasons in the Detroit Red Wings organization, praised some of Babcock’s coaching abilities — such as his day-to-day game preparation — he didn’t shy away from criticism. -look how miserable Babcock’s life was for him.
“I wasn’t his favorite player from the beginning, and even though (Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland) liked me, Babcock always seemed to test what I could do and he let me know he didn’t like me as a player. . . ,” Kindl wrote. “I can’t stand him as a person.”
The 36-year-old retired defenseman recounted the sequences in which Babcock rejected him.
“I saw him joking with others, but with me, he barely exchanged a few words,” Kindl said. “If he does this, it’s to embarrass me. For example, one time he put me on the right side of the defense, and I was looking at the lineup in disbelief. He just passed by and heard me, so he looked at the lineup and said, ‘Yeah, you’re on the right side. You’re having trouble playing left, and I’m making it difficult for you, right?'”
Kindl reinforced what many have said about Babcock, that when you’re in his doghouse, he makes life difficult for you, something Kindl said everyone in the organization knows.
In his first game facing Babcock, after he left Detroit, Kindl scored the overtime-winning goal. While he said that in itself was gratifying, nothing compared to the vindication he received afterward from several members of the Red Wings organization.
“They know how hard it was under Babcock. That night, I got a lot of messages from people all over the club, from the chefs, the guys who park our cars, the facilities staff, and from the people who work in the offices. They all congratulated me,” Kindl said.
Kindl’s testimony was far from the only criticism Babcock received from his time in Detroit. Johan Franzen, who won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008, called Babcock the worst person he had ever met. During a 2019 interview on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Red Wings star Chris Chelios provided some context on what Franzen would say with such a statement.
“[Franzen] got hurt during the playoffs, we lost in Nashville…and some of the things he said to him on the bench,†Chelios explained. “I don’t know what he said to her behind closed doors – but he was apparently attacking her during the game.
“It got to the point for Johan – no one knew that he was suffering from anxiety and depression – he broke down and had a nervous breakdown. Not only on the bench but after the game, in the rooms in Nashville. That was probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” Chelios said.