MIKE BABCOCK UNFILTERED

Mike Babcock was introduced as the newest Head Coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Canada Day, Saturday, July 1.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist, Stanley Cup champion – and Saskatoon, SK product – joined Tuesday’s Rod Pedersen Show from his Ohio farm to discuss a variety of things.

Tops among them is the anti-Babcock sentiment which hangs over his legacy 3 1/2 years after he was fired as Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The show host asked the 60-year old Babcock if there’s a misconception about him, since the two have had great working relationship dating back to 1993 when the pair was both in the WHL.

“Well I can tell you this,” Babcock started. “My Dad had this great line and he used to say all the time, ‘If your knees don’t hit my kitchen table, I probably don’t care what you think’. In other words there are people in your life that are important to you.

“If you’re a kid today and you spend your whole time after you play looking at your social media and you didn’t play good, you’re getting beat up. What are you listening to that stuff for? What are you doing that for?

“Now right away you sound old when you say that but the bottom line is, I know what I’ve done in my lifetime, I know how I’ve treated people and I know how much I care about people and the relationships I have. Do I want to get better? Yes. Would I love for everyone in the world to like me? Yes. Is that possible? No. But in leadership, you’re going to make people mad at times cuz they’re not going to be pleased with the decisions you make.

“You’re doing it for the betterment of the team, to have success. Not to hurt anybody’s feelings. So am I concerned about that? No.”

Babcock explained there are several reasons why he took the Columbus job despite the fact he fully planned on retiring from the game. He has a longstanding, and strong, relationship with Blue Jackets President John Davidson, he owns two farms in the State of Ohio, and feels the Blue Jackets could rebound quickly from a season where they finished second-worst in the NHL.

The wide-ranging interview also included Mike’s thoughts on the Blue Jackets’ #3 overall pick Adam Fantilli, his time spent as an analyst on NHL On NBC (he’ll never do that again), his time coaching the UofS Huskies and the blossoming coaching career of his 28-year old son Michael Babcock Jr. of the St. Louis Blues.

The full interview can be viewed here (it airs in Hour 1, Segment 2):