TSN Overdrive: Mike Babcock Phone Scandal (Sept 12th, 2023) 

Who hired Babcock in the first place? What a distraction for Columbus players. GM is already on the hook for his team sucking and now has a brain fart and brings Babcock back into the NHL after all the negative stories a out him? Jesus

Cmon, this sounds too creepy

There are some people who are so socially awkward and inept that even when they have an innocent motive, it comes off as creepy. If you give Babcock the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's trying to "connect" with his players in some way, but didn't think it through. He certainly shows an inability to recognize any sort of boundary or proper mode of workplace conduct by making the request in the first place. That's typical of someone who can't make friends and influence people by means of persuasion; it comes off as either a forced attempt to create rapport, at best, or as pyscho, at worst. It reflects on some very deep-seeded personality flaw. In a different time, if Freddie Shero asked this of his players, would there be the same outrage? Just asking, because I think the response then would have been "it's just Fred being Fred", but would be considered in a different light because of reputation. When "Mike is just being Mike" the reputation immediately clouds the perception. You're probably dealing with someone who has a real problem connecting with people and in his attempt to do so, starts forcing the issue in a manner that is inappropriate. If you go with a business analogy, Babcock is a typical archetype of some high-level managers who are technically brilliant, but lacking in people skills: his goal is to create an "Us and Them" atmosphere by discovering who is with me -- and how far will they go to prove they are with me -- and who is against me. It's about HIS insecurities and shortcomings -- and trying to avoid the consequences of such -- and not about the team. In business that sort of management style doesn't usually work for very long; it creates an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty which eventually saps morale and destroys productivity. I think we saw some of that in Toronto.