Mike Babcock is behind an NHL bench again, having opened training camp with the Edmonton Oilers after being hired in June. Mike Commodore marked the milestone in the way he marks most things involving Babcock.
The jab landed on a specific sore spot. Babcock’s previous NHL job, with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, ended before he ever coached a game – he resigned days ahead of training camp following an NHLPA investigation into allegations that he asked players to show him personal photos on their phones.
Mike Commodore slams Mike Babcock
That’s the reference Commodore built his post around.
“Folks, please put your hands together for the piece of s*** Mike Babcock. He actually made it to training camp this time! What an accomplishment,” Commodore wrote on X.
The feud behind it stretches back more than two decades. Commodore has long alleged that Babcock derailed his career, first in Anaheim in 2002 when he was trying to make the Mighty Ducks, and again in Detroit in 2011 after he says Babcock promised him a significant role.
Commodore signed with the Red Wings on that basis, got injured in training camp, and remained a healthy scratch even once he recovered, playing 17 games before being traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline. Babcock has consistently denied the characterization, saying as recently as 2021 that the decisions were based on hockey and that Commodore simply didn’t earn a regular spot.
History between them
Since Edmonton hired Babcock on June 23, replacing Kris Knoblauch, Commodore has been relentless. One post during the club’s development camp in June was severe enough that the Oilers responded with a cease-and-desist letter, after which Commodore published an edited version and later said publicly that he stood by the substance of it. He has also described Babcock as having grown “more defiant” and “more arrogant” since their time together.
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Reaction to the latest post has been split. Some fans backed him, arguing that his critics wouldn’t have lasted a single practice under Babcock. Others have started telling him to drop it.
“Let it go, man. We all know he did you dirty, but at this point it looks worse on you than it does him. Your constant attacks are gonna end up making him look like the good guy,” one fan wrote.
Before hiring Babcock, Edmonton had the benefit of an NHL review of his conduct in Columbus. The league concluded there was “no current basis to restrict his employment in the League,” while commissioner Gary Bettman noted the NHL expects “a certain level of decorum and conduct” going forward.
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