Mark Messier delivered the harshest assessment yet of the Edmonton Oilers‘ decision to hire Mike Babcock, and the reaction has been split between agreement and a very specific objection.
Speaking on ESPN’s NHL Opening Night media call on Wednesday, the Hall of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup champion was asked about his former club bringing in Babcock, who was hired on June 23 to replace Kris Knoblauch. He didn’t soften it.
“I am absolutely shocked they hired him,” Messier said, per ESPN. “I’m absolutely shocked from the stories that I heard from very good, reputable, character people about the way they were treated. It’s been no secret. I am just horrified about the whole thing, to be honest with you.”
Mark Messier on Babcock
His bigger issue was with how the hire happened. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman all personally interviewed Babcock before Edmonton committed to a three-year deal, something Messier said he had never encountered.
“I think there has to be a separation of powers on the structural level of any team,” Messier said, per TSN. “The leadership of your team has to protect the players inside the dressing room. How can you do that when you’re directly involved with the decisions they’re making at the management level? I just don’t know if it does go bad and players are having difficulties, who do they turn to? Because if they turn to the leadership, the leadership is management.”
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Plenty of fans took the criticism as significant precisely because of who was making it.
“Mark Messier? Mark Messier thinks your hiring is s***? That’s a real low point,” one wrote.
“I know that Messier sucks, but if even card-carrying members of the NHL Old Boys Club are talking s*** about Babcock, then I think that’s rather telling,” another added. A third put it more simply: “Yeah, if he isn’t defending it, you’re really in trouble.”
But the name that kept coming up in response wasn’t Babcock’s.
“Coming from the one player who liked Mike Keenan, I have a feeling that we only know the tip of the iceberg of Babcock stories,” one fan wrote.
Babcock’s history
That reference carries some weight. Messier won the 1994 Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers under Keenan, a coach whose reputation for harsh treatment of players was arguably the closest equivalent of its era to the accusations now following Babcock. The two were later reunited in Vancouver, where Keenan’s arrival coincided with Trevor Linden losing the captaincy to Messier and being traded within months.
Messier isn’t the only former player to speak up. Mike Commodore has been relentless on the subject since June, while Daniel Winnik, who played under Babcock in Toronto, called him “a bully” and “the only guy that has ever made me hate hockey.” Former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen has said Babcock’s verbal attacks contributed to an emotional breakdown.
Edmonton has stood by the process. “They’ve earned the right to have a voice. We sought that and we decided,” CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said of the players’ involvement. McDavid said last week that the club would step in if Babcock ever crossed a line.
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