"I'm disappointed for Mike": Oilers' Holland gives his thoughts on the Babcock situation
Edmonton Oilers general manager (GM) Ken Holland has known Mike Babcock for a long period of time.
The two had a working relationship for years with the Detroit Red Wings, where Holland served as the GM and had Babcock as the team’s head coach. Given how long the two have known one another, reporters couldn’t help but ask Holland about Babcock, who recently resigned from the Columbus Blue Jackets before ever coaching a game with them. The decision came shortly after the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast exposed him for taking players’ phones and going through their camera rolls.
“I don’t really talk to anybody, I just know what the media is saying,” Holland said. “I guess, my one [thing] would be, I’m disappointed for everybody. I’m disappointed for Mike, I’m disappointed for the organization, I’m disappointed. Obviously, Mike and I worked together for 10 years. His wife and my wife were good friends when we were together. When you leave, you kind of go your separate ways.
“We had a great relationship. Again, I know what the media’s writing, but I don’t know a lot more than that. I’m just disappointed for Mike, I’m disappointed for everybody there.”
This isn’t the first time Holland has been questioned about Babcock, who has had controversy following him for some time now. After being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2019-20 season, several stories came out about his unprofessional tactics used on players.
“When you have a 23-man roster, when I was in Detroit with Mike Babcock, there was some players in that locker room that didn’t like the coach,” Holland said at the time. “There was some players in that locker room that didn’t really have feelings either way.”
While working together, Holland and Babcock were able to help lead the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup championship in 2008 and also advanced to the Cup Final the very next year. They continued to work alongside one another until Babcock chose to take over as the head coach of the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2015-16 season. Holland remained with the Red Wings through the 2018-19 season before choosing to take on the GM role for the Oilers.
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