Columbus Blue Jackets Embrace Growth in Mike Babcock

Columbus Blue Jackets Hire Mike  Babcock as Their Next Head Coach

The Columbus Blue Jackets kicked off free agency with a bang by announcing the hiring of Mike Babcock as their new head coach. Babock becomes the ninth head coach in Blue Jackets history with a two-year contract through the 2023-25 season. 

Rumors of Babcock’s return to the NHL started swirling at the beginning of June. The Jackets’ fanbase felt perplexed knowing that while Babcock has a prolific winning history. He is also known to have a more gruff personality with the players than the average coach. 

However, things were different during today’s press conference with the media. We learned Babcock allowed himself the grace to grow as both a human and a coach. And, it took over the past three and a half years to get there.

Ultimately, what brought him back to coaching in the NHL was remembering the joy the sport of hockey once brought him. “I said to myself. I said to my wife. I said to my family a number of times is I’m not going to go back to work to prove something,” explained Babcock on his decision to come back to coaching at the professional level. “I’m gonna go back to work if there’s pure joy in it. The last three years in my life has been about pursuing pure joy.”

The joy began to creep back into Babcock’s heart. That happened while working as a Senior Advisor at The University of Vermont during the 2020-21 season. Then, as Head Coach of the University of Saskatchewan for the 2021-22 season. “ In doing that I got to coach young kids and what you find is, you find the joy,” Babcock said of his time at both schools. 

Talking with his son, Michael, about his internship with the Ottawa Senators helped Babcock make his final decision to return to the NHL.  “I wouldn’t be here today if my son hadn’t gone to Ottawa at the end of the season,” said Babcock. “We started breaking down all the games. Talking to him every day about what they were doing. Next thing you know you get excited about hockey.”

Time Away Lessons

So, what did Babcock learn during his time away from the NHL? 

Thanks to his daughter who told him, “It’s not what you say. It’s your tone,” Babcock began to change the way he communicates with players. “I’m a straight forward guy, honest, hardworking, and enthusiastic. But, the message sent and the message received often isn’t the same,” explained Babcock on communicating effectively. He then went on to really hit home the point, “the ability to communicate and send the right message that you want to send and do it in a way that’s totally respectful, to me, is what the last three and half years have been about.”

 Finding different ways to communicate helped him realize that “when you have 23 different guys on the team, you need 23 different ways to approach them.” From communication plans to development plans to mental health plans, Babcock now recognizes that each player needs their own set of plans to put them on the path towards success. He then went on to explain “I couldn’t have said what I said to you now 10 years ago because I didn’t know that.”

On the subject of growth, Babcock noted the most important step to changing is embracing the change if you want to get better. “I’ve been a life long learner pursuing knowledge my whole life and what this has done is get outside my body and have a look and see what I’m doing and understand you needed to change, you needed to grow.”

With the hiring of Babcock as the Jackets’ head coach, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and President of Hockey Operations John Davidson are giving him the grace to believe he’s changed and the space to continue to grow. 

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Four Crucial Areas For Maple Leafs The Rest Of This Regular Season

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils Trade Targets

NHL: NHL All Star Game Thoughts and Possible Changes

NFL: What Eddie Robinson Told Doug Williams After He Made History 35 Years Ago

Full Press Bets: Early 2022 NFL MVP Odds: Bills’ Josh Allen Favored

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly Ep 45: Canucks, Islanders, and The Boston Bruins