Does Mike Babcock belong in the Hall of Fame?
He has the on-ice credentials for sure, but does his off-ice behaviour preclude him from being included with some of the NHL's legendary coaches? Probably not, because a lot of them were jerks, too
We’ll have to take Mike Babcock’s word for it when he says he’s retiring for good from coaching. He certainly doesn’t need the money, thanks to the generosity of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s won pretty well all there is to win in the game and there’s also that little matter of him probably never being offered a job again, at least in the NHL. But as Babcock said when he announced his retirement on a Saskatoon radio station the day after resigning as head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, “if things change, I guess they change.”
They probably won’t change, but you never know. So if it’s indeed true that Babcock has stood behind a bench for the last time, it’s as good a time as any to bring up a rather vexing, and uncomfortable, question.
Is Mike Babcock a Hall of Famer?
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