The dismissal of Mike Babcock did not come as a surprise. The coach, two-time Olympic champion, 2004 World Champion with Canada and Stanley Cup winner in 2008, lost six games in a row with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the North American professional hockey league NHL. Amazing, however, is what followed after Babcock's release: a debate that could change the entire hockey sport in North America lasting.
Since Babcock's release at the end of November, the NHL has been discussing over a decade of growing and self-sustained hockey culture that apparently tolerated and accepted coaches' physical and mental abuse of power. A culture whose symptoms are, among other things, racism and homophobia - and in which those responsible overlooked or sometimes tacitly tolerated dictatorial action.
"The worst person I have ever met"
Johan Franzén helped to shape this debate. The Swedish NHL pro and 2006 World Champion burst into tears when talking about his time at the Detroit Red Wings under coach Babcock. Franzén completed 707 NHL games under Babcock. "He's the worst person I've ever met," Franzen said a year ago to the Swedish newspaper "Expressen". At that time, hardly anyone in North America was interested. After Babcock's release, Franzén suddenly finds his voice. "He's a tyrant who attacks people, be it the cleaners in the hall or anyone else, making people hell for no reason," Franzén said.
In 2011, the martyrdom started, Babcock "verbally attacked him every day, said horrible things, I was scared to be in the gym," says Franzén, who is suffering from depression and has been denying NHL play since 2015 due to ongoing symptoms of concussion could. As the coach "verbally attacked" him in the 2012 playoff series against Nashville on the bench, as the then assistant coach Chris Chelios emphasized, Franzén suffered a nervous breakdown.
"I'm shaking when I think of it, it was rude, disgusting and shocking, but it was just one of the hundreds of things he did, the tip of the iceberg," says Franzén. According to Chelios, the then manager, Ken Holland, symbolically stood behind Babcock in the booth and let the players know that they could be exchanged if they rebelled.
The NHL is more backward than the other major US sports leagues
Another way of overriding his coach was Akim Aliu. The Nigerian-born player was racially insulted in the 2009/10 season in the Chicago Blackhawks farm team by coach Bill Peters in front of the entire crew in the cabin. Peters had apparently disturbed Alius' musical taste. In contrast to the football professional league NFL, in which on average two out of three players are colored or the basketball league NBA (75 percent), the NHL is backward in terms of diversity. Ice hockey is still considered a white sport. African-Americans or Afro-Canadians are also exceptions in the 2019/20 season.
Not very surprising the things we hear about Babcock. Apple does not fall from the tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times in the dressing room in my rookie year because he did not like my choice of music. First one to
- Akim Aliu (@ Dreamer_Aliu78) November 26, 2019Alius Fall was first known for his tweets following the Babcock release. In his short messages he did not mention Peters by name, but gave enough indications that the identity became clear. Peters was initially banned by the Calgary Flames for a game and then resigned, presumably to forestall his release. Peters apologized to the Flames for his "insulting language". He turned to Aliu, however, with no syllable.
Babcock and Peters are just two recent examples. Meanwhile, allegations against Marc Crawford, the assistant coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, have become known. The New York Times wrote that the announcement of the three cases would reflect a "cultural change in sport". The effects could "linger for years". The Canadian television station "CBC" asked: "Will these incidents change the culture of ice hockey?"
Jeff McIntosh / AP
Coach Bill Peters returned to the Calgary Flames for racism allegations
Coaches beating their players
This culture is characterized by harshness, being able to endure pain, disperse and get infected - physically and mentally. And above all, the motto is never to complain. Because that is considered a sign of weakness. "You need a lot of perseverance and a strong psyche if things do not go the way you would expect," says Dennis Seidenberg in an interview with SPIEGEL.
Seidenberg played for 15 years in the NHL. He had quite experienced that coaches had made loud and clear announcements, emphasizes the 38-year-old. But he has never seen a coach beat a player like Peters should have done. The throws him the Czech player Michal Jordán of the Carolina Hurricanes now before.
Dan Robson is a journalist and writes for The Athletic. For him, the current cases are no surprise. Such behavior exists in ice hockey for decades, says Robson. Treating the players in a certain way has been passed from one generation of coaches to the next. It was accepted and allowed in the changing rooms. Nobody said anything about it, Robson said. He doubts, however, that "lots of other players" will raise their voices. For it is part of the "hockey culture" that things that happen in the cabin stay in the cabin as well.
The NHL strives to limit the image damage. Commissioner Gary Bettman met with Akim Aliu this week. The League spoke of "an open and productive meeting." The common goal is to ensure that "ice hockey is an open and inclusive sport at all levels". Aliu tweeted after the meeting: "I hope for a big change." The topic should be deepened at the meeting of the NHL supervisory board on Monday and Tuesday.
The debate has started. And she goes beyond the attacks. It is also about diversity and inclusion in the NHL. If it really changed the sport, that's just the beginning.