
Last week, the news broke that the Toronto Maple Leafs had fired head coach Mike Babcock – and there was nobody on Earth happier with the news than Mike Commodore.
Commodore absolutely slammed Babcock with a level of vitriol rarely seen in professional sports between former colleagues. Additionally, a report came out stating that the majority of Maple Leafs players were pleased with his dismissal.
But apparently, Commodore isn't the only former NHL player to be speaking out against the Stanley Cup winning bench boss.
http://gty.im/93537993
Mark Fraser, who bounced around the NHL before landing in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Ice Hockey League), came to Commodore's defense and added insight into how many NHL players apparently don't have a favorable view of Babcock.
His full comments:
“Anyone who thinks [Commodore] needs to lay off Babs just doesn’t understand how much hate players have for him. It’s beyond him scratching [Commodore] or saying he was out of shape. NHL players are a very very small population of athletes and people. We share stories throughout the years with each other and for those outside the locker rooms, you will never truly understand some of the terrible undeserving things Babs has done to his some of his players.
You don’t have to like all your coaches, but he is one who 95% of his players can’t say a good thing about. With the ability to end players careers, he’s chosen to do so to long serving vets that have resulted in all his players turning against him. He’s used his power to turn teammates against each other, and choose to continuously lie to his players.
[Commodore] may have strong public opinions of Babs, but in our fraternity of NHL and former NHL players, he’s speaking for the masses. He’s speaking for countless players who have personally told me their terrible stories of Babs just being a bad guy.
He’s speaking for all the #MapleLeafs who wouldn’t dare speak the truth right now, but damn sure want to. [Commodore] has so many players respect. If only the outsiders in the hockey world knew the truth.”