Friedman Breaks Down Why Messier’s Babcock Comments Are Complicated

Elliotte Friedman went on the Fan Hockey Show to share his take on the Mark Messier situation, and it’s a pretty nuanced breakdown once you get into it.

Friedman Agrees That Messier’s Comments Lean Toward Irony

First, Friedman points out something kind of ironic. Messier’s out here talking about how weird it is that players had this much power in hiring Babcock, but Messier himself was literally one of the first guys in the league to wield that kind of influence. Back then, he convinced Canucks ownership to bring in Mike Keenan as coach, and he probably had a say in personnel moves after that too. So Friedman’s basically like, it’s a little rich for that criticism to be coming from him specifically.

As for how this actually impacts Edmonton, Friedman doesn’t think it moves the needle at all. He thinks the Oilers have heard every opinion under the sun. Messier’s point comes now that the team is ready to drop the puck and start the season. Reality’s set in for them. So no, he doesn’t think Messier’s comments will rattle the organization.

Friedman Shares Why He Thinks Messier Weighed In At All

Now here’s the part that’s actually interesting. Why did this even come out now, three months after the hire? Friedman ran into Messier in New York recently and said he seemed to be in a great mood. So this wasn’t some guy sitting there stewing with an axe to grind publicly. Friedman actually looked at the transcript from the ESPN call where this happened, and it looks like it was just a natural follow-up.

Apparently Mark Spector had already been asked about it, and Messier basically picked up the thread. So Friedman’s take is this wasn’t some planned callout by Messier. It was just a normal media moment that organically got into Babcock territory.

Friedman Believes There Was a Different Reason Behind Messier’s Comments

But here’s the real nugget Friedman picked up on that a lot of people glossed over. Messier mentioned there are people he respects who “weren’t treated very well” by Babcock. And Friedman thinks that’s actually the whole story right there. This wasn’t really about player empowerment or hiring-process philosophy at its core. It was Messier defending people he knows and likes who had rough experiences with Babcock.

Friedman says all the critiques of Messier, Babcock, the process, all of that is fair game. But he thinks that personal loyalty angle is what was actually driving the comments underneath it all. In that sense, Friedman’s comments add nuance to the situation. Probably, he believes, Messier would not have addressed it at all had he not been specifically asked.

The bottom line for Friedman is that he sees the Oilers shrugging this off, believes Messier’s comments were prompted rather than planned, and thinks Messier’s personal experiences with people who had problems with Babcock are an important part of the story.

Related: Is Messier Wrong? Oilers CEO Defended Letting Players Help Hire Babcock