Situation involving Mike Babcock, the Oilers, and former NHL player spirals out of control
Photo credit: The Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK
Mike Commodore softened his Oilers camp post on legal advice. Edmonton escalated anyway - through its worst-suited executive.
Former defenseman Mike Commodore has spent weeks hammering Babcock since the June 23 hiring. Friday he aimed squarely at parents at Rogers Place.
His deleted original reportedly called the new hire a predator.
After talking to a lawyer, he announced a corrected repost.
The rewrite still tells parents to watch their kids around the man.
But predator quietly became scumbag.
That single-word retreat matters more than the insult. Someone who truly believed children were in danger does not soften the charge to shield himself from a lawsuit.
No independent source has confirmed any specific claim, and Commodore never named anyone.
He is a self-styled provocateur whose Babcock grudge traces to their Detroit days more than a decade ago.
The response is louder than the accusation
Edmonton could have let a known agitator shout into the void.
Instead it reportedly sent Commodore a threatening email, turning noise into a legal storyline.
Gary Bettman personally endorsed the hire while demanding decorum from Babcock. A public chill on a critic sits awkwardly beside that promise.
Why the messenger undercuts the message
The man steering this is Stan Bowman. He resigned in Chicago after leadership failed to promptly act on Kyle Beach's a**ault allegation, then rebuilt his name on making rooms safer.
That history makes intimidation the worst available tool. When the executive selling accountability answers a safety-flavored jab with lawyers, he confirms the instinct he was supposed to have unlearned.
The Babcock feud is old news.
Bowman choosing muscle over silence is the genuinely new mistake, and six weeks from now that judgment may lead the coverage instead of the hockey.
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