Jeff O'Neill goes off on Mike Babcock; 'He can't deal with people not kissing his ass!'

Many are calling it an attempted redemption tour. After a year and three months of silence from Mike Babcock after he was fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 57-year-old is talking to several media outlets now, in what many believe is an attempt to smooth over the accusations made against him by many former players. When Toronto GM Kyle Dubas fired Babcock in November of 2019, several of his former players told stories of very manipulative and, according to some, abusive behaviour. There is also, of course, the infamous list issue with Mitch Marner. After recently taking a job as head coach of the University of Saskatchewan's men's hockey team, Babcock has been seemingly trying to atone for his past actions in interviews with several outlets. One person who isn't buying it is former NHLer Jeff O'Neill.

"This guy is used to walking around and everyone kissing his ass because he's Mike Babcock and he's the coach of Team Canada and he's smarter than everyone else." said O' Neill on his TSN OverDrive show. "What's going on now is he's having a difficult time with people not seeing his greatness. People calling him out for being a jerk and a bad coach and a bad guy. And he can't deal with people not kissing his ass and [not getting] the respect he used to get."

"And the way he treated everyone prior is just not happening any more, and he's having a tough time dealing with that. That's where it's at right now."

While O' Neill did play for the Leafs during his NHL career, it was not under Babcock.His co-host, Carlo Colaiacovo, did play for Babcock during a brief stint in Detroit and certainly did not seem to be disagreeing with O' Neill's assessment of the situation.

In an interview this week, Babcock indicated there are things he wishes he could take back.

"Have you ever said anything to your wife you'd like to get back?" Babcock asked.

"You know when you're reaching out and you're trying to get things back? My oldest girl would always say to me: 'Dad, it's not what you say. It's your tone.' We've all made mistakes in our life. You have to own everything you've done wrong — I think that's really important. But I also think your intention is so important," Babcock continued.

You can read the major highlights from Babcock's most recent interview here.