from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

It began with former Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios going on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast and alleging that Babcock had verbally assaulted Franzen during a playoff series against Nashville. Franzen, in a subsequent interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, called Babcock a “great coach,” but a “terrible person” and a “bully,” saying he suffered from verbal attacks from the coach.

Former Red Wings GM Ken Holland was asked by the Detroit Free Press last December if a player had ever come to him and accused Babcock of verbal abuse. Holland said no....

“(Franzen) had unbelievable years in Detroit,’’ Babcock said. “He was a big man with great hands. When he first came here, we thought he was a checker and he turned himself into an unbelievable player.

“When a player that you’ve coached says that about you, it stings you big time. But not only does it sting for that, if you’ve been involved with mental health like I have …'”...

“Can you imagine having someone say that about you when you have been involved in mental health as much as I have? Now, I’ve reached out to (Franzen). That’s not going to make anything go away.

“It doesn’t matter what I perceive. When you’re talking about this kind of thing, if the person — whether it’s a co-worker, your spouse, your student — if they think that’s the environment, that’s what they’re feeling. Now, I sure wish I would have known about that then. And I could have done something about that. Besides apologize, there’s not much I can do about that now. But does it sting? Does it hurt? Absolutely.’’

more ($$$) and Babcock addresses other topics too...