Wings' Babcock promotes mental health: #BellLetsTalk

Jan. 28--Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was quite serious about supporting Canada's "Bell Let's Talk" initiative, which is aimed at ending the stigma attached to mental illness.

Bell is donating five cents for every tweet with the hash tag #BellLetsTalk today.

During the NHL All-Star break, Babcock invited Canada's TSN to his home to talk about mental illness. One reason, he said, is because of friends' recent brushes with it.

"When things happen right around you," Babcock said, "I think sometimes it's calling you to get involved."

As far as it affecting sports, he cited Clara Hughes, the Canadian cyclist and speedskater who is the national spokesperson for the initiative. She has suffered from depression, which some view as a sign of weakness in the sports world. But not Babcock.

"Clara Hughes is as mentally tough (of an) athlete as there's ever been," he said. "She has mental illness. They're not the same thing. They don't have anything to do with you being able to do your job.

"How is a man or woman supposed to be the best they can be if they got something bothering them and they can't talk about it? That makes no sense."

In his many years of coaching, Babcock told TSN that he only has talked to two players about their mental health issues.

"It was amazing how the conversation continued from that point on, and it seemed to make it easier for them," he said. "They knew you understood. ... It makes you feel good as a coach when they do come to talk to you."

TSN said that Babcock will hold an event this summer in his hometown of Saskatoon to raise money for mental illness.

Note: A Muskegon woman who stole the puck from Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist's first NHL goal, among other items in storage units, was sentenced to four to 30 years in prison Tuesday.

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.

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