Nazem Kadri Shares Details Of Standing Up To Mike Babcock Over Mitch Marner Incident In Toronto
Mitch Marner was once a rookie under Head Coach Mike Babcock, and in his book, Nazem Kadri opens up on how he stood up for Marner against the bully.
During his time as Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mike Babcock certainly made himself plenty of enemies, while also failing to find any type of Stanley Cup Playoff success, making everyone shocked that he actually lasted until 2020 in the role. One of the biggest incidents that occurred during his time involved a rookie Mitch Marner, as the Head Coach demanded that he rank his teammates on a list based on their work ethic, before ultimately sharing it with the group.
Unsurprisingly, many in the locker room saw that as a disgusting tactic to use, especially on a rookie, with Kadri recounting in his book what he and veteran Tyler Bozak confronted the coach for his poor decisions.
�There wasn't much he could say, and in the end I think he realized he's made a mistake. After that he apologized to Mitch. We'd pretty much made him.'
�You just don't do that to a rookie.'
Marner wasn't the only person to undergo that treatment however, as Babcock reportedly did it to trainers as well, noting that his tactics broke the trust of the locker room and forced some people into very awkward and uncomfortable situations.
«Once you break that trust, it's hard to come back.»
Unfortunately, if it wasn't for Kadri and Bozak standing up to Babcock, it's unclear how bad things would have gotten for the Head Coach, as his tactics continued in Columbus after his departure from the Maple Leafs, where he tried similar tactics and was ultimately fired before even coaching a game.
