Further stunning details on Mike Babcock revealed by ex-NHL players
They're the latest players to blast the controversial former NHL bench boss.
HockeyFeed
As if former NHL head coach Mike Babcock needed more negative press, even more of his former players have come out and exposed further details that have made him one of the most controversial figures in the hockey world.
By now, most fans know the stories of Babcock dating back to his time with the Red Wings in which he allegedly verbally assaulted forward Johan Franzen, leading the Swedish forward to later label Babcock as "the worst person I've ever met". Multiple power trips that included scratching Mike Modano rather than letting him play his 1,500th game and scratching Jason Spezza rather than let him play in front of friends and family in his Maple Leafs debut have forever tarnished his reputation in the eyes of most.
Last year, his tenure as Columbus Blue Jackets head coach lasted not even two months, as he resigned from his position before training camp even began after revelations that he invaded player privacy by looking through their phones was released.
And now, more of Babcock's former players are coming forward with more stunning details. Defenseman Frank Corrado, who was claimed off waivers by the Maple Leafs in October of 2015 but was designated a healthy scratch for 10 weeks, exposed Babcock's "cruel" tactics.
Via The Athletic:
“I have no idea who you are,” Corrado remembers Babcock telling him when they first met. He told Corrado to meet him at his office at the Leafs training facility the next day at 8 a.m. Corrado arrived early and knocked on Babcock’s door, but the coach told him he didn’t have time to see him. Corrado waited for an hour and a half, but Babcock never made time for him.
Corrado said he later experienced panic attacks and threw up regularly before games because of anxiety, which he never experienced before playing for Babcock.
“It was cruel. It went on way too long and it did way too much damage to me,” he said. “I think he loves f—ing with people’s heads. I really do.”
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg in the latest revelations from players who can count Babcock among their former bench bosses. Take Leafs forward Peter Holland for example, who had the following to say when he was demoted to the minors in the 2016-17 season:
“You’re here to remind me that you’re still on the team. But you’ve lost your job, and all you can do right now is show up in practice,” Holland recalls Babcock saying. “Now tell me what you came here to tell me, so you can go home and tell your family and your agent that you said what you wanted to say.”
“I’ve played for hard-ass coaches who I really like and respect — because they still treat you like a person. My experience with Babs was that he doesn’t treat you like a human being,” Holland said.
Going back further to Babcock's tenure as head coach of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, he sidelined veterans Jason York, German Titov and Denny Lambert during training camp.
“It’s not just you that you’re playing for. You’re playing for your family, you’re playing for your kids, right?” said York. “He took my livelihood like it was nothing.”
“There was no respect at all,” Lambert said. “I would never treat anyone like that.”
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