Mike Babcock hasn't been heard from much, if at all, since being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in late November of 2019. That is until recently, when it was announced he will be starting a part-time gig with NBC beginning this Sunday.
As a result, Babcock spoke to media today for the first time since he was fired. The longtime head coach, who is not behind a bench for the first time in 33 years, said he has enjoyed the time off with his wife and their three grown kids.
While the interview with Babcock started off easy, focusing mainly on how he has been spending his time lately, it did get into more uncomfortable questions. One in particular was regarding Leafs superstar Mitch Marner, who Babcock reportedly asked to rank his teammates work ethic, which he then shared to Marner's teammates afterward.
«Yeah, that's not how that happened, actually,» Babcock told The Atheltic. «I was working with Lou (Lamoriello) at that time, we made it very clear our number one priority was to make sure these young guys, Mitch, Matty (Auston Matthews), were going to be the best pros they can be at 23, 24. And turn them into the hardest working, best players they can possibly be.
«So Mitch was in my office. We were talking about work ethic. I asked him where he ranked on the scale. And that was no problem, just a private thing. It was a good meeting. Mitch left. But then I was meeting, I'm pretty sure it was with (Tyler) Bozak, afterward. Bozy was an important part of our team. What I ended up doing – and I made a big-time mistake, I knew as soon as I did it – when we were talking about competing and I said, 'Well look where Mitch ranks it.'
«Well, as soon as I did that, and he saw the list, I knew that I had made a major mistake. After the meeting with Bozak, I went right into the dressing room. I grabbed Mitch and said, 'Mitch, this is what I did. I screwed you here.»
Babcock went on to say that he offered to Marner to tell the team he made a mistake, but Marner told him he didn't have to. The story that claimed he went into the dressing room and posted Marner's list up for everyone to see however, is fake, according to Babcock. He said that when he confirmed to insiders Darren Dreger and Elliotte Friedman that the story happened, he was not aware of the version that was currently being circulated around the media.
The 57-year-old also spoke about Johan Franzen's claims that Babcock was a 'bully', saying that it 'stings' knowing that he had a negative affect on the former players mental health.
"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.''
He also said how excited he is about joining NBC for this season, and that he is unsure whether or not he will return behind an NHL bench ever again, saying it 'has to be the right fit'.
Regarding the Marner incident, we very well may never find out who is telling the truth. It is unlikely any players will comment about it, at least not during their playing careers. Still, it is interesting to finally get Babcock's perspective on the issue. It should also be very interesting to see how the controversial head coach is in his new role which is set to begin this weekend.
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