Why would Babcock make a rookie rank the worth ethic of his teammates, then share the list with other players?
He just does weird stuff. I'm not sure there's much reason or logic behind it. Seems as if he likes to mess with people.
Not sure if it was the case with Babcock, but I've heard of cases where some coaches try to be like Herb Brooks with the Miracle on Ice team. Like they try to antagonize the team to try to to band them together with a common hatred of the coach.
The Devils fired Robbie Ftorek late in the 1999-00 season while the team was still in first place but they had hit a rough patch and he had lost the room. Some stories from that season:
- Brian Rafalski was a rookie. When the team played in Chicago, he got tickets for a bunch of friends/family from Michigan/Wisconsin. Ftorek scratched him even though Rafalski was getting #3 ice time behind Stevens/Niedermayer (and then he'd get the same ice time the next game).
- Ken Daneyko was set to play in his 1,000th game at home. He had invited people for that game. Ftorek scratched him a few games earlier and Daneyko would hit the milestone on the road instead.
- Veteran D Lyle Odelein requested a trade away from a Cup contender because of Ftorek.