More Babcock Shenanigans

[NyQuil]

Former Leaf Nazem Kadri recently revealed more Mike Babcock shenanigans in his new book: "Dreamer: My Life on the Edge".

The Mitch Marner story about being asked by Babcock to rank his teammates is already well-known and is referenced in the book (and in the article below). I didn't know that it took place during the "Dad's roadtrip" to NJ.

Here's a new twist on the same formula:

Still, it wasn't the last time Babcock would share information we considered private. Another incident that rubbed some of the guys the wrong way happened when Babcock called a meeting with the team and the entire training staff in the same room. He'd ask all the trainers to rank players on the level of effort they put into their gym routines.

There was an assumption that the information would be kept confidential, but Babcock brought up each assessment, one by one, in front of the entire team. The whole point was to embarrass guys, and it made for some awkward conversations between the the players and the training staff. Once you break that trust it's hard to come back, so it was all a bit of a sh*tshow.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/ex-maple-...le-point-was-to-embarrass-guys-130054267.html

 

[aylib]

There is a decent share of coaches that seem like they are psychopaths

 

[JianYang]

He's essentially having the teammates and trainers rip into each other rather than doing it directly himself.

I don't know why he went about it that way.

 

[Straight Fire]

The guy sure sounds like a nut-job.

 

[Leafs87]

This was made public a few years ago. Story continues as well. Martin stood up to Babcock and essentially he later became a regular healthy scratch. It was an interesting choice as we really needed a guy like Martin around, and his play did not degrade to the point where his on ice abilities were the reason for his benching. It was personal

 

[dumbdick]

I bet you Mike is a big fan of the Saw movies.

 

[NyQuil]

I think a key lesson is to never rank anything for Mike Babcock.

“How would you rank the Star Wars films?”

“Well, obviously Empire Strikes Back first…then maybe…..wait a sec, are those the directors of all of the movies behind that curtain?”

“…..maybe?”

This was made public a few years ago.

I heard the Marner thing but not the training staff thing.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

This goes beyond sports - people like this routinely end up in positions of power in the workplace.

There are some seriously sick individuals out there that get off on having total control over the well being of others. Management loves them because on paper they get results and they say all the right things, but save the mind games for when nobody is looking.

I worked under a guy like this for years and to this day, I still can't trust authority figures in the workplace without serious mental gymnastics on my end.

 

[centipede2233]

This goes beyond sports - people like this routinely end up in positions of power in the workplace.

I agree, a lot of bad managers out their

 

[BLNY]

He's essentially having the teammates and trainers rip into each other rather than doing it directly himself.

I don't know why he went about it that way.

Because, deep down, bullies are chicken$hits.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Very immature and unprofessional in any setting or workplace

 

[Saga of the Elk]

This goes beyond sports - people like this routinely end up in positions of power in the workplace.

Very crazy how people with a proven track record of success in their professions keep being elevated

 

[57special]

I would guess that he wasn't as toxic early on his career with ANA and DRW, then his ego got out of control, and caused him to think he could do no wrong.

 

[HighNote]

Very crazy how people with a proven track record of success in their professions keep being elevated

It's the method in which some of those people achieve that success that is worrisome. Often times the only thing that matters to higher ups when it comes to promotions are the final results. They don't care how those results are achieved, and so this gives an inside track to those who are willing to play dirty and hurt/manipulate those around them for the purposes of advancing themselves.

 

[HockeyVirus]

He's essentially having the teammates and trainers rip into each other rather than doing it directly himself.

I don't know why he went about it that way.

One of those guys who think the ends justify the means. Wants to break the awkwardness of calling each other out and make it so everyone feels comfortable holding each other accountable because shit has already been said. He knows winning teams hold each other accountable even if it pisses each other off.

Babcock was absolutely a great coach who understood what winning hockey looked like and which guys generally had what it takes. Problem was a complete lack of empathy and lack of common sense. He was all in on getting people to where he thought they needed to be even if he had to be a greasy scumbag to do it.

And probably as well he got off on having power over people, another shitty quality.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

“Let’s see how much more crap I can get away with..” -Mike Babcock

 

[JianYang]

One of those guys who think the ends justify the means. Wants to break the awkwardness of calling each other out and make it so everyone feels comfortable holding each other accountable because shit has already been said. He knows winning teams hold each other accountable even if it pisses each other off.

Babcock was absolutely a great coach who understood what winning hockey looked like and which guys generally had what it takes. Problem was a complete lack of empathy and lack of common sense. He was all in on getting people to where he thought they needed to be even if he had to be a greasy scumbag to do it.

And probably as well he got off on having power over people, another shitty quality.

Yeah, it appears to be an attempt at 4D chess, but I struggled with that theory as well simply because it shows a complete disconnect with what makes current hockey player tick.

 

[Barrie22]

I would guess that he wasn't as toxic early on his career with ANA and DRW, then his ego got out of control, and caused him to think he could do no wrong.

Except these stories do not start with toronto, they were there back when modano was reaching 1500 games. And Babcock decided to bench him with only 4 games left that made modano miss the milestone by 1 game.

 

[Jacob]

I wonder if Babcock was just accidentally a successful coach and primarily a psychopath first and foremost.

 

[Mattilaus]

It's the method in which some of those people achieve that success that is worrisome. Often times the only thing that matters to higher ups when it comes to promotions are the final results. They don't care how those results are achieved, and so this gives an inside track to those who are willing to play dirty and hurt/manipulate those around them for the purposes of advancing themselves.

The higher ups also don't care if the results are sustainable because they will be long gone before it all comes crashing down. Managers like this are short sighted.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Former Leaf Nazem Kadri recently revealed more Mike Babcock shenanigans in his new book: "Dreamer: My Life on the Edge".

The Mitch Marner story about being asked by Babcock to rank his teammates is already well-known and is referenced in the book (and in the article below). I didn't know that it took place during the "Dad's roadtrip" to NJ.

Here's a new twist on the same formula:

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/ex-maple-...le-point-was-to-embarrass-guys-130054267.html

This news is a few years old, pretty sure most here are aware of that.

 

[NyQuil]

This news is a few years old, pretty sure most here are aware of that.

As I said in my post, the Marner thing was well-known but I hadn't seen the training staff bit.

It's a bit late to delete the thread.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

There is a decent share of coaches that seem like they are psychopaths

Psychopaths are driven by power over others..

What an idiotic and asshole move by Babcock once again.

 

[surixon]

I would guess that he wasn't as toxic early on his career with ANA and DRW, then his ego got out of control, and caused him to think he could do no wrong.

One of the talking heads on TV when the Blue Jacket thing came out said something along the lines of Paul Kariya had things to say about him so my guess is his behavior goes all the way back.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

I’m pretty sure all the successful coaches have a bunch of little mind games they play with their group. I seem to remember that in Ken Dryden’s “The Game” he touched on some of the stuff Bowman would do.

This seems really low character though.