Since the firing of Mike Babcock by the Toronto Maple Leafs last week, a lot of stories have come out about players that flat out didn't like the guy. Mike Commodore is probably the best example. Commodore was elated with Babcock's firing, saying he's been waiting for the moment for years. He added Babcock is a fraud and prick. There have been others as well. Many of the stories were easy to pass off, if you were so inclined, as being the ramblings of bitter former players looking for someone to blame for their own shortcomings. However, a new story from the Toronto Sun really makes you wonder if there's more to the hatred of Babcock than just petty bitterness.

The article, which you can find here, talks about how the Leafs seem to be reinvigorated under new coach Sheldon Keefe. They've gone 2-0 so far and appear to be a completely different team. In the article, a very interesting and strange anecdote is brought up about Babcock's coaching style. Here is the exact quote from the article:

One tale was related to us in the past few days that is said to have occurred in the 2016-17 season, during the annual fathers trip.
Babcock was alleged to have asked one of the Leafs' rookies to list the players on the team from hardest-working to those who, in the eyes of the rookie, didn't have a strong work ethic. The rookie did so, not wanting to upset his coach, but was taken aback when Babcock told the players who had been listed at the bottom.

It's mind-boggling why a coach would want to be so needlessly manipulative with any player, let alone a rookie. The big question, of course, is which player did this happen to. According to Ian Tulloch, a contributor to The Athletic and host of The Leafs Geeks Podcast, it was Mitch Marner. Check it out:

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If this is indeed true, it's not difficult to understand why Marner was unwilling to budge when negotiating his new contract with Toronto. If he thought he was going to have to play under Babcock for another four years at least, it seems it was only going to happen for every penny he could squeeze out of the team. It's also not surprising why The Athletic quoted a source as saying 90 percent of the current roster was relieved to see Babcock go when he was fired. Strange stuff, indeed.