After tons of speculation regarding an incident between former Toronto coach Mike Babcock and then rookie Mitch Marner, Marner has come out and confirmed it did indeed happen. It was being reported that Babcock had forced Marner to list his teammates from best to worst when it came to work ethic back in 2015-16, and then turned around and shared Marner's answers with some of his teammates.
In an interview with media members today, Marner says having to make the list, and it being shared with teammates did actually happen, saying he was surprised when asked to do it.
“I was lucky enough that the guys that were there with me, none of them took it to heart and they knew it wasn't up to me [to make the list],” Marner said. “But it's so long ago now.
“Honestly, I really kind of forgot about it until the report came out but it's over with now, it's done with.”
“It was huge for a first-year guy,” Marner said. “When I heard about [what Babcock did], I didn't really know what to think. But I was lucky enough to have that first-year group with me and our team was very tight and very well-knit together. That was a lucky situation. But it's over with now; it's out of my head.”
According to TSN, Babcock himself sent a text to Darren Dreger today saying he apologized to Marner for what he did.
“I was trying to focus on work ethic with Mitch - focusing on role models - it ended up not being a good idea. I apologized at the time,” Babcock said, according to TSN.
“[What happened with Babcock], that was my first year, I didn't really know what to think of it,” Marner said. “But it's all over with now, there's really nothing I can say. I'm looking forward to the future and the new change and seeing how I can help this team win with Sheldon [Keefe, Toronto's new head coach]".
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