Former NHLer and Hall of Famer Mike Modano recently opened up about an infamous story regarding himself and Mike Babcock.
Babcock, who hasn’t been behind the bench of a regular season game since the 2019-20 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has become a villain in the eyes of many throughout the hockey community.
There have been many stories about Babcock’s unusual antics, many of which haven’t sat well with former players he coached. One of those antics, which involved him going through the phones of players, resulted in him resigning from the Columbus Blue Jackets before coaching a single game with them.
While many Babcock tales have been brought up by players over the years, one that has often been discussed is how he treated Modano. The 54-year-old finished his career with 1,499 games. He would have hit the 1,500 mark, but was healthy scratched by Babcock in the second last game of the Detroit Red Wings season in 2010-11.
That decision has been criticized by many former players over the years, and Modano even once spoke about his disappointment regarding it years ago on the Cam & Strick Podcast. He was asked about it again on the newest episode of Spittin’ Chiclets and admitted he wasn’t happy with how Babcock handled the situation, admitting that it was “a bit of a hose.”
“I got hurt, cut some tendons, so I was in a rehab thing,” Modano explained. “I come back talking to the doctors, and I’m like, ‘OK, when are we gonna time this thing?’ I’m looking at maybe the first week of March. I’m looking at my games played to the end of the year, and I’m like, ‘If I get now till then, I hit [1,500] on the nut, that’d be a good little consolation for the year.’ We’ve got three left, I play, I’m at 1,498, [we play] Minnesota at home, [I’m a] healthy scratch. Then he plays me in Chicago for the season-ender to get 1,499.”
“Mike, we didn’t bring you here to get 1,500 games, we brought you here to win a cup.”
Babcock health bombing Modano in the second last game of the season, and then playing him in the final for him to come one game short of 1,500GP is villain behaviour. https://t.co/H2asmmniJU pic.twitter.com/UIvHdNJbij
— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 14, 2025
Modano also made it clear that Babcock was well aware of his situation regarding the 1,500-game marker.
“He was like, ‘Mike, we didn’t bring you here to play 1,500 games. We brought you here to win a Cup,’” Modano said.
Though Modano held back from completely ripping Babcock, he seemed to suggest that other stories that have since come out regarding the former head coach help explain the entire ordeal.
“All this stuff that’s come out, I’m like ‘Oh man, this guy,’” Modano said.
Though he was prevented from reaching the illustrious mark, Modano still enjoyed a phenomenal career. His 561 goals and 1,374 points rank second all-time amongst American-born players.
- You might also like:
- Another bizarre allegation has surfaced about ex-Leafs coach Mike Babcock