Kadri's autobiography, 'Dreamer: My Life On The Edge', releases on Oct. 15, 2024.
Kadri's autobiography, 'Dreamer: My Life On The Edge', releases on Oct. 15, 2024.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward is releasing a new book called 'Dreamer: My Life On The Edge', which reveals the moments after former head coach Mike Babcock released Mitch Marner's work ethic list.
In Marner's rookie year, 2016-17, Babcock invited him to create a list of his teammates' work ethic, from best to worst. The rookie obliged and Babcock turned around, sharing the list with players who were ranked.
Marner confirmed this story in an interview with TSN in 2019.
According to The Canadian Press, Kadri writes in his book that former Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak "stormed into Babcock's office and laid into him," after he released Marner's list to his teammates.
"He tried to defend what he'd done, to explain the thought process behind the exercise," Kadri added in the book.
"There wasn't much he could say, and in the end I think he realized he's made a mistake. After that he apologized to Mitch. We'd pretty much made him.
"You just don't do that to a rookie."
Kadri was traded from the Maple Leafs to the Colorado Avalanche in 2019. He and the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup two years later, in 2022, before the 34-year-old signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Calgary Flames that same summer.
In the book, Kadri mentions that he and Babcock had a pretty good relationship and that the coach made him a better player.
"I think he realized early on that I wasn't a player he could bully," Kadri wrote.
However, the forward also revealed in his autobiography that Babcock had asked the Maple Leafs' trainers to rank players' effort levels in the gym before discussing those rankings in front of the whole team.
"The whole point was to embarrass guys, and it made for some awkward conversations between the players and the training staff," Kadri wrote. "Once you break that trust, it's hard to come back."
Toronto fired Babcock on Nov. 20, 2019, and was replaced by Sheldon Keefe. Babcock then went on to coach the University of Saskatchewan's men's hockey team, from Feb. 20, 2021, to Aug. 25, 2022.
Just under a year later, on July 1, 2023, he was hired as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Babcock resigned two months later after it was revealed he had asked his players to see photos on their phones.
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