Mike Babock went behind his own player's back while coaching

Former Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard was recently speaking on The Cam & Strick Podcast, and revealed that roughly 15 years ago, when he was in his rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings, his coach Mike Babcock was submitting his vote for the NHL's Rookie of the Year, and went against his own net-minder to vote for Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers instead.

Tyler Myers finished the 2009-10 season with Buffalo Sabres having played in all of his team's 82 games, scoring 11 goals and adding 37 assists.

Jimmy Howard played 63 games for the Detroit Red Wings that same year as a rookie. He won 37 games, and had a fabulous GAA of 2.26 and a stellar save % of .924.

Unfortunately for Howard, Tyler Myers ended up winning the Calder Trophy award that year for the league's best rookie, so Howard could have sure used his coach's vote after coming in second place.

Babcock has been known to make headlines in the NHL for the oddest of reasons at times, so this situation likely doesn't shock anyone, as it's become expected of him to always pull some sort of trick out of his hat.

Source:
The Cam & Strick Podcast on X

Source: HockeyDB
Jimmy Howard Stats

Source: HockeyDB
Tyler Myers Stats