Jimmy Howard didn’t understand why Mike Babcock prevented Mike Modano from reaching a special milestone or why he kept Chris Chelios chained to the bench during a historic game at Wrigley Field.

The former goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings also was puzzled by his coach’s public endorsement for an opponent to win rookie of the year over one of his own players.

Babcock’s treatment of players contributed to his firing in Toronto in 2019 and resignation in Columbus a year ago.

Many of Babcock’s former players have spoken out about his behavior, including Johan Franzen, who in 2109 called Babcock “a terrible person, the worst I have ever met.”

Howard, who retired in 2020 as the third-winningest goalie in Red Wings history, shared some stories about Babcock on the Cam and Strick podcast. He escaped his coach’s wrath for the most part, but some of his antics left him perplexed.

“I didn’t have a lot of interaction with him. All the stuff that came out publicly, I was like, ‘Was I that naïve? Was I living in my own little world that much that I didn’t notice what was going on,’ ” Howard said on the podcast. “But then a lot of the time a lot of the stuff that was went on was during the game and I was 90 feet from the bench standing in the crease, so I had no idea any of that was going on.”

He added, “Every once in a while, I’d turn the corner in the morning and there he’d be, ‘Huh, played some (expletive) dodgeball last night, eh, Howie?’ And I’m like, “Yup, couldn’t get hit by it. Sorry, Babs.’ Little comments like that, but it was nothing like, ‘Oh my gosh he just zinged me so hard I’m not going to be able to get by.’ ”

Howard said the only time he was furious with Babcock was prior to the 2010 playoff series against Phoenix. Howard had been named a finalist for the Calder Trophy as top rookie.

“He did a media scrum right in front of me in Phoenix … and he was like, ‘My vote’s for Tyler Myers,’ ” Howard said. “I was like, ‘Huh, that’s nice. Thanks, Mike, appreciate it.’

“They all turn their attention and come to me and I’m like, ‘Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a vote.’ ”

Babcock, however, had the only vote when he elected to scratch Modano during a late-season game, a move that resulted in the Detroit native and Hall of Famer finishing with 1,499 games played.

“We were just all in shock. … All of us were like, ‘What in the world is going on here?’ ” Howard said. “To this day, I still don’t know why.”

In 2008, Babcock kept Chicago native Chelios on the bench during the team’s first-ever outdoor game at Wrigley Field, opting to play six other defensemen.

“Why (did) you bench Cheli in Chicago for the outdoor game?” Howard said. “Some of these moves made zero sense. Probably just to flex some muscle.”

Babcock’s bizarre treatment of players continued in Toronto, where he betrayed Mitch Marner’s confidence by having him rank teammates according to work ethic and then shared the list with the team. His tenure in Columbus ended before it even began when it was revealed he asked players to hand him their phones so that he could go through them.

Howard touched on several other topics in the podcast, including Pavel Datsyuk’s wizardry, playing with Nicklas Lidstrom, his facewash of Sidney Crosby and playing his entire career in Detroit.