New head coach Mike Babcock is already making news for all the wrong reasons in Columbus. After years of being ostracized from the NHL for his lack of ethics and questionable conduct, he was given another chance to coach in the league by the Columbus Blue Jackets this season. Before the 2023-24 campaign has yet to begin, stories are already leaking about the antics he’s up to.
The cast of Spittin’ Chiclets took to their latest podcast and shared a story about word coming out of the Blue Jackets organization as it relates to the latest stunt Babcock is trying to pull. Apparently, Paul Bissonnette was called by a player and asked, “Did you hear what’s already going on in Columbus?” The story goes that Babcock called Boone Jenner into his office and demanded he give him his cell phone so the coach could go through the photos to see what type of person (captain) he had.
Both Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney were flabbergasted by the allegations, the former saying Babcock needs to focus on “the forecheck” and what his team is doing on the ice, not whether his captain has a bunch of “di–picks” on his cell phone.
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic has already posted an update on the story coming out of the podcast. He tweeted that the Blue Jackets “are aware of these allegations and looking into them. No official response yet. Babcock and Jenner have not immediately responded to requests seeking comment.” Bissonnette then hopped back on Twitter and responded, “It’s 100% true.”
We’ll have more as it becomes available.
Are we looking at a situation where Babcock’s run is shorter than Aaron Rogers in New York? Mike In the offseason, Babcock said he’d undergone personal growth during my time away from the NHL. Then, the first thing he does is demand to view someone’s private photos. This is deeply concerning and warrants immediate attention. No wonder the Blue Jackets are looking into it.
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