I’m kind of surprised Babcock has already gotten in trouble. The Columbus Blue Jackets are sowing the seeds of their own stupidity with new head coach Mike Babcock already under NHL and NHLPA investigation for supposedly invading the personal space/property of his players.
A leopard doesn’t change its spots, and Mike Babcock can’t stop being a malignant tumor in dressing rooms.
Despite spending the entire offseason professing change and personal growth, Mike Babcock only needed a few months to warrant an NHL and NHLPA investigation over his alleged invasions of privacy of his new Blue Jackets players. And, to be honest, the entire Columbus organization should be ashamed of themselves for even hiring this clown in the first place.
What do you know? Mike Babcock and controversy just can’t seem to break up with one another as the new and supposedly “changed” Columbus head coach is in boiling hot water for one of the weirdest invasions of privacy I think I’ve ever heard from the NHL.
So, for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, TNT analyst and Spittin’ Chicklets podcast host Paul Bissonnette recently said on the Spittin’ Chicklets podcast that an anonymous player source told him that Mike Babcock had forced Blue Jackets team captain Boone Jenner to give Babcock his phone in order for Babcock to “get a measure of Jenner’s character”, allow Babcock to go through the private photos in his phone, and then to broadcast the photos on his office T.V. through Apple Airplay. And then he did so with nearly every other player in the Blue Jackets locker room.
Do you know how crazy and weird this sounds? Not only is it an extreme invasion of privacy and abuse of power given Babcock is the coach of the team and has the power to strip any player of their position of authority (aka: strip Jenner of the captaincy if he refused) or outright cut/bench a player, but he also is a 60-year-old man looking through the phones and private photos of people anywhere from half to a quarter of his age.
Creepy uncle vibes anyone?
Nevertheless, this story was refuted by Babcock (obviously), Jenner (obviously), and Johnny Gaudreau in statements that claim the situation was blown way out of proportion with the “photo exchange” merely about family photos and a group bonding experience.
Moreover, the NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly came out and said that what Bissonnette said was “inconsistent” with what he was told by interviewed Blue Jackets players. Or, in other words, Bissonnette was flat out called a liar by the Blue Jackets and the NHL deputy commissioner.
So, story over and done with, right? This is just a classic case of a huge misunderstanding between some “insider sources” and an eager “reporter” (Bissonnette isn’t really a reporter, but he was in this case) about a questionable, but wholesome team bonding experience completely blown out of proportion.
Well…no. That’s not the case in the slightest.
After just two days of Bill Daly’s soon-to-look-to-you asinine comments, the NHL and NHLPA announced they were launching a serious investigation into the matter after numerous younger Blue Jackets players came forward and said they felt “uncomfortable” with the situation during “intense” interviews with league officials.
And, now there’s even reports that Babcock could be fired given the information received by the NHL over the last 48 hours, which begs to question: what the hell did Babcock do with the younger players, but not the veteran ones?
Back during his days in Detroit, Anaheim, and Toronto, Babcock was ruthless in his mistreatment and abuse of power over all players, regardless of whether or not they were stars, such as the Red Wings’ Johann Franzen or Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner, or minor employees in an organization, such as a Red Wings’ “cleaner”/janitor.
But, obviously, that ended up being his downfall as all of his mistreatment caused a locker room revolt in Toronto, which was spearheaded by the superstar players, and he was exiled from the Maple Leafs and the NHL soon after.
So, if these new reports are correct about the younger Blue Jackets players, it would appear that Babcock was doing far different “team bonding” activities with the star and veteran players of the organization than what he was doing with the rookies, younger players, and status-threatened players. What a huge surprise…not.
As I said in the intro, a leopard never changes its spots. And it seems like Babcock is a leopard through and through as he may go down as one of the shortest tenured and disastrous (he hasn’t even coached a game yet) NHL coaches in NHL history if the NHL and/or NHLPA finds what he did reprehensible and against the code of conduct.
Oh, and as for the Blue Jackets management if these allegations are proven true, each and every one of them should be fired for hiring a guy who clearly never tried or wanted to be rehabilitated as a professional, decent NHL head coach and who only wanted the power to abuse more players.
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