More shocking Mike Babcock allegations have emerged, including one involving a meeting at his home
With Mike Babcock officially out of Columbus - and most likely the NHL for good - more damning information is continuing to leak out and this recent batch is a doozy.
First, all the credit to Paul Bissonnette and the Spittin' Chiclets podcast for putting this information out and not backing down when they were thrown to the wolves. Bissonnette did want to make two further points on the situation:
1) He made a plea to the media that they stop asking the Blue Jackets players questions about this situation, especially when the season rolls around. Last thing they want and/or need is a distraction of this volition throughout the season. "It happened in the off-season, it was addressed in the off-season, you can't bother these players all year about it. They did nothing wrong."
2) Second point was that he wasn't too keen on Ryan Whitney's stance on Jackets' GM, Jarmo Kekalainen and how he should also be fired. Bissonnette believes that Kekalainen has a big heart, is a nice guy, and took a massive leap of faith in giving Babcock a second chance.
As for the slippery slope that is Babcock, apparently there were several incidents that took place at his house - not just in his office. In at least one report that was given to Whitney, a younger player was invited for lunch, was then told to show Babcock his phone, and once Babcock was done flipping through, he told the player to leave without lunch being served.
Whitney - as well as many in the hockey world - clamoured that it's one thing to show pictures that would involve you partying, or maybe even photos of your wives and girlfriends, but what if there was other personal items in there, like a player being in the closet? Babcock's wrath truly knew no bounds and invasion of privacy was regularly on the menu for the veteran coach.
More stories were shared, but one that stood out was from an older player who had yet to crack an NHL roster. He said he was sitting on the bench, taping his stick before a preseason game, when Babcock approached him and initiated a conversation. Babcock said something like "this is pretty amazing, isn't it?" to which the player agreed. Babcock then finished off the conversation by saying "soak it in, it's the last time you'll ever be on an NHL bench" and then left.
Obviously, these allegations have not been investigated or proven true, but with what we know about Babcock's past indiscretions, perhaps we should give the players who reported these incidents the benefit of the doubt here, as they were the ones who allegedly endured these awful experiences.
At any rate, Babcock is gone and hopefully this is the last we hear about him anywhere near an NHL team - let alone receiving a job interview.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 19 | 396 ANSWERS More shocking Mike Babcock allegations have emerged, including one involving a meeting at his home Do you believe the players who are anonymously reporting these stories? | ||
| I wouldn't put anything past Babcock at this point | 243 | 61.4 % |
| No, there's no way | 17 | 4.3 % |
| Maybe, but they're probably half truths | 72 | 18.2 % |
| Don't care. Done with Babcock | 64 | 16.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
