Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney of Spittin' Chiclets react to the Babcock news following his resignation
Last Tuesday, Spittin' Chiclets host Paul Bissonnette brought forward allegations against now former Columbus Head Coach Mike Babcock. The allegations were regarding Babcock asking players to connect their phones to a TV and sharing their photo albums. Initially, Bissonnette was facing a ton of backlash, saying he only raised the issue for likes and ratings, but the more information that came out, the more it showed Bissonnette's story wasn't fiction. Given that Spittin' Chiclets is associated with the always polarizing, and controversial Barstool Sports, there were plenty of detractors, but with Bissonnette also an analyst on the NHL on TNT, a logical person would realize that he would not sewer himself and his career without credible sources.
Following the allegations, Babcock, Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau released statements claiming that all was fine and there were no issues with Babcock's request. However, Friday morning, it was brought to light that younger players felt uncomfortable with Babcock's request and that the probing into his players' personal lives went a lot further with the younger players on the team. Babcock obviously has a history of treating his veterans one way and his rookies another.
The NHLPA launched an investigation into the matter, and yesterday, it was announced that Babcock would be resigning from his position as the head coach of the Blue Jackets before even stepping behind the bench. Following the announcement, both Bissonnette and his Chiclets co-host Ryan Whitney took to Twitter to call out the "haters" and those that doubted his credibility.
"We're a players podcast. If you f*** with the players, your day will come," tweeted Bissonnette, while Whitney tweeted "Wow that's nuts. We were just making all that stuff up for clicks," with an abundance of sarcasm.
In a rarity, even TSN's Darren Dreger credited Bissonnette following Babcock's resignation. Whitney and Bissonnette will surely go into more detail when this week's episode of Spittin' Chiclets is released, but for now, credit is due to them for revealing what was happening behind closed doors and using their platform to out Babcock's reprehensible behaviour.
For added context, the NHLPA all but confirmed Bissonnette's claims in their brief statement on Sunday as well.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 18 | 783 ANSWERS Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney of Spittin' Chiclets react to the Babcock news following his resignation Did you believe the Spittin' Chiclets crew about Mike Babcock at first? | ||
| Yes, it's typical Babcock behaviour | 602 | 76.9 % |
| No, I thought it was BS | 46 | 5.9 % |
| I had my doubts, but couldn't rule it out | 135 | 17.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
