Text shared confirming that Babcock did indeed ask to see photos; Babcock himself issues a statement
On Today's episode of the popular hockey podcast Spittin' Chiclets, co-host and former NHLer Paul Bissonnette brought up some very concerning allegations against former Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. Babcock was recently hired as Columbus' new head coach, after a few years away from the NHL while he was still under contract with the Leafs.
Bissonnette had reported on the podcast that he had heard that Babcock had actually asked Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner to see the photos in his phone when he met with him. Now, Bissonnette has released screenshots of text messages from an unknown source confirming that the Babcock reports are true and that he also did it while he was coaching the Leafs.
The allegations are concerning, considering that this is just as twisted as requesting a list of the hardest working to laziest players on the Leafs from Mitch Marner in confidence and then sharing it with the team. With the allegations brought forward by Bissonnette, the NHLPA has now also begun looking into them along with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Bissonnette did not reveal who his source was, but based on the text messages, the information may even be coming from a member of the current Blue Jackets team with intimate knowledge of what Babcock has been up to. There's no confirmation that that's the case, but the source seems very confident in the information he was sharing, calling it "100 percent true".
Babcock and Jenner have both since issued statements on the matter. Here's what they had to say:
The plot thickens..
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 12 | 224 ANSWERS Text shared confirming that Babcock did indeed ask to see photos; Babcock himself issues a statement Are you surprised by the Mike Babcock news regarding yet another incident involving inappropriate behaviour? | ||
| Yes | 27 | 12.1 % |
| No, not at all | 118 | 52.7 % |
| This is who he is and always will be | 79 | 35.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
