Ex-Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock reportedly under investigation ...
Get the latest from Terry Koshan straight to your inbox
Published Sep 12, 2023 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 2 minute read
Mike Babcock went into defence mode on Tuesday.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
After it was alleged by former NHLer Paul Bissonnette on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast that Babcock, now coaching the Columbus Blue Jackets, had been asking Jackets players to see the photos on their personal phones, Babcock was quoted in a statement released by the National Hockey League team.
“While meeting with our players and staff I asked them to share, off their phones, family pictures as part of the process of getting to know them better,” Babcock said. “There was absolutely nothing more to it than that.
“The way this has been portrayed on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast was a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive.
“These meetings have been very important and beneficial, not only for me but for our players and staff as well, and to have them depicted like this is irresponsible and completely inaccurate.”
Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond.
By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or any newsletter. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
This was how Bissonnette discussed it on the podcast.
“I get a text from a player,” Bissonnette said. “He goes, ‘Have you heard what Babcock is up to again?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’
“So, he gets to Columbus and one of the first things he does is he calls in Boone Jenner, the captain of the team, and he says, ‘Let me see the photos on your phone. I want to know the type of person you are.’
“What the (bleep) is going on?”
Bissonnette then said he wanted to get Babcock on the podcast to “grill him about his antics as a head coach.”
The Jackets also released a quote from Jenner.
“While meeting with Babs he asked me about my family and where I’m from, my upcoming wedding and hockey-related stuff,” Jenner said. “He then asked if I had any pictures of my family and I was happy to share some with him. He showed me pictures of his family.
“I thought it was a great first meeting and good way for us to start to build a relationship. To have this blown out of proportion is truly disappointing.”
It also was reported that the NHL Players’ Association was looking into the allegation.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Babcock officially was hired by the Jackets on July 1, marking his return to the NHL after he was fired by the Maple Leafs in November 2019.
After he was let go in Toronto, numerous stories were reported regarding Babcock’s shabby treatment of players, including in the Toronto Sun involving Mitch Marner, during his various tenures as an NHL coach.
For all of the hype that came with Babcock’s hiring in Toronto in 2015, he failed rather astonishingly with the Leafs, gone just 4 1/2 years into his eight-year contract.
Babcock was key in guiding the Leafs to a playoff spot in 2016-17 after the team was last in the NHL in his first season behind the Toronto bench.
The Leafs, though, couldn’t take the next step and lost in the first round in each of the next three years.
Babcock’s time as Leafs coach ended following a 9-10-4 start nearly four years ago, when team president Brendan Shanahan flew to Arizona and fired him during a Leafs trip.
twitter.com/koshtorontosun
Polling the Maple Leafs: Readers, here is the chance to have your say! Rodion Amirov's father relays emotional message of thanks after Leafs prospect's death A look at the Maple Leafs' Atlantic Division rivals as training camps loom
