Two months ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed controversial coach Mike Babcock as the new head coach. Now, just days before NHL training camp starts, he’s resigned.
Mike Babcock hadn’t coached an NHL team since he left the Toronto Maple Leafs in November 2019. After Babcock left Toronto, accusations about his coaching style and his bad behavior towards his players were made by several former players. For example, former Red Wings player Johan Franzen called out Babcock for verbal attacks and said that Babcock once made him break down on the bench.
There were also reports about Babcock forcing then-rookie Mitch Marner to rank his teammates by work ethic and then showing Marner’s list to other players.
When Babcock was fired, Brendan Shanahan, Leafs president, said it wasn’t appropriate or acceptable.
But despite all this, the Columbus Blue Jackets still decided to hire Babcock earlier this year. But he didn’t even last two months.
Last week, in the ”Spittin Chiclets” podcast, Paul Bissonnette accused Babcock of taking a player’s phone and showing his pictures on the camera roll via AirPlay on the coaching wall. Later, star forward Johnny Gaudreau confirmed that he’s been given the same treatment. The Blue Jackets released a statement, saying that it was true but that it happened ”as part of the process of getting to know them better.”
The NHLPA decided to investigate, and on Sunday, it was announced that Babcock had resigned from the Blue Jackets. The NHLPA hasn’t announced what their investigation concluded, but according to ESPN, the reports from Paul Bissonnette were ”the tip of the iceberg,” according to their sources.
And speaking of Paul Bissonnette… BizNasty, a beloved analyst on TNT when he’s not doing Spittin Chiclets, has been under fire from people suggesting that their reports about Babcock were only to gain attention and clicks. But as it turns out, they were right all along, and after Babcock’s resignation was official, he couldn’t help but put the final nail in the coffin.
”We’re a players podcast. If you f*ck with the players, your day will come,” BizNasty said on X/Twitter.
