Head coach of an NHL clubColumbus Blue Jackets » Mike Babcock accused of interfering in the private life of the team captain Boone Jenner said Paul Bissonnette, former NHL player and current host of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, on social media.
According to him, Babcock called Jenner at the office and asked her to show her phone so he could study her collection of photographs.
— I receive a message from a player. He asks, “Have you heard what Babcock is doing?” » And I answer: “No”. So he gets to Columbus, and the first thing he does is call Jenner and say, “Let me look at the pictures on your phone.” I want to know what kind of person you are,” Bissonnette said.
Babcock released a statement regarding the incident, saying the information had been misinterpreted.
“During meetings with our players and staff, I asked them to share family photos on their phones to get to know them better. There was nothing special about it. The way this was presented on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast was a blatant misrepresentation of how these meetings took place and extremely offensive. These meetings were very important and useful not only for me, but also for the players and staff, and to describe them in this way is irresponsible and completely wrong,” the Columbus website quotes the coach’s statement.
“At the meeting he asked me about my family, where I’m from, my upcoming wedding and hockey stuff. He then asked me if I had any photos of the family and I was happy to share some with him. He showed me photos of his family. I think it was a great first meeting and a good way to start building a relationship. The fact that this has become a scandal is really disappointing,” Jenner said.
According to media reports, Babcock, while working for Toronto, asked forward Mitch Marner to rank his teammates based on his assessment of their work ethic, then showed the list to players without permission. In Detroit, the coach was accused of berating Johan Franzen so much during a game that the forward suffered what defender Chris Chelios called a “mental breakdown” due to “intimidation” on the bench and in the clubhouse.
Babcock took over the Columbus team during the offseason. The team includes two Russian hockey players: Kirill Marchenko and Ivan Provorov.
Source : MatchTV

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