Mike Babcock's Blue Jackets stint already marred by controversy thanks to new allegations against HC

Mike Babcock has returned to the NHL, but it is not without controversy. The Toronto Maple Leafs fired Babcock, as several players came out to express their displeasure with him.

The coach was accused of mistreating Mitch Marner during his rookie season as he made the forward rank his teammates in order of their work ethic and later shared the list with the entire team.

Despite all that, the Columbus Blue Jackets went out and hired Mike Babcock for the 2023-24 NHL season which is his first job in the NHL since 2019.

Yet, even before the season started, there was some controversy as he allegedly asked for players' phones and then played the photos on his office TV.

The Blue Jackets have reportedly been made aware of the allegations.

"allegation is Babcock demanded to see all the photos on Boone Jenner's phone then airdropped them onto a TV for everyone to see."

Aaron Portzline, an NHL reporter for The Athletic, confirmed the allegations and said Boone Jenner and Mike Babcock have yet to comment on it.

"#CBJ are aware of these allegations and looking into them. No official response yet. Babcock and Jenner have not immediately responded to requests seeking comment."

Currently, there is no word on how long the Blue Jackets will look into these allegations, or what the consequences for it will be.

In the past, Babcock was also accused of scratching players ahead of milestone games. He scratched Mike Modano ahead of his 1500 NHL game which would have been the final game of his career and he also scratched Jason Spezza in his Toronto Maple Leafs debut against his former team, the Ottawa Senators.

Mike Babcock said he would be better

These allegations against Mike Babcock came out after he said he is a changed man and learned from his past. He said there would be no antics as he was the coach of the Blue Jackets and was confident he would prove he was a changed man.

“I learned a lot about communication working in college, just because you're around younger people every day and they don't have as many people, they need you," he said. The message sent and the message received are often different. You come into the coach's office, and as a coach, you think you have this real good meeting, and you find out in a hurry, it wasn't very good. So had to learn about dealing with every player, 23 players, 23 different ways what works best for them.”

He further added,

“What's the communication plan for each guy so they can get what they need, and you can help them get what they need so they can be better.”

When or if Mike Babcock will speak on these allegations is yet not known and it remains to be seen if the allegations on him are indeed true.