Latest turn for Mike Babcock is not good

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock, who has yet to spend a single game behind the bench since his hiring this offseason, has found himself in the middle of yet another controversy.

He's alleged to have requested to look at his player's phones in order to look at their photos as part of getting to know them better. Former NHL forward Paul Bissonnette, who is now the host of the popular "Spittin' Chicklets" podcast as well as a hockey analyst on TNT, said the following about Babcock on a recent podcast episode: 

"He called in players from his team, and he’ll say, ‘Let me see your phone, open up your photos, and I want to see who you are as a person…' So, the players in the past have obviously handed over their phone, they plug it in, and they bring it up on a flatscreen, and he goes through the camera roll on your phone to see what type of person you are — whether you’re sending memes to the boys, whether you’re sending d-ck pics…" Bissonnette said.

Not long afterward, Babcock and Jackets captain Boone Jenner would release statements in which they both criticized Bissonnette's account of what transpired and saying that it was all blown out of proportion.

According to NHL Insider Elliott Friedman, both the NHL and NHLPA were "satisfied" with the explanations. However, that appears to have changed after a number of younger players on the Blue Jackets indicated they were "uncomfortable" with what Babcock was alleged to have done. 

Regardless of where this saga ends up going, it's not a good look for Babcock, who has already found himself in plenty of controversy due to his methods over the years along with especially damning testimony from several of his former players. 

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