Nazem Kadri shares own experience with Mike Babcock looking through his pictures

News erupted on Tuesday when allegations that new Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock had acted inappropriately and violated players’ privacy when asking to see photos on their cellphones.

The allegations came to light when former NHL player Paul Bissonnette said on the Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast that earlier this summer, captain Boone Jenner was asked to meet with Babcock, who asked to see images on Jenner’s camera roll before displaying them via AirPlay on his office wall.

Later on Tuesday, both Babcock and Jenner denied the allegations.

However, insiders and reporters went digging and Kristen Shilton went to Calgary Flames forward and former Maple Leaf Nazem Kadri, who was under Babcock at the time in Toronto, and asked him about the situation in Columbus. Kadri told Shikton that when he was with the Maple Leafs he’d “showed [Babcock] a few pictures, but I think it was pretty innocent.”

When denying the allegations about violating his privacy, Jenner stated that Babcock asked him “about my family and where I’m from, my upcoming wedding and hockey-related stuff.”

“He then asked if I had 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 was expected that Babcock would be under much scrutiny when coming back to the NHL after he was fired in Toronto when an incident with Mitch Marner was made public. The head coach requested in a private meeting with the young Leafs forward and had asked him to rank his teammates’ work ethic, then revealed the rankings to the team. Another former player, Johan Franzen, accused Babcock of being verbally abusive when they worked together in Detroit.

While Kadri did not have a bad experience with Babcock - when it comes to privacy and pictures, and despite Babs denying the allegations, Bissonnette is still standing behind what he reported on Tuesday’s podcast.

“Tell Babs to knock off the bulls—,” Bissonnette posted. “Enough with putting guys on the spot in the coaches room asking them to link their phones up to airplay mode and grilling them. I’ve had tons of players confirm it.”

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