Mike Babcock investigation a primary focus as NHL, NHLPA meet Friday

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are set to meet Friday in New York. While the meeting had been previously scheduled for a standard discussion covering multiple agenda items, as reported by TSN’S Darren Dreger, the two sides will focus primarily on the investigation into the conduct of Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock.

The meeting will take place one day after NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh and assistant executive director Ron Hainsey visited Columbus to meet with the Blue Jackets are part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that Babcock had invaded his players’ privacy by asking to see personal information on their phones.

The allegations surfaced earlier this week when former NHLer Paul Bissonnette told a story on his hit podcast Spittin’ Chiclets, claiming a Blue Jackets player told him Babcock had asked to see players’ phones and then AirDropped them on his office television screen.

The Blue Jackets, Babcock and captain Boone Jenner responded to Bissonnette’s claim later that day.

“While meeting with our players and staff I asked them to share, off their phones, family pictures as part of the process of getting to know them better. There was absolutely nothing more to it than that,” Babcock said in a statement issued by the team on Sept. 12. “The way this was portrayed on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast was a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive.”

“While meeting with Babs he asked me about my family and where I’m from, my upcoming wedding and hockey-related stuff,” Jenner said in a statement from the team Sept. 12. “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.”

As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman Thursday night, the NHL and NHLPA were at first satisfied with explanations from Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau. “However, it appears things changed for both later that night when information was received that some of the younger Blue Jackets were uncomfortable with what had occurred,” Friedman reported.

Following Babcock’s firing as Toronto Maple Leafs head coach in 2019, reports arose suggesting he’d mentally abused his players, allegedly forcing then-rookie Mitch Marner into publicly revealing criticism of his teammates a few years earlier. Other former Babcock players, such as ex-Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen and Mike Commodore, have come forward corroborating stories about abuse from Babcock. In 2019, Franzen called him “the worst person I have ever met.”