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Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus is off to a rocky start.

The new Blue Jackets coach is reportedly at the center of an NHLPA investigation after ex-NHLer Paul Bissonnette claimed on the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast that Babcock asked Columbus players to see their phones and then played images from them on his office TV.

“This player who texted me says he has about 20 stories exactly like the one I’m about to tell you,” Bissonette said on the Barstool Sports podcast. “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–k pics … so this is what I’m hearing, this is coming from someone in the NHL.

“He gets to Columbus and one of the first things he does is he calls in Boone Jenner, the captain of the team, and says let me see the photos in your phone, I want to know the type of person you are. What the f–k is going on? Why do you want to see throbbing d–k pics from your captain on his iPhone? I don’t understand this.”

Mike Babcock allegedly asked his players to show him their phones and then broadcast the contents in his office. AP

Babcock, who is making his return behind an NHL bench after being fired by the Maple Leafs in 2019, has a history of controversy.

He famously scratched future Hall of Famer Mike Modano in what would have been the 1,500th and final game of his NHL career in Detroit.

Former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen told Swedish outlet Expressen in 2019 that Babcock was a “terrible man, the worst person I’ve ever met. He’s a bully who was attacking people. It could be a cleaner at the arena in Detroit or anybody. He would lay into people without any reason.”

Warning: Explicit language

Allegations of a toxic work environment helped fuel the end of his time in Toronto — he allegedly asked forward Mitch Marner, then a rookie, to rank his teammates’ work ethic and then shared it with them — and his latest job has yet to enter the training camp phase before new assertions arose.

On Tuesday, Babcock claimed Bissonette’s characterization of the incident was nowhere near the truth.

“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,” the coach said in a statement.

Paul Bissonnette shared allegations texted to him by an NHLer on the ‘Spittin Chiclets’ podcast. Barstool Sports

“The way this was portrayed on the ‘Spittin’ Chiclets’ podcast was a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive. These meetings have been very important and beneficial, not only for me but for our players and staff as well, and to have them depicted like this is irresponsible and completely inaccurate.”

Jenner, set to enter his third season as the Blue Jackets’ captain, also said in a statement through the team that the meeting was mischaracterized.

“While meeting with Babs he asked me about my family and where I’m from, my upcoming wedding and hockey-related stuff,” he said. “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.”

Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner was one of the players who showed his phone and photos to Babcock. AP

Bissonnette’s co-host and fellow ex-NHLer, Ryan Whitney, wasn’t buying Jenner’s story, however.

“When players from Columbus make a statement that the characterizations of Babcock from Biz and myself are false just know that’s bulls–t,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I feel bad putting the players in a tough spot but Babcock is a complete weasel and shouldn’t be coaching in the NHL.”

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