Horrifying Story of Mike Babcock's Time in Anaheim Leaks

For those who are not aware let's take a look at the timeline of events for the Mike Babcock scandal.

First Paul Bissonnette of Spittin Chiclets came out with a report that players were being mistreated in Columbus. Specifically their privacy was being invaded by new head coach Mike Babcock.

The Blue Jackets responded denying the allegations shortly thereafter.

After a lot of speculation, the NHL and NHLPA launched an investigation. After a day or so of investigation, it was announced that the Blue Jackets would be firing Mike Babcock and replacing him with Pascal Vincent.

Now that Babcock is officially out of the game again a new and terrible story has been revealed by one of his former players in his first stop.

A new report from Spittin Chiclets once again puts Babcock under fire. This time one of the other co-hosts Ryan Whitney told the story. This was from Babcock's time in Anaheim his first stop from 2002-2004.

The story goes that an unnamed veteran and Babcock were sitting on an NHL bench before a preseason game. Babcock went up to the player and said "this is pretty amazing isn't it?". When the player agreed Babcock gave a shocking response saying "soak it in, it's the last time you'll ever be on an NHL bench."

While the player knew they were likely heading to the minor leagues after the game this is still shocking. Being sent down is one of the most difficult things to hear as an NHL athlete. It's the confirmation that the dream of playing in the NHL is just out of reach or potentially over. Most players and coaches handle this delicately.

While this is not bordering on illegal like the invasion of privacy in Columbus it is still horrifying. A coach who has such little respect and care for his players should not have had a place in the world's best league for as long as he did.