News Article: Chris Ilitch noncommittal on Holland’s return

[DInTheB]

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[DInTheB]

I get why Illitch doesn’t want to focus on the Wings when he’s in Lakeland for the Tigers, but certainly his brushing aside of the question is at least interesting news.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Interesting. Although despite my new username, I'm a little worried about the whole thing. It'll be good if Ilitch fires Holland for poor performance and allows the next guy to rebuild a bit. It'll be terrible if Ilitch fires Holland for missing the playoffs, and then hires somebody under the explicit mandate that they make the playoffs next year.

 

[Redder Winger]

Ilitch is rumored to be trying to fatten up his sports holdings for sale. While the new arena helps, it being half empty doesn't.

 

[StargateSG1]

Ship this guy to Seattle already,
should completely kill his chances at the Hall of Fame, building the team from scratch, as he had never done before.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Ilitch is rumored to be trying to fatten up his sports holdings for sale. While the new arena helps, it being half empty doesn't.

Where did you see this. Personally I'm pretty worried about the classic "great owner's son is a terrible owner" syndrome so I wouldn't mind turning the page on the Illitches, but if he sells the team to someone even worse that could spell bad news for the Wings.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Where did you see this. Personally I'm pretty worried about the classic "great owner's son is a terrible owner" syndrome so I wouldn't mind turning the page on the Illitches, but if he sells the team to someone even worse that could spell bad news for the Wings.

I think he is going to sell them to Gilbert. That is just my opinion though.

 

[Christien]

I think he is going to sell them to Gilbert. That is just my opinion though.

Gilbert?

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

Gilbert?

Dan Gilbert.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Do you think we can get Buddy's at the LCA if Gilbert owns the team instead?

 

[14ari13]

Interesting. Although despite my new username, I'm a little worried about the whole thing. It'll be good if Ilitch fires Holland for poor performance and allows the next guy to rebuild a bit. It'll be terrible if Ilitch fires Holland for missing the playoffs, and then hires somebody under the explicit mandate that they make the playoffs next year.

If I remember right people wanted Babcock to go and praised blashill. Now Blashill is the worst coach ever.

 

[Dotter]

If I remember right people wanted Babcock to go and praised blashill. Now Blashill is the worst coach ever.

After KH is gone, it'll be the same thing. Everyone will then cast blame on ownership's head.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

If I remember right people wanted Babcock to go and praised blashill. Now Blashill is the worst coach ever.

But Babcock being gone didn't help because Holland was still in charge. Holland being let go has to be the right move, because there's nobody else left from that era after him; when everyone else was gone, when only Holland was left, the same bad decision making continued. The next GM might also be a problem, and Chris Ilitch is almost assuredly a major obstacle, but we can be pretty confident Holland going out the door will have been the right move.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Ship this guy to Seattle already,
should completely kill his chances at the Hall of Fame, building the team from scratch, as he had never done before.

Ken Holland could do anything short of defecating on the heads of the Hall of Fame board and it wouldn't kill his chances at the Hall. He locked that up by 2008. Or did a year in Detroit kill Modano's chances? How about Borje Salming's? Brett Hull? Luc Robitaille?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

If I remember right people wanted Babcock to go and praised blashill. Now Blashill is the worst coach ever.

Nobody was 100 percent sure about Blashill as an NHL coach, but he seemed to do well with the developing kids in Grand Rapids and people thought he could put a new message out there for the young players and help them develop better than "tie goes to the veteran" Babcock. The concerns about Babcock aren't immediately erased just because Blashill turned out to be terrible. Just like the concerns about Holland won't be erased if the next guy to run the team does a terrible job.

 

[14ari13]

But Babcock being gone didn't help because Holland was still in charge. Holland being let go has to be the right move, because there's nobody else left from that era after him; when everyone else was gone, when only Holland was left, the same bad decision making continued. The next GM might also be a problem, and Chris Ilitch is almost assuredly a major obstacle, but we can be pretty confident Holland going out the door will have been the right move.

Nobody was 100 percent sure about Blashill as an NHL coach, but he seemed to do well with the developing kids in Grand Rapids and people thought he could put a new message out there for the young players and help them develop better than "tie goes to the veteran" Babcock. The concerns about Babcock aren't immediately erased just because Blashill turned out to be terrible. Just like the concerns about Holland won't be erased if the next guy to run the team does a terrible job.

I am not so sure we have a better replacement.
I bash Holland a lot, but I am not sure who can replace him. I have called Holland a useless clown because I think he makes some terrible moves, yet I am not sure we can find someone better.
I think we can give him another year, but after that it might be pointless to give him another chance.
We will se what he does after this season.

 

[Redder Winger]

I thought it an example of Ken Holland's hubris when he just assumed Blashill was ready to coach at the NHL level.
Babcock should have been fired before his last season if he refused to sign. Instead, Babcock spent the year using Detroit as leverage to get the deal everyone expected him to take.

Worse, when the season was over, Babcock took his sweet time, allowing the pool of NHL coaches to get snapped up while he brought his dog and pony show around the NHL. I guess it didn't matter anyway, because the arrogant Holland thought Blashill was the next coaching superstar.

If Holland goes to Seattle, expect Babcock to follow a few years later.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I am not so sure we have a better replacement.
I bash Holland a lot, but I am not sure who can replace him. I have called Holland a useless clown because I think he makes some terrible moves, yet I am not sure we can find someone better.
I think we can give him another year, but after that it might be pointless to give him another chance.
We will se what he does after this season.

There's nobody who can be better at being a GM, but there are tons of candidates who will have more progressive ideas about rebuilding. Supposedly Draper is one of them, and he might be next in line.

 

[kliq]

I thought it an example of Ken Holland's hubris when he just assumed Blashill was ready to coach at the NHL level.
Babcock should have been fired before his last season if he refused to sign. Instead, Babcock spent the year using Detroit as leverage to get the deal everyone expected him to take.

Worse, when the season was over, Babcock took his sweet time, allowing the pool of NHL coaches to get snapped up while he brought his dog and pony show around the NHL. I guess it didn't matter anyway, because the arrogant Holland thought Blashill was the next coaching superstar.

If Holland goes to Seattle, expect Babcock to follow a few years later.

Has this approach ever been taken before? Firing a high end coach because they refuse to sign an extension 1 year out?

Serious question, I'm trying to start an argument with you.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Nobody was 100 percent sure about Blashill as an NHL coach, but he seemed to do well with the developing kids in Grand Rapids and people thought he could put a new message out there for the young players and help them develop better than "tie goes to the veteran" Babcock. The concerns about Babcock aren't immediately erased just because Blashill turned out to be terrible. Just like the concerns about Holland won't be erased if the next guy to run the team does a terrible job.

Mike Babcock wasn't making the playoffs in Detroit either with the current group. Just like how Saint Babcock finished dead last in Toronto not long ago. Plus we have the rumor that Datsyuk only came back because Babcock left so in all likelihood we are out of the playoffs an additional year.

I don't think Blashill is a terrible coach. The guy who is his best friend in coaching and readily admits they run virtually the same system is pacing the league in points. We cannot execute it because our back-end is bad. Our back-end is bad because unfortunately we haven't drafted well enough, signed in free agency or traded well enough. Now that points to Ken Holland is the biggest problem. Sure, it could also point that you're not preordained to be good forever. That likely even smart hockey people have rough patches. Like Saint Babcock's finish in the basement.

I know it infuriates people, but when the Wings talk about the 2% difference in the league, they are dead on in my opinion. The NHL has done a great job with parity. I don't actually think it makes the product a whole lot better but it is there. We are the right selection or development away from being in a different area. The margins in this league are razor thin and we aren't good enough right now. It doesn't mean they forgot what they are doing, but we need to improve. I am ready to turn the page, but it will be awfully tough to replace a HHOF GM and one of the most critical elements of what made the Red Wings a great organization for two and a half decades was Holland. He was crucial to what was built here and shouldn't be treated the way he is by our fan-base at all. I hope they are thoughtful and get the right person. Mike Ilitch would have exhausted a lot of avenues and figured out his guy and made sure it was so. I hope Chris Ilitch has a similar inclination in terms of getting his man. I don't want it turned over in house is all I know for sure.

 

[Redder Winger]

Has this approach ever been taken before? Firing a high end coach because they refuse to sign an extension 1 year out?

Serious question, I'm trying to start an argument with you.

I don't know. But I'm not letting one guy hold all the cards.
If he didn't want to commit, I think it would have been a good idea to let him walk early and then interview a bunch of coaches for the job to get right guy,
At the very least, I would have cut ties upon elimination from the playoffs.

 

[kliq]

I don't know. But I'm not letting one guy hold all the cards.
If he didn't want to commit, I think it would have been a good idea to let him walk early and then interview a bunch of coaches for the job to get right guy,
At the very least, I would have cut ties upon elimination from the playoffs.

It did turn into a bit of a spectacle, and unfortunately it sounded like Blashill was the guy they wanted and they had no interest in anyone else. That entire situation definitely played out very poorly for us.

 

[Redder Winger]

It did turn into a bit of a spectacle, and unfortunately it sounded like Blashill was the guy they wanted and they had no interest in anyone else. That entire situation definitely played out very poorly for us.

I thought it made Holland look weak and ineffective.
Now, I already thought he was ineffective.
But the whole thing just made Holland look weak and it didn't reflect well on the franchise, either.

Sometimes, you need to make the decision before indecision makes you.

 

[kliq]

I thought it made Holland look weak and ineffective.
Now, I already thought he was ineffective.
But the whole thing just made Holland look weak and it didn't reflect well on the franchise, either.

Sometimes, you need to make the decision before indecision makes you.

I think the closest example that I can think of is the Brett Favre/GB situation. Favre pretty much was doing the same thing (ie. dragging it out), and the GB GM essentially said "sorry, but we're moving on to Rodgers".

 

[WesNichols14]

I don't think the waiting mattered at all for Detroit. Everyone and their mother's best friend knew Blashill was the next guy in Detroit. He worked under babs for a year, then got experience running a pro team in G.R. As soon as he won that Calder Cup it was decided. Also I remember several teams looking at Blashill the year before he got the Detroit job, and Holland extended him, to a very nice deal, with the assumption that if Babs left he got the big team. At that time Detroit looked good. They had prepped for Babs departure, with a guy who had won at every level.

All that said the team was going down either way. The only thing that would have saved it would have been if Nyquist really was the superstar scorer he showed signs of being when the goose cage got all sorts of messed up. and even then this defense wasn't going to get fixed without a major move.