Speculation: Next Head Coach?

[RabidBadger]

You don’t want Granato or Tocchet. We just got rid of garbage, man.

I'm not sure Granato did much as an assistant in Detroit to warrant another look as a NHL coach. I may be wrong but I don't remember anyone here being bummed when he left to ruin my Badgers.

 

[Henkka]

When looking those names.... I think I'm mostly impressed with Lalonde. Guy with very long career in different places and mostly success.

Then add Swedish presence in as Grönborg (Assistant).

Goalie coach would be totally different case. I'd like Jim Bedard to come back. I didn't know until now that he left Dallas Stars at 2020. And hasn't been in a big league since that.

Head - Derek Lalonde
Assistant - Alex Tanguay (offensive areas)
Assistant - Rickard Gronborg (defensive areas)
Goaltending - Jim Bedard

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

When looking those names.... I think I'm mostly impressed with Lalonde.

Then add Swedish presence in as Grönborg (Assistant).

Goalie coach would be totally different case. I'd like Jim Bedard to come back. I didn't know that he left Dallas Stars at 2020. And hasn't been in a big league since that.

Head - Derek Lalonde
Assistant - Alex Tanguay (offensive areas)
Assistant - Rickard Gronborg (defensive areas)
Goaltending - Jim Bedard

Isn’t Bedard still with the stars? But I agree that I would want him back. Didn’t Howard’s performance nosedive after he went to Dallas?

I’d rather have Gronberg as the HC. Or as assistant to Lambert. I think we need some solid strategists behind a good motivator. I don’t know if that’s Lambert but Gronberg has a solid rep for that.

Tanguay was only assistant coach with the Iowa wild. He’d be better than Ben Simon and as a skill guy might be good at helping skilled youth in GR.

 

[Hinterland]

When looking those names.... I think I'm mostly impressed with Lalonde. Guy with very long career in different places and mostly success.

Then add Swedish presence in as Grönborg (Assistant).

Goalie coach would be totally different case. I'd like Jim Bedard to come back. I didn't know until now that he left Dallas Stars at 2020. And hasn't been in a big league since that.

Head - Derek Lalonde
Assistant - Alex Tanguay (offensive areas)
Assistant - Rickard Gronborg (defensive areas)
Goaltending - Jim Bedard

Looking pretty good. I'd take that but it would be depending on Tampa and ZSC Lions letting their coaches go. I'm not sure about Lalonde's contract in Tampa but Grönborg has one more year left on his contract in Zürich. Should he win the title today I guess the Lions would be more likely to let him go but it would be impossible for them to replace him. Hardly any qualified Swiss born coaches or even coaches knowing the Swiss pro leagues around.

 

[GreatGordie9]

Whoever Stevie brings in the focus has to be defense first. I think our offense will take care of itself once we strengthen the blueline. We will see if Stevie brings in a guy like Lambert who along with head coach Trotz put together a strong defensive structure. We have the forwards Larkin, Bertuzzi, Vrana, Raymond, but do need more scoring depth. The million dollar question is whether guys like Berggren can stick with the team next year, further improvement by Rasmussen, Veleno. Will the Wings trade Zadina? We need Edvinsson to come in and be in our top pairings, either trade for for a top four D or through free agency. We will need another top scoring forward.
Stevie I don't think will be looking internally for a head coach. It will be interesting to see who he brings in. For sure he has to be highly respected and a great communicator.

 

[MBH]

Heard on NHL radio that teams are looking at Coach Q - he's from Windsor.
Let the hate commence.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Someone young and cheap. Makes it easy for Yzerman to replace him in 3-4 years.

 

[Gniwder]

Looking pretty good. I'd take that but it would be depending on Tampa and ZSC Lions letting their coaches go. I'm not sure about Lalonde's contract in Tampa but Grönborg has one more year left on his contract in Zürich. Should he win the title today I guess the Lions would be more likely to let him go but it would be impossible for them to replace him. Hardly any qualified Swiss born coaches or even coaches knowing the Swiss pro leagues around.

Virtually every AHL coach and NHL assistant has an out clause for promotion to NHL head coach. Look at all of the coach poaching that's happened over the years.

 

[Ricelund]

Heard on NHL radio that teams are looking at Coach Q - he's from Windsor.
Let the hate commence.

I can’t see Q coming to Detroit at this point in the rebuild.

 

[Hinterland]

Virtually every AHL coach and NHL assistant has an out clause for promotion to NHL head coach. Look at all of the coach poaching that's happened over the years.

Grönborg doesn't have one in Zürich. Used to have one but it expired January 1st. Redwings would have to talk to the Lions first.

If Lalonde has one, he must be the favourite for the job. Winning at all levels, hired by Yzerman previously, coached both Ferris State and Tolledo Walleye, is now essentially Tampa's Associate coach for two years.

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

Someone young and cheap. Makes it easy for Yzerman to replace him in 3-4 years.

I don't think they're looking to hire a stop gap. If that was the plan, they could have hired the guy earlier. They kept Blashill until now so the next head coach is gonna be the one they're looking to win with. It's gonna be Yzerman's guy and he's gonna give his hire every opportunity to win.

 

[Gniwder]

Grönborg doesn't have one in Zürich. Used to have one but it expired January 1st. Redwings would have to talk to the Lions first.

If Lalonde has one, he must be the favourite for the job. Winning at all levels, hired by Yzerman previously, coached both Ferris State and Tolledo Walleye, is now essentially Tampa's Associate coach for two years.

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

I don't think they're looking to hire a stop gap. If that was the plan, they could have hired the guy earlier. They kept Blashill until now so the next head coach is gonna be the one they're looking to win with. It's gonna be Yzerman's guy and he's gonna give his hire every opportunity to win.

Hence I said AHL and NHL assistants, Europe is different. I also don't think European coach is the way to go, this team needs someone to kick them in the ass, at least Zadina and Erne do. If this team wants to do better next season, they need to win puck battles, it would help to have a coach that stresses more physicality, not just being positionally correct.

I'm not gonna make a projection here because I'm not sure where Stevie is going with this. I'm pretty sure it won't be an European though regardless of contract situation.

 

[WF19]

Grönborg doesn't have one in Zürich. Used to have one but it expired January 1st. Redwings would have to talk to the Lions first.

If Lalonde has one, he must be the favourite for the job. Winning at all levels, hired by Yzerman previously, coached both Ferris State and Tolledo Walleye, is now essentially Tampa's Associate coach for two years.

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

I don't think they're looking to hire a stop gap. If that was the plan, they could have hired the guy earlier. They kept Blashill until now so the next head coach is gonna be the one they're looking to win with. It's gonna be Yzerman's guy and he's gonna give his hire every opportunity to win.

This is exactly my thoughts. Blashill did the best with what he could work with. Now that the farm is restocked and we have no bad contracts on the books, if he is bringing in a new coach it's gonna be to form a winning culture not another year in the bottom 5 or 10 whatever some are saying.

Your a coach and you get interviewed for the job you can easily say what are you giving me to work with and succeed? Also with that being said when do we think a new coach is announced? I would think before the draft no?

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I’ve seen this whole thing play out before. Our coach next year is going to be Mr. America. We will have Chris Ilitch bring down a lie detector test to see if it is Jeff Blashill.

 

[jkutswings]

I’ve seen this whole thing play out before. Our coach next year is going to be Mr. America. We will have Chris Ilitch bring down a lie detector test to see if it is Jeff Blashill.

Now I'm picturing, "Who Are You?" playing on The Masked Singer, as they remove the costume head from the latest contestant to get voted off.

 

[wingfan]

Johan Franzen on Mike Babcock: "The worst person I’ve ever met"
How Mike Babcock robbed Mike Modano of his 1,500th NHL game
How Mike Babcock robbed Mike Modano of his 1,500th NHL game

Justin Abdelkader in tune on Pavel Datsyuk line

Nobody liked Abdelkader on Datsyuk's line, we didn't have a lot of options though. I don't fault Babcock for trying to give Datsyuk a "power forward" when the cupboards were literally bare. Nobody wanted to come here, Holland had nothing of value to trade to acquire a player that could make a difference(tried to get Rick Nash, didn't have the assets), Franzen was in and out of the lineup. Babcock was trying to ice a roster with the dog shit Holland gave him to be competitive. It worked, we kept eeking into the playoffs. I can't stand Mike Babcock and would never want to see him return here, but decisions like this I wouldn't put on Babs AT ALL. I do think Babcock would be foaming at the mouth looking at Seider, Edvinsson and the rest of our stockpiled back end with big mobile defensemen though. We also know we'd be guaranteed Ras as 2C.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

I saw an article suggesting Tortorella I really hope not even though he is quite entertaining lol.

 

[jaster]

Split hairs all you want but it still adds up to the guy being a complete asshole.

Yeah, it's weird to agree that he's an asshole and then argue about how there's no evidence he would do asshole things lol.

It's cringe to see people defend Babcock. It's pretty clear what he's about. This "everyone deserves a second chance" or, worse, "let's turn a blind eye to horrible stuff in the name of winning" is part of the grossness that exists in pro sports. Part of what leads to horrible things continuing to happen in and around pro sports. Awesome to see MLB give Bauer his licks, and hopefully other leagues follow suit and start ramping up consequences for off-the-field/ice/court transgressions. I love watching knuckle-dragging sports fans who cry about cancel culture get all worked up lol.

Ok, little off-track there. But, anyway, f*** Mike Babcock.

 

[jaster]

I saw an article suggesting Tortorella I really hope not even though he is quite entertaining lol.

I'm not sure I agree with the anti-Tortorella sentiment around here. I'm not saying he's the best man for the job, but the "absolutely not" answer is weird. He brings some things to the table that would benefit this young team. Clear expectations, high standards, big motivator, his players like playing for him, lots of experience. I wouldn't be shocked if Yzerman decided he's the best option to take this team to the next level.

 

[The Flying Octopus]

You’re joking, right? Q could have fired him immediately, he reported to Queeneville, arguably Q was as accountable as Bowman

Who cares. It was 100 years ago. He said / she said.

People get 2nd chances all the time in sports.

Go get Q

 

[Henkka]

Grönborg lost the Swiss final Game7 against Zug 1-2.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Yeah, it's weird to agree that he's an asshole and then argue about how there's no evidence he would do asshole things lol.

It's cringe to see people defend Babcock. It's pretty clear what he's about. This "everyone deserves a second chance" or, worse, "let's turn a blind eye to horrible stuff in the name of winning" is part of the grossness that exists in pro sports. Part of what leads to horrible things continuing to happen in and around pro sports. Awesome to see MLB give Bauer his licks, and hopefully other leagues follow suit and start ramping up consequences for off-the-field/ice/court transgressions. I love watching knuckle-dragging sports fans who cry about cancel culture get all worked up lol.

Ok, little off-track there. But, anyway, f*** Mike Babcock.

I wasn't arguing there's no evidence he'd do asshole things. I pushed back on the hyperbolic claims that have no evidence. He didn't put Franzen in therapy. He didn't waste Z and Datsyuk's primes. We don't know that he prevented guys from playing in milestone games "just to mess with them." And Wingfan already posted a good explanation of the Abdelkader situation.

I probably wouldn't want to hang out with Babcock but for the most part he was a very good coach for the Wings. The revisionist history since he left has gotten out of hand. There's people here pushing for Quenneville who has done demonstrably worse things as coach than Babcock ever has.

I'm not sure I agree with the anti-Tortorella sentiment around here. I'm not saying he's the best man for the job, but the "absolutely not" answer is weird. He brings some things to the table that would benefit this young team. Clear expectations, high standards, big motivator, his players like playing for him, lots of experience. I wouldn't be shocked if Yzerman decided he's the best option to take this team to the next level.

Babcock does those things too. Though Torts might even have Babs beat in the "crushing the spirit and offense out of players" department.

And I would disagree with the "his players like playing for him." Some do. Some seem to be glad he's gone. And honestly it's been a long time since I've seen a team that quit on its coach like Columbus did the back half of Tortorella's last season.

 

[lilidk]

No

So the Wings are getting worse next year?

No Reason be better next year, our prospect pool not deep enough

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2022

No

So the Wings are getting worse next year?

No Reason be better next year, our prospect pool not deep enough

 

[Hinterland]

Grönborg lost the Swiss final Game7 against Zug 1-2.

Yeah. I think that makes it unlikely he signs an NHL gig this summer. Unfinished business both for him and his club/team. Maybe next year when his contract is up he'll get his chance in NA.

 

[RRhoads]

We should merge this thread with the "Blashill gone" thread.

 

[SCD]

So the Wings are getting worse next year?

Detroit out performed their roster this year. They got lucky with minimal injuries. I don't think Yzerman is going to add a high priced UFA this summer. I expect three or four teams who finished behind us to be better next year.

Yes, I expect them to finish worse than 25th.