People make or seem like we'd be better off if we still had Carlyle or Horachek. Maybe Babs isn't the best coach in the league but he's a hell of an improvement over the last bunch of coaches we've had behind the bench. There's one best coach (whoever you think that might be doesn't really matter), not every team can have him at once.
Well said. Sorry for the blanket accusation. There are *some* Detroit fans that seem to be in denial and perfectly willing to scapegoat Babs.
Carlyle and Babs have the same amount of Stanley Cups. Which is kind of a driving point. A lot of the issues you get with Babcock is that the legend doesn't match the man. There were things about Babcock that were cropping up a while ago.
People can get into revisionist history or whatever else they think is happening, but not everyone quite understands or reports to the alter of worship for Babcock. I get Canadians because of Team Canada, but I have watched him get worked by other coaches in the NHL. I have watched him blow 3-1 and 3-2 series leads where he couldn't find the matchups, made wrong calls. I mean if we are going to crown the guy as one of the greatest ever I expected more return and didn't have any problem saying that early on, well before his departure.
Babcock delivers to expectations by in large. He has a consistent brand and thought process. He isn't this savant he is made out to be. If you give him the best hockey team in the world for a couple of weeks he will win. You give him the most talented team in the NHL he will make a deep run. You give him an average playoff team and he will go to the playoffs. You give him the worst team in hockey and he finishes with the worst record. There is a lot to be said for that, consistency is absolutely huge in pro sports and Babcock has that in spades. But when you're going to compare a guy to Scotty Bowman, keep in mind in front people that watched Bowman for a decent stretch of time.... Um no that is a bad idea.
I don't think Mike Babcock was nearly as good after McLellan left his side. That was a big blow, I think he was the one assistant Babcock has had that could talk him out of stuff with certain players and was right there X & O's with him. Babcock is a tireless worker though, so maybe he can improve with the Leafs. Giving him talent to grind into harder workers is one of his specialties. Unfortunately without a #1 D I cannot see the Leafs reaching truly great team status, which means he will be getting handed an average playoff team. How long into the first and second round exits does Toronto start to pick up on these? I don't know but I am guessing it won't be too long.
The roster isn't great. But every once in a while someone will make the statement of imagine where the Wings would be with Babcock. My feeling is a very similar place, which is to say this guy isn't midas and I am a little tired of hearing about him being that because he wins gold medals with team Canada. One cup during his time in Detroit wasn't really great, that is under performance given the rosters he had especially for his first seven years.
You want a fun example not talked about a lot. Byslma made the adjustment to deeper center breakouts for the Pens in the 09 finals, routinely got the matchups he wanted. I mean we all treat Byslma as the town idiot, but he rammed Jordan Staal down Mike Babcock's throat to a Stanley Cup. Letting Malkin and Staal carry the Pens load while Crosby took a back seat. Injuries and scheduling certainly hurt the Wings a ton as well, but that is Dan Byslma making an adjustment and unburying himself from a 0-2 hole at the expense of Mike Babcock, who couldn't come up with an answer in four out of the next five games....
