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I think there is a very high chance that Babcock stays in Detroit. I think the Wings are his best option (best chance to win now and in the future) of the teams on the board, and his family want to stay in Michigan. In saying that, I've had mixed feelings throughout this entire process and I still remain up in the air in what I would like to see happen. Part of me wants to keep Babcock and another part thinks it's time for both he and the team to move on, and promote Blashill as the new head coach. I don't see it being at all likely that we keep both, so if we do keep Babcock then we will most definitely lose Blashill. What if Babcock does decide to re-up for just one season at a time? We lose Blashill this year and Babcock next year? I think Kenny is smarter than to allow that to happen. I do think Babcock is very over rated and I get sick of some of his strategies and line mash ups, so I am leaning toward wanting Blash to take over. He's a great coach, and I believe he will likely win another Calder Cup with the kids this season. That will be 2 Championships in 3 years. I know the American League isn't anything close to the same as the National League but I do believe he can translate that same success to the NHL. He knows all the kids just as well or better than anyone in the system and I think he would continue doing a great job developing these guys with the big club.

Griffins win 5-3 and head to the Western Conference Finals!

Last I heard McKee was moved to wing and still couldn't play regularly.

Here's a thought: call him Larkin.

The Griffins are waiting to see who they'll face in the Western Conference Finals between Utica Comets and Oklahoma City Barons. Utica is up 3-2 in the series with game 6 tonight and game 7 (if Oklahoma win) on Wednesday night. The schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals between Manchester Monarchs and Hartford Wolf Pack has already been released. The ECF starts May 21st, with the first two games in Manchester on Thursday night and Saturday night, so my bet would be that the WCF would start on May 22nd, with the first two games in Grand Rapids on Friday night and Sunday afternoon...

I imagine they'll be seriously regretting the 5+ million dollars they gave him to do exactly that. You don't give somebody that much money to gradually improve your team and (if the stars align) perhaps bring you success. You don't pay forwards 7 million bucks for 50 points seasons either. If you give a guy (roughly) twice what the highest paid coach (Quenneville) is currently making, you're not expecting mediocre results. I spoke about this the other day. If you offer 5 million bucks to Babcock, and he accepts it; you're both implicitly agreeing that he's A) going to give you the best possible chance to win a Cup, and B) that he'll deliver on that. If he doesn't, then the entire process will be exposed for the hype driven debacle that it is.

I understand he's "Canada's coach" or whatever but it's definitely been a bizarre process, particularly him and Kenny sitting side by side for the TSN interview (Though the tracking of the Sabre's owners plane is pretty insane too). If he does stay in Detroit, I'm trying to figure out what piece of information Babcock needed to finalize this decision that he didn't already have, unless this really was about using other offers as leverage to get his offer to market value and the money being there from Holland was polite talk. It just puts an odd tone to things if he stays. I guess the positive outlook is that he saw what was out there and decided the Red Wings were still the best, but the flipside is, why didn't you believe that all along? If it were about how the kids played this season, he already has that info. And Holland can't make any promises about landing free agents. Or if he does they don't really mean much because it's something that isn't under his total control, and he hasn't had a great track record lately anyway. I guess there's the possibility Babcock wonders if he's losing the room, which he seemed to mention in the interview. But again, going to other teams doesn't answer that. I don't really follow the Griffins but for those who want Blashill, isn't there a great chance it's very much the same style? I thought part of the reasons the kids could come up to the Wings so seamlessly (other than over-ripeness) is the similarity of the systems.

Worse, imagine if Babs signs for a year, Blashill leaves, and then Babs goes someplace else because that prospect obviously intrigues him? I sure hope it's implied that if he stays, he signs long(ish) term, because Kenny could get caught without a seat on this one.

Thank goodness for Patrick Kane. Sometimes I feel icky rooting for Corey Perry. Kane is the antidote.

I would wait for a reputable source reports that. Something tells me an article written by someone in San Jose doesn't carry much merit.

I hope you're right jimmy, but with Callahan being injured for the latter half of last season, and Ferraro impressing in the last dozen games, there's no question he now has the edge going into training camp. There might not be room for both but there's no question in my mind that both are a significant upgrade over Andersson, so I will be pissed to see one of them scratched or waived in favor of Andersson... Re-sign Landon and Mitch and let Joakim walk... As for the draft, we trade back almost every single year to grab an extra pick, with the glut of prospects we have I think we should be thinking quality over quantity, and trade up this year. I have no idea what it would take to move up around 9 or 10 but I'd love if we could and take Zach Werenski. I'm not sure if this would be enough but I'd offer a package something like... SJS - 2015 1st (19th overall), 2016 2nd, Jakub Kindl, Xavier Ouellet DET - 2015 1st (9th overall)

house party/street/prison language? Really?

Looks like Babcock is just looking whats he worth, maybe Wings should hire Blashill intead... http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/sharp-critiques-babcocks-promiscuity-sort-of The Free Press's Drew Sharp hasn't been paying attention to the whole, "Blues and Sharks are also interested" news, but in discussing Mike Babcock's courtship with the Sabres and Maple Leafs, he may speak for those of you who watched or read about Babcock and Ken Holland's interview on TSN this past Friday, wondering why exactly Babcock has chosen to "play the field" when the field has turned out to be such a limited market for the services of--to take Sharp's tone--the supposedly hottest coach on the planet: If there truly wasn't a better job than what he has, what is the point in dangling your gold medals out there to see what you can attract unless this coach fishing expedition was nothing more than an exercise in personal vanity? If there was absolute confidence that the Wings' next transformative star (à la Pavel Datsyuk) already was in the organization and perhaps a year or two away from blossoming, then wouldn't Babcock have agreed to the second generous contract extension in six months Holland offered in January if this were truly "the better job"? It's believed that only Toronto and Buffalo submitted the necessary compensation paperwork to the league. The Wings demanded a third-round pick within the next three years for any team that signs Babcock. The Wings remain a better option than the Leafs and Sabres, but that doesn't mean they're any closer to seriously contending for a Stanley Cup in the immediate future. And wasn't that Babcock's self-imposed bottom line in this process? It's still stunning that Pittsburgh showed no interest in Babcock, considering Sidney Crosby's vast organizational influence and that the Penguins have the impactful stars Babcock seeks in Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who are under 30. Boston apparently balked as well after missing the playoffs. And then Montreal didn't hesitate endorsing head coach Michel Therrien's return soon after Tampa Bay eliminated the Habs in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The hottest-looking girls weren't interested.

I think everyone underestimates what Miller does for this team. If he was expendable we would have traded him over Eaves (eaves being RH). I love me some Miller time.

Buffalo has made the playoffs 2 times in the last 8 years, in the time they have made a plethora of poor signings, they haven't developed much talent, and many people say they just got robbed in a trade with Winnipeg (I have read you ripping this trade many times Frank). Do they have a lot of young talent....yes. Could that talent develop into something special.....of course. But I think its fair for people to call them a mess until they actually take that young talent and develop it. You cant say a franchise is turned around based on potential. At the risk of sounding like a homer, they are not the Red Wings, they don't exactly have a track record of winning. A lot of people are ready to appoint Eichel as the savior in Buffalo, but realistically he is just one 18 year old kid. Don't forget, for every Crosby there is a Daige. Not saying he is a Daige because I dont think he is, but from Babcocks perspective, Buffalo is a risk.

Helene St. James ‏@HeleneStJames 6m6 minutes ago #RedWings announce trophy awarded to to NHL Prospect Tournament champion renamed Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup, after late CapGeek developer. We are so lucky to be fans of likely the classiest organization in sports!

All the news lately points to him staying. Which I'm fine with. But what worries me is his stated desire to switch to one year contracts. What if we lose him next season, and no longer have Blashill in the wings?

His dad was an NHL player so that means he's better than other prospects.Can we please not call him Dylark. It sounds stupid.

He needs three more years.

Because there is things called opinions. Does everyone have to agree with you? Babs stays good for us. He leaves good for us we end up with Blashill. Let's not pretend Babs is a horrible coach and needs to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am shocked that people that call themselves Red Wing fans, are actually hoping that if Babcock leaves, the Wings fail just to prove a point on a message board that Babcock was a good coach. If you care more about "being right" then the Wings being successful, I don't think you are that big of a fan. I hope Babs stays as I think he's a great coach. But if he leaves, I still want us to win. I care more about the Wings as a whole, then Babcock as an individual..

Or Dallas Eakins. Or Guy Boucher. Nevermind the fact that he's been a much more successful coach than any of them, no matter what level he's been at. As long as it helps support that notion that Babcock is irreplaceable, Blashill might as well be the next Pierre McGuire. I can't stand all these efforts to run our guys down. Because it's all a desperate attempt to come to terms with the fact that we've got a good team that's been underperforming. Kronwall HAS to be less good than he is. Tatar and Nyquist HAVE to top out as secondary players. The defense HAS to suck. Holland HAS to be cheap and incompetent. Because if those things AREN'T true (note: they aren't) then that means we've got a pretty good team which has been underperforming. And if THAT'S true, then Mike Babcock ISN'T a hockey messiah, who's getting every last piece of success out of a sinking ship. Instead, he's be the guy who keeps getting the same result regardless of the age, size, speed, toughness, skillness, etc. of his roster. And that would make a lot of people wrong, wrong, wrong. And who likes to be wrong anyway?

never say never

What if we got Johnny Gaudreau??? Hell lets trade for McDavid while we're at it! Oh yeah, forgot, none of these things will ever happen.