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I believe Mike Babcock is a very good coach, one of the best in the league in fact. I will admit, I wanted him to stay and I was extremely disappointed when he left. However, some around here put him on a pedestal and claim is the best in the world no questions asked, and as soon as anyone says otherwise they make it sound like you are turning on him. You cant put this entire start on him as everyone knows the Leafs are a mess, but at the same time if he was the best in the world by a mile like some say, you would think that he could be doing a bit better. The guy is overrated, but not because he isn't good, it's because of the way people talk about him. If I had to summarize his career, I think Babcock did something special in '03 with the Ducks, but that was also during a time where obstruction played a huge part in the game, and he had a goalie that quite possibly had the best playoffs any goalie had ever had. With the Wings, he always had good players in front of him. You can say what you want about 2012-2015, but its not like he set the world on fire and even though we weren't the Wings of old, we still had a plethora of talent. As far as the Olympics go, while I do give him credit, that should in no way define him. The roster he has was truly amazing and most good coaches should be able to win with it. This is the biggest test of Babcock's career, and so far he is not doing well. It's very early and he does have a pretty crappy roster, but I have seen plenty of good coaches do extremely well with crappy rosters. If Babcock is truly "the best in the world" the Leafs should get better then what they are right now. *Cue Living Color: Cult of Personality*

November 2015 featuring #8 Justin Abdelkader 2560x1440 | 1920x1200 | 1920x1080 | 1680x1050 | 1600x900 | 1440x900 | 1366x768 Enjoy!

I don't really think you can rate a coach with much accuracy. It will always be debatable whether results are due to the players or the coach. A lot rests on luck of getting in position where you will succeed. And reputation plays a role in much that a coach does. If a coach wins somewhere, even if it was with an incredibly good team, they will be given the opportunity to coach other good teams. Also, going in as winning coach, you will likely be more respected by players which likely improve your effect on players. That is one aspect of Babcock's decision that I respect - he put himself in a situation that could possibly ruin or at least tarnish his very high reputation. Some will say it was for the money, but he could have been well payed by far better teams. I don't see what this comment is based on. He brought in assistants here with new ideas and delegated to them (PP in particular). Has often said that he didn't really coach Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Z, because they do things right and you don't need to guide them. Took line suggestions from those top guys as well. You mean the one photo at the draft? Don't see why getting a photo with his friends would reflect badly on him.

Personally, I don't know why he didn't just stay and coach the Detroit Larkins.

probably because finally there's some discipline to somebody who took a run at a Wing.

Babcock's biggest issue is he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. Once his ego shrinks a bit he'll be back to being a great coach.

Knowing this team, they'll beat everyone but the Leafs.

His uncle is a shadow he doesn't deserve. If you're going to judge Tyler do it without comparing him to Todd.

Video explanation: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=863095〈=en Good call.

Mrazek with the last two big wins (Vancouver and Ottawa). Time for Howard to win a big game.

Keep the momentum you built on Halloween for the first 55 minutes boys, and ring up another win. let's Go Wings! Awesome GDT graphic as always!

Nice GDT as usual. LGRW! Show those Tampa midget goblins what you displayed Saturday.

Byfuglien probably wouldn't cost much, because he's on an expiring contract. I'm eager to see what happens there and also with two other desirables in Kevin Shattenkirk and Dennis Wideman. Shattenkirk is probably the crown jewel of this Might Be Available class of defensemen (with Byfuglien a very close second). For what it's worth, the Blues have been winning in his absence. The emergence of Colton Parayko (4G, 3A in 11 games. Not too shabby!) may ultimately lead them to move Shattenkirk. But, of course, the season is still very young and anything can happen. Who knows. I'd also be looking at a few other, less celebrated names, e.g. Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, Simon Despres. The numbers show that he's a much better defenseman than he is a forward. Middling forward versus borderline-elite top-pairing defenseman. And he doesn't like playing forward anyway.

Larkin +9. Wow. Talk about an impact player. Go Wings.

Great analysis, Kliq, and appropriate music cue at the end (plus it has a great bass line).

I will miss Mule if he doesn't return. Great joke, very subtle...

Zetterberg got praise from Franzen.. https://instagram.com/p/9hWQhAQ-QH/?taken-by=jfranzen93

I don't get how anyone can not be excited to see this kid in a Red Wings jersey in a couple years... Bertuzzi has a nose for the net, goes to the dirty areas, wins puck battles, not afraid to play on the edge, all of that to go along with a ton of offensive ability. What's not to be excited about? Sure, he sometimes crosses the line, but he has cleaned up his game a ton, and like someone already mentioned, he is still a young kid that is developing, and learning the ins and outs of being a pro. I missed this game, so I'm not sure exactly what caused Bert to react this way, but what if Kapanen laid a dirty hit or a nasty two hander to one of the Griffins on the previous shift? Would his actions be warranted then? I'm sure some here would still say no, but I like when players stand up for one another. I sure as hell would have loved to see someone do something like this to Bennett after that dirty hit on Quincey, or Stone on Ferraro. Bert likely was out of line here, and I'm sure he had a talking to after the game. I just hope he doesn't clean up his game too much... The Red Wings could definitely use that snarl on their roster.

While Bertuzzi needs to dial it down a notch, its these kind of guys who play with a little bit of a feisty edge that the Wings really need IMO. Just watch our games with the sole purpose of looking for Wings players INITIATING body contact. There really isn't a lot of it. Ironically, when Z and Datsyuk throw their bodies around, the results are good. Take a look at the great Wings teams that most of us on this board grew up with. Guys like Maltby, McCarty, Kocur, Shanny, Lapointe, Konstantinov. All willing to punish opposing players and rough it up a little to win. Balance that with the sort of high end scoring talent that this team is developing (in guys like Larkin, Nyquist, Tatar etc) and we may be able to go somewhere. Our D is way too soft. Ericsson, if he applied himself physically game in and game out, could be a FORCE. He's huge, and has some serious strength. None of the fights he got into last year were even close. Neil wanted a piece of him saturday, but you can tell he would have got hammered if the refs had let them go. Kronwall hasn't played the body now really in the last few seasons, probably because he's now the number 1 d man and was also the primary offensive D man. I also think that his most recent suspension in the playoffs has signalled the death of anyone getting Kronwalled every again. He's too valuable to the team to miss time over a suspension, and he knows it. This is why Brad Stuart was such a great addition in 07. He played with an edge that the D didn't have and he brought it physically night in night out. I'm not saying the wings need to change everything and go to a bunch of goons, but even 1 hard hitting D man on the back end, and one or two more physical forwards would go a long way in making this team more dangerous.

5-0 obviously.

I do find it funny how this is "disgusting" but when guys randomly punch someone in the head (ie. Benn On Zetterberg) nobody cares.

Call him up. Maybe he can toughen up our 4th line.

This is just stumping me. If the wings get knocked out of the playoffs am I not allowed to wish for a certain player like stamkos or ovie to win a cup just cause I'm a wings fan. The wings can't win the cup every year so in a year which the wings don't win, I.e. the past 7 there are a couple players I'd like to see win like ovie and stamkos

I would like ovi to win a cup at some point in his career.