GoWings1905

Pray the Ducks win tomorrow because the Blackhawks will slaughter the Lightning.

You gotta be kidding me. What a choke by the Ducks.

Is that really saying much? Doesn't mean Wiz is anything impressive himself. Your competition is Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Brendan Smith.

So Z was scoring, just not in the playoffs. Congrats to Hank and Emma. The kid is probably gonna do alright in the looks department.

No Eddie, Saad got away because Chris Rooney tripped Beauchemin. His speed doesn't mean anything if Beauchemin doesn't fall.

Glad Eddie got to call the loss.

The Wings are fast-tracking a prospect. We have seen it all now.

Agreed. I thought both did a really nice job. It would probably help Blash as well to have a guy like Granato around that has been a head coach before.

A worse version of Babcock that can't get an even more talented team than the Wings out of the first round? Hitchcock wears on his players within a couple years everywhere he goes. Blashill already has a relationship with most of the roster in Detroit. I get the inexperience angle, but Hitchcock doesn't make sense to me given the situation here and the Red Wings plans to continue getting younger.

Well, yeah, but you don't take that money if you don't have a massive ego thinking you can fix the situation.

Agreed. I think Babs' ego is without question the key element to the decision.

I wouldn't if the team I was about to coach is the biggest dumpster fire in hockey.

I really am curious how this might influence a potential Phaneuf deal when/if Babs goes to Toronto. It seemed like the two sides were going to try it again this summer, but maybe Babs has different ideas.

For what? More first round losses? Blash can do that for less money and he developed all of the kids on the team anyways.

Eh, Ryan Suter would be on the Wings top pairing and the team would still be playing now if everything Kypreos says actually came true.

Blash is ready now -- that's the problem. Guarantee he gets an NHL job somewhere else if Babs stays here.

Unless he's just paying the Red Wings lip service in the process, I think most indications make it appear Babcock is staying. If family and winning are the trump factors, he's choosing Detroit.

Nah, Babs won't know what to do when Glendening isn't out there against his new team for 22 minutes. Or Jurco on a line with actual skill.

Babcock himself said this was the best roster the Wings had since 2009. That was before Holland added Cole and Zidlicky at the deadline. So, whatever Babs thought last July or after the series with Tampa Bay is a bit of a ploy to make his coaching job seem better than it actually was. There's not much for comparison purposes since the Wings have pretty consistently been a borderline playoff team the past six years, but the 2015 Red Wings were certainly better on paper than the 2013 team and that group eliminated the Ducks and took the champs to OT of Game 7. Babcock had more to work with now and they didn't even make it out of the first round again. I will give Babs credit for the job in 2014 with the injuries that hit, but you could argue the Wings have regressed overall the past two years and they weren't doing much prior either. Certainly some of this can be attributed to transitional years or rebuilding on the fly and there are roster deficiencies that Holland still hasn't addressed. That being said, I still don't buy the argument that Babs is this massive overachiever as coach of the Red Wings. He's a very good coach that is beyond stubborn with his personnel management and he won three playoff games with the best collection of talent the organization has had since the Lidstrom years. The Wings will be fine if Babs takes $5 million to coach the Buffalo Sabres. I'm sure Jeff Blashill can construct some genius plan similar to playing the 4th line for 18 minutes per game that might get the team out of the first round next season. I am thankful for the cup and Babs time here in Detroit, but the organization won't crumble if he walks out the door on Wednesday.

That's insane for a coach. I want Blashill anyways, so take the money and run Babs.

I personally think it's down to Detroit or Buffalo.

Blashill doesn't need to perform magic -- we aren't getting that right now anyways. There's always going to be a learning curve with a rookie coach, but how much worse off are the Wings really going to be? He is the one that developed most of the guys on the team now and it's not like this is a cup contending roster with Babcock. Holland is stale too, but you can't just uproot the entire organization in one summer realistically. Like it or not, the easiest component of the bunch to change is the head coach. The Wings could maintain the status quo with Babcock or give someone else a shot. I prefer the latter given this roster is in transition regardless.

I just feel like bringing back Babs is more status quo and that's the last thing the Wings organization needs right now. As good of a coach as Babs is, we need some fresh ideas and a new voice. The Wings are not going to fall off a cliff without him around -- they have won one playoff series in four years, so it's not like Blashill has some monumental task of taking over a juggernaut. Sometimes a great coach just isn't the right fit for a team anymore and that's where I think Babcock stands at the moment. I won't be overly upset if he stays, but I do hope he moves on for the best of the organization going forward.

Rooting for Perry, Getzlaf and Kesler. Hard to stomach, but that's what it has come to for this series. Anyone but Chicago!

Considering the Wings didn't stop Johnson anyways, you would think they might have tried that approach instead at some point in the series. Gotta win every game 2-1 though in the eyes of the best coach ever.