kipwinger

I watched a good amount of the Memorial Cup games, and to be really honest I think this kid needs a year in the AHL. His size, skill, and speed are obvious for the world to see, but when he finally had to face some tough checking he was flummoxed. I genuinely think he'll be really good, but he needs to acclimatize himself to higher quality competition in the AHL. If not he'll get frustrated and get knocked off his game. If it's that easy for Guelph and Edmonton to do it, imagine how he'd suffer against NHL competition. I'd give him a full year in the AHL with the understanding that he'd be the first or second injury call up.

Mantha with an assist in the final 30 seconds to tie the game in the third. Overtime for the Oil Kings and Le Foreurs de Val D'or.

He may not "know anything about hockey" in the sense that he probably couldn't coach a team to the Stanley Cup finals, but I'm sure Mike Babcock couldn't operate a multi-billion dollar industry either. Gary Bettman isn't employed to be a fanboy. He's employed to run a business, and by ever single metric he's doing that very well.

I understand why you feel that way. From a fan's point of view, the only thing that matters is keeping the games going and hockey on the tv. As that is our priority, any breakdown therein seems like a colossal failure. However, Gary's priority is to ensure the long term health of the league. To ensure that, he was willing to go through two lockouts. They sucked. But it's hard to argue with success. The league is WAY stronger in every sense under Bettman. Revenue keeps going up, player's salaries keep going up, attendance keeps going up, endorsement deals go up, media partnerships are more lucrative, etc. etc. etc. Bettman's not a bad negotiator, he's a great negotiator. As fans, we just don't happen to share his priorities because his perspective is noticeably different than ours. I'd certainly let the guy negotiate on my behalf the next time I'm due to purchase a house, get a raise, or buy a car.

Him. Which is why he gets paid the big bucks.

Abby has a tendency to have pretty monumental brain farts from time to time. Not "Brenden Smith trying to Pass" levels of brainfartitis, but bad nonetheless.

I agree. Dude's doing a good job. The league is great, the game has never been more exciting, and he's the guy responsible for it. I'd give him another raise if I were in charge.

I know, I'm being a smart ass. While I'm definitely not on the "Babcock's the Bestest Coach Eva!" bandwagon (not saying you are), I will happily admit he's a MUCH better coach that Torts. At the very least I can't imagine Babs calling someone a "jitter bug" and saying he "stinks". So there's that.

Finally! My boy Bettman is executive of the year. That, along with game of the year (Winter Classic), and league of the year (NHL) makes being a hockey fan breezy. Plus, ratings are up and attendance is strong. Nowhere to go but up for the worlds' greatest game, all thanks to the worlds' greatest executive. God bless you Gary Bettman, and god bless the National Hockey League! http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/05/red_wings-maple_leafs_winter_c_4.html

Nah, that spot was already filled by David Legwand, the teams' leader in points.

Torts has just as many Stanley Cups and one more Jack Adams award than Babs

I was condemning you for calling the other guy out for speculating while (by your own admission) you were in the process of "pulling numbers out of the air". That's all. I agree we all speculate in this thread, but you're one of two people who call others out for doing it as if you yourself hadn't done the same thing.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'm bailing on this one lol.

John Erskine makes Mike Commodore look like Rob Blake. We're much better off with Lashoff back there. Avoid at all costs.

You're the second person to call someone out for speculating in this thread. I'm not exactly sure how you plan to discuss the future without speculating to some degree. The whole point of this thread is to speculate about what Babs will do in a year. Euro_Twins' speculation, or conjecture, is no different than your own attempt to divine the future without substantive evidence. But he's no more a soothsayer than you. The only thing one could say about Babs' coaching status that isn't speculation is..."Mike Babcock currently doesn't coach for any other team aside from the Detroit Red Wings". And that would be a pretty boring (and short) thread. Edit: Also, I'm providing a link which should explain to you exactly why an owner won't typically make offers way above market rates. It's only a general overview, since the subject matter is a little dense, but a thorough reading should get you pretty far on your way toward understanding why Mike Babcock will never get offered 10 million dollars. Enjoy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhmokVRdom8

I'm confused, are you making the point that hockey is a team game and requires a team effort or are you making the point that one guy (Lundquist) dragged his team into the playoffs every year for a decade?

I don't know if any of you follow the eulogies that Puck Daddy posts for each team that's eliminated from the playoffs. They're written by hockey bloggers from other teams and are meant as a roast of the eliminated team. Some are bad (San Jose), some are plain (Detroit), and some are amazing (Philadelphia). Well worth the read for a good laugh...just don't take things too seriously. I'm posting the Philadelphia eulogy, because it's one of the funniest (and harshest) things I've ever seen posted on the internet. Enjoy! https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/puck-daddy/eulogy--remembering-the-2013-14-philadelphia-flyers-161540395.html

I like Kempe as well, and he'll go around 15th. Seems like a Holland type pick too.

Five years ago Babcock lost in the Cup finals with a team full of stars (and superstars). I'll concede that the last FOUR years we haven't had the personnel we had in the past. But that's all.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. I was responding to the post below. Nothing in it referenced draft position at all. It does, however, heavily insinuate that Quenneville wins because he's got a loaded team, and poor old Babcock has to make due with what he has. But that blatantly disregards the fact that Babs has had awesome teams full of Hall of Famers, and future Hall of Famers. In 2005 he had FOUR 80+ point players (something Quenneville has never had) and EIGHT 20+ goal scorers and lost in the first round to Edmonton. Babcock is a good coach, but it's demonstrably false to act like he's only won one Cup because the rest of the time his teams were bad or because he wasn't getting top flight players. He was.

The comparison wasn't with the 02 Wings or to Bowman. The original comparison was with Quenneville's teams, and Babs has had teams just as good as Quenneville has had. Also, only Yzerman and Alfie were really past their primes out of the guys on that list.

Yikes! Canadiens are going to have to get their s*** together. Making me look like an ******* right now lol.

You "can" see it, or you "want to" see it. Because moving a smallish european skilled player for Dustin Byfuglien isn't the kind of move Holland would make at all. I don't know why you'd think that was a probable roster move, regardless of how you felt about it personally.

Don't say that too loud, everyone will have a panic attack and then tell you how absurd and silly the notion is, right up until they hyperventilate and pass out.