gcom007

Does this compensate for the lack of legs in the one picture?

Brutal. Tiny little picture.

Is a higher resolution version out there?

I brought Dave Lewis up exactly once to address a very specific coaching sensibility that may or may not be indicative to one's success.

And what the f*** is my argument again? Are you suggesting that I don't think we should hire Blashill, because it isn't even remotely true. I agree with this.

I never said we should hire any of the other guys. I added to the criticism of the idea of hiring Bylsma in the other thread. As for the Dave Lewis comment, read what I quoted again and tell me again that it sounds nothing like what was said of Dave Lewis back in the day. If you've forgotten, read up or ask someone else who remembers. Again... My point wasn't to say that he's going to be as bad as Lewis was at all so much as stuff like that isn't indicative of what necessarily makes someone a great NHL coach. People said a lot of the same stuff about Lewis having a better and more open relationship with the players back in the day, and it did nothing to help him ultimately. I went on to say that I hope Blashill proves the exception on that front! I'm just trying to be a bit more objective and patient than some are around here. We've had people suggesting here that he's going to turn this team into champions again in no time flat, that he'll win coach of the year next year, that he'll get more out of our prospects in the NHL than Babcock did, etc... Very few people are acknowledging the fact that he has zero NHL head coaching experience, nor are they acknowledging the fact that there's no tougher league than the NHL to have success in. Blashill's done enough to earn his chance, and he has a great pedigree, and we have reason to be hopeful about him. But he still has proven jack-s*** at the NHL level, and until he does, we might be wise to temper our expectations. Again, I say this in light of much of what I'm reading on here that I pointed out in the previous paragraph. You suggest that everyone knows he could fail, but you sure wouldn't know it by the general consensus that seems to be forming around here.

They said similar things about Dave Lewis too. How'd that work out? We can find a lot of reasons to help us believe this will or won't work out, but we aren't going to really know until he gets up here and has some real NHL experience. It's a whole different experience than anything he's done before. He may be great, he may be awful. What's more likely is that he'll struggle and grow and perhaps eventually be great. In any event though, we as fans would be wise to manage our expectations so as to avoid disappointment and possibly some knee-jerk reactions if the guy stumbles a bit early on. And believe me, I'd love to see a nice guy win and a different, more friendly methodology work, just to kill a bit of the idea that you have to be a cold, distant boss who plays mind games to be a winning coach. So I'm rooting for him, and I'm optimistic, but again, we'd do well to try to manage our expectations early on.

I think people are really, really not giving this enough thought. I think it's very likely we'll end up with Blashill, but I absolutely wouldn't be shocked if we wound up with someone else altogether.

And on the other hand, you basically just illustrated all my concerns about going with Blashill at this point. He got a lot out of guys at the AHL level, and has had his own success then at the AHL level. But the AHL is not the NHL. Very far from it. A lot of the guys that are in the NHL now have been struggling in the NHL, and it's not because Babcock is magically just not getting something out of them. Some of them are struggling because it's the NHL and it's a tough transition. Some, like Nyquist in particular, are just too damn physically weak right now to play up to their potential consistently. I'm not saying Blashill isn't a good coach, so don't get me wrong. But to assume he's going to translate his AHL success into the NHL so simply sounds nothing short of ludicrous to me at this point. In time, perhaps. Again, I'm not saying he's a bad coach. But as I said before, any coach, Babcock, Blashill, or otherwise, is going to have a rough time with the Red Wings down the stretch if the defense doesn't get a serious upgrade.

Don't forget Smith...

I agree, it's the only way they could've, as in could have gotten him there. I mean, seriously, it's one thing to say it's not about the money, and it's another thing when they want to pay you twice as much as your former team. Well, in a sense. $8 million Canadian equates to a hair over $6.5 American. That's a thing, right? If you're signing an NHL contract in Canada, it's Canadian dollars, right?

Saw that $8 million rumor going around. In one breath it's laughable, and then you remember it's Toronto.

He's going back to Russia. Haven't you heard?

I don't think the Wings are out until it's official that he signed with another team. One thing I keep coming back to is Holland himself saying that money won't be an issue. He may be playing hardball, but I wouldn't be shocked if he matched. Others have said that they didn't want to play ball in the field and that they were pissed, but Holland has only been quoted directly as saying money won't be a factor.

I was almost resigned to the idea of him going to Buffalo. I could wrap my head around it and understand. But Toronto??? Ugh. As a fan of the Red Wings, I don't want that. As a fan of Babcock, I don't want that. I would love to see some last minute negotiating heroics from Holland to stop this one. That is, if all of these sources are in fact accurate. Pierre LeBrunVerified account‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun Leafs source says they're hopeful on Babcock. Won't say more at this point. https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/601073795215024128

https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/601071444076945408 User Actions Following Darren DregerVerified account‏@DarrenDreger Source says Babcock told Blues 2 days ago he was out. Things change? If not, the Leafs may have won the sweepstakes

Fake. https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/601069470338146304 "Folks, be careful of fake Twitter accounts"

How reliable is Aaron Ward?

If he ends up in Toronto, the universe is going to implode.

He may have an ego, but he's no fool.

I will be shocked if he goes to Toronto. I highly doubt they're still in the picture so far as Babcock is concerned. He might be hearing them out to be respectful and open-minded, but I'd be shocked if he was seriously considering them. And of course the media is going to prop the idea up for as long as they can. They stir the pot; it doesn't mean there's anything really to it. If Babs is here 5 more years, does it matter? I think it'd be a good thing. Let Blashill cut his NHL head coaching teeth on another team and if he proves his worth, at some point he'll most certainly be considered for the job here when it becomes available. He's a MI guy through and through, and he'd no doubt welcome the opportunity to return. If Babcock signs long term, we can afford to lose Blashill. Hell, if we lose Babcock now, we can afford to lose Blashill. I don't care how good the guy is, he's not as good as some are making him out to be in their heads, at least not yet. The guy has never spent a day as a head coach in the NHL, and it's a different thing than coaching in the AHL. There's no doubt that he's a good coach, but people need to get a little more realistic about the situation.

I feel really bad for Blashill. If Babcock leaves, he's set up to fail at this point. The fan expectations for him are already too high. As said, it's like the backup goalie and backup quarterback thing. I'm not saying that to knock the guy at all, but he'd be coming in as a 1st year NHL head coach to a team that as of now still has a lot of problems. Unless Holland finally succeeds at making a marked improvement to the defense, this team will struggle down the stretch under any coach. That said, Holland could go a long way towards setting Blashill up for success though by improving the D this summer. I do think it's a bit funny that people think the lines will somehow magically be better with a new coach. Sure, there have been decisions that have been made that seem questionable, but end of the day, we have a lot of 4th line players. There's little you can really do with them when push comes to shove.

Edit: see above...