haroldsnepsts

Honestly I'm a little surprised the offer is that low from Mr. I given what the market was going to be. Even though it would make Babcock the highest paid coach in NHL history, I think that says more about how much NHL coaches are underpaid than anything else. Quenneville should be making at least as much as Bryan Bickell. Illitch has hugely deep pockets and it's not like the money counts against the cap. Maybe this is more about trying to raise the bar for coaches salaries after all.

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.

Sharks seem like an odd choice to me. I don't follow them that closely but aren't they somewhat similar to the Wings but with less potential? A couple aging stars at the core, a couple good young guys, and an unremarkable blueline? Plus they need a goaltender. Then on top of all that add the culture of choking, the drama between Thornton and the owner, not having a captain, etc. Even for any potential shortcomings in Detroit, I don't see how San Jose is a better choice.

If you don't want to discuss hockey, there's a Water Cooler forum that's the appropriate place to discuss whatever inane topic suits your fancy. Otherwise stay on topic.

I did. As I stated in the post you quoted, the problem most people have with Devellano's comments has nothing to do with their honesty. Almost no one is arguing about its truthfulness. Just the timing and the source. Your post was responding to an oversimplified argument no one was really making. Just one you invented. When you post your actual thoughts on the subject, there's a good discussion to be had. Thank you. This makes total sense to me.

Apparently you don't. Most people in this thread aren't mad and aren't arguing that Devellano's comments are inaccurate.

For me it's not that it might have hurt Mantha's feelings. When the coach does it, it's one thing. It's usually a calculated move. This just seems so random. Especially because he makes it sound like the Wings have already given up on the kid. I don't really follow the prospects that closely but has Mantha been benched, or even criticized publicly by anyone before this? For the Senior VP of the NHL club to call out a minor league player is pretty much going nuclear. And isn't something I can ever remember the Wings doing ever before. It's just odd, which makes me think it was Devellano running his mouth more than a plan to light a fire under the kid.

an elite goaltender, let alone one comparable to two of the greatest of all time, commands upwards of $7-9 mill per year and on a fairly long term contract.

It's just that it's extremely odd that Devellano would comment about this and not Blashill or Holland. An article on The Score about the comments refer to Devellano's comments as "startling criticism" which reflects how unusual they are. http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/759148 He's also apparently VP for the Tigers?? I don't really follow baseball so I wasn't aware he had anything to do with that organization. Maybe it's all thanks for helping build the Cup teams in the 90s and establish scouting in Europe that landed them a lot of great players?

Nice to see Mantha responding a lot more thoughtfully than Jimmy D did. I can imagine Holland facepalming when he heard Devellano's comments.

I highly doubt they've given up on him already, in spite of Devellano using past tense. I'm guessing this is his attempt at motivating Mantha. Or it's Devellano just saying something stupid again. Probably both. It should put the fear of god in Mantha though, hearing someone so high up in the Red Wings organization talk about you that way.

Let's hope. I'm guessing Holland will have to eat some of Weiss's salary to move him though.

The funniest part was Stamkos tossing Prusts's elbow pad to a fan in the stands. http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2015/5/3/8541285/watch-steven-stamkos-toss-brandon-prusts-elbow-pad-into-the-stands There's a gif of it out there on the internets but I can't get it to work here. Hopefully someone smarter than me will (there should be plenty of qualified candidates).

Don't forget Duncan Keith. He's one of the dirtier star players who somehow avoids a reputation. Vicious stickwork and a few headshots. Then taunting Backes (who I'm no fan of) when he was clearly reeling from a headshot. Great d-man. Dirty player. Kane I can handle on the ice. I just have to pretend he doesn't exist off the ice.

Agreed. Prust is an idiot so it's not exactly coming from the best source. But there are certain refs who seem to get amped up during a game and forget they're not one of the players. McGeough was a prime example. (watch about 1 min in)

It's not even so much that I dislike Ovi, it's more that I used to like him a lot when he came in the league, but grew a little tired of his reckless hits and half assed effort anytime the puck wasn't on his stick. When he cares and gives a full effort, he's a gamebreaker for all the reasons you mentioned. It seems like this season he cares again.

That's understandable. And I can definitely relate. The main reason I could catch this one is because it was on a weekend. I was more referring to people who just lose interest in the playoffs once the Wings are out.

What a goal by OV today. I'm not a big fan of his but man that was beastly. And honestly I could care less who wins this series, which actually makes it pretty fun to watch. I'm not emotionally invested so for a change I can sit back and watch the hockey. To each their own but I don't totally understand who stop watching once the Wings are eliminated. I highly recommend watching a series you're not invested in if the hockey is good.

I'd love for you to take that argument somewhere other than a Wings board and see how it goes. No one is going to be the exact player as Datsyuk and Zetterberg, which is what seems to be only acceptable answer to you. The reality is that Chicago, LA, Boston were all great teams. And it's kind of beside the point because Babcock got within one win of the Cup without anyone in the same universe as a Datsyuk or Zetterberg anyways. He took Anaheim to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with the "star" player being Kariya with 81 points (which doesn't even crack the top 10 that year) and an assorted cast of Sykora, Oates, and Mike Leclerc.

If you need me to point out to you why in 2009 Crosby (who had 103 points in the regular season and 31 in the playoffs) and Malkin (113 points regular season, 36 points playoffs) were as good as Dats and Z were in 2008, there's really no point in continuing.

Lots of teams? Like who? The first one I can kind of think of is Carolina. And they at least had Staal. Quenneville had an 88 point player in Kane, a 68 point great two way forward in Toews, and a Norris winning defenseman in Keith. And Hossa. So he had three superstar forwards and a great #1 d-man. Quenneville hadn't been to the Cup finals until he coached a team with that talent. Sutter didn't win the Cup until he had Kopitar, Doughty, Quick, along with Brown, Richards and Carter. Sutter had several great forwards, a great #1 d-man, and a great playoff goaltender. Are you really saying those two teams won the Cup without players of the calibre of Datsyuk and Zetterberg?

I may have been influenced by the number on the back of the sweater but initially I thought Datsyuk would be like Slava Kozlov. A guy with great hands and some nifty moves who could be a great supporting piece but not one of the main guys. Man was I wrong. That being said I don't think we have a Datsyuk or Zetterberg in Nyquist or Tatar, but I'd love to be wrong again.

That title belongs to Justin Williams. He holds the record for most points in Game sevens (passing Doug Gilmour). 7 goals and 7 assists in 7 game 7's.

No, you're not alone. On paper he could help, I've just never been a huge fan of the guy and he's injury prone. If it were a playoff rental that would be different, but signing as a UFA I'm gunshy.

True. I wasn't so much refuting what he said as just commenting on what has been a common theme about Babcock's potential new teams. There's been a lot of speculation about him going somewhere that he could act as GM as well but I'm not sure what it's based on anything other than the natural assumption that most coaches want more control over their roster. I'm just not sure that's his style. I mean, he hired an assistant coach who a few years prior basically wanted to climb onto his bench and kick his ass. The guy apparently thrives on conflict