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mjlegend

WWSBD?

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Let's allow ourselves to think of ways Scotty Bowman would have gotten the Wings out of the doldrums, or whose presence would have changed things this year.

1) Moving the most skilled stickhandler and puckmover (Datsyuk) to D.

2) Repeatedly bench an error-prone defenceman. (Ericsson).

3) Play musical goaltenders (Howard and Conklin, but somehow Manny Legace would need to be involved in a three-headed monster). Tell them and the media one will start the next game and then inexplicably change your mind just before gametime.

4) Keep a grind line together for a season rather than moving four guys in and out (Eaves, Emmerton and Conner would have been picked out of training camp).

5) The Wings would have gotten Jagr in July.

6) Exelby would be in for Kindl, who would be used as trade bait with Hudler at the deadline to get an old vet on his last legs looking for one last shot at the Cup. Looking at you, Ray Whitney.

The team would hate him and he probably wouldn't be on speaking terms with most of them, but they'd be 7-2-1 at this point and they wouldn't be lacking motivation or jump.

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Make 'em do suicides until they can barely stand up, and then when they all catch their breaths, make them do it again. I love Babs, I think he's a great coach, but what the Wings need right now is a ball-buster, and Bowman is that guy. He wouldn't have tolerated this for more than two periods, much less five games.

Come to think of it, I think their strength and conditioning coaches should do the suicides with them, because they're the reason the team looks so lethargic and exhausted before the 3rd period is even over.

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If he was GM, he would have brought in an NHL-ready, NHL-experienced 'special assistant/scout' like the Hawks did with Joel Quenneville late in the Denis Savard era. Possibly Ken Hitchcock.

Babcock (enters Scotty's office abruptly): Did I hear right? Did we just hire Ken Hitchc... Oh, hi Ken.

Bowman (wearing monacle, petting black cat): Yes, he's my special assistant to the general manager. I need some ... help, shall we say, with the ... on-ice performance of this team.

Babcock: OK. Should ... I ... be worried?

Bowman: I don't know. (pregnant pause as he briefly stops petting cat) Should you?

Babcock (blinks twice, purses lips): ... If this is about the losing streak, I assure you ...

Hitchcock (smiling broadly): I can't wait to see the next game.

Bowman: Hitch is going to run practice today. You can have today off, Mike.

Babcock: ...

Hitchcock (lights cigars for he and Bowman): BUWAHHAHAAHAAAAA!!!!!

Bowman: We're telling the press you have the flu today. I've left the secretary with a list of names of some good real estate agents. You know (pauses again) just in case.

Bowman & Hitchcock (in unison): Bye, Mike.

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Guest Crymson

:rolleyes: Ah, so Crymson is on the "sarcastic ******* martyr" mode. Surprise, surprise. :rolleyes:

I'm so sorry that I dislike your ludicrous and panic-induced "grass is greener" ideology. Babcock is one of the best coaches in the league, but you can't see past your own alarm. So, after his six seasons as the all-around most successful coach in the league, we're ten games into the 2011-2012 season at 5-4-1 and suddenly you think that he sucks as a coach, that the likes of Ken Hitchcock are superior to him, and that he should be replaced. Reading this paragraph ought to show you how silly you sound.

Also of note is that Bowman is not even remotely the imbecile you're making him out to be.

Finally, martyr? What?

Edited by Crymson

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I don't think Babcock sucks. He's proven himself in the past. However, it seems like he's had a new challenge the last couple of seasons that he hasn't had to deal with before: complacency and lack of motivation. On paper, the Wings are oozing talent. We should be scoring goals left and right. However, the team has come up flat for the last 5 games. They look tired. In the post game interviews, they look defeated. They blame bounces not going their way. Babcock needs to get this team together, tell them they are all sucking right now, and fix it. Like Electrophile said, make them do suicides until they puke. Go over plays until their eyes glaze over. Bench players. Whatever it takes. Babcock needs to figure out how to light a fire under everyone's ass. And quick.

Talking with fans, and reading through these forums, it seems like we give the team a pass way too often. If they lose, its "early in the season, calm down" or "the refs suck" or "so and so had an off night, they'll bounce back." We've been waiting for Franzen to get his crap together for how many seasons? The young guys need to start stepping up and producing. The veterans need to start playing like they're veterans. I know we're just fans, and who really cares what we think, but maybe this type of thinking has crept into the team, coaches, management, etc? They just look like they don't care anymore.

Maybe I'm just frustrated...

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Babcock is still one of the best coaches in the league. He's intense and he does make the do punishing skates and practices...though maybe not enough.

They key difference in coaching styles between Babs and Bowman is that Bowman was f-ing insane, which made him unpredictable and kept everyone on their toes, players and media and opposing teams alike. Unfortunately I think Babcock has gotten to be a little predictable, especially when facing McClellan. It wouldn't kill him to start mind-f-ing with the media to make it harder for the other coaches to figure out his game plan. Benching a few people would help, although Bowman had a lot more depth to work with when he benched people.

EDIT: Also, I think the "stay the course, don't overreact" attitude has hurt the team. It used to be helpful that the Wings never panicked, but now it seems they go right from frustrated to defeated instead of feeling any urgency. Talking about bounces not going their way isn't the same as "we need to stop turning the puck over and start working harder at going straight to the net, several of us in particular." And that probably breeds complacency.

Edited by VM1138

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Scotty would make the players responsible for their play by benching their ass.

He wouldn't be scared to put any line combination out on the ice.

Maybe request a trade for a snarling veteran type on defense, goodbye E and/or Kindl. He loved vets

Put a real physical presence on the top lines so Z and D have room to work.

Getting everyone to buy into the system.

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