Babcock granted permission to talk to other teams

[marcaractac 3,963]

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.

Exactly. So lets hope Babs goes out west so we still have a shot at trading for Dion. Babs to TO will most certainly make that potential trade never happen.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Really? The "key" element? Not the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

C'mon.

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

[derblaueClaus 1,668]

Darren Dreger ‏@

Sources say Mike Babcock has been hired by the Maple Leafs. Mammoth 8 yr contract believed to be around $50 million.