[News] Detroit grants permission to Babcock to talk to other teams

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Wow, that's telling. I mean, anyone who's ever been to Detroit wouldn't blame him, it's a dump. But still...

At the end of the day those guys spend little to no time in Detroit outside of time spent at the rink.

Some of the nicest and wealthiest neighborhoods in the entire country are effectively what amounts to suburbs of Detroit.

Its actually a very important cautionary tale of bedroom and suburban communities because while Detroit provided the jobs and wealth it never recouped any of that in the form of real-estate revenue or property taxes due to all of that money effectively existing outside of the City itself.

[Hackey]

Friend of a friend told me that Babcocks second cousins sisters husband has season tickets to the Oilers. That's the rumor anyway.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Darkhorse in this race? Philadelphia Flyers.

[madmike]

I could see him in TO. There's no pressure there now and he can rebuild slowly.

With the Oilers there's going to be pressure to improve quickly because of all the high picks and McDavid.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Nick Kypreos @RealKyper
Told offer was substantially higher then Quenneville's who is highest paid. As of now #RedWings not willing to pay 5m per yr as others might

When you consider the influence on team success a good coach can have $5 million/season really isn't that high a price for a team with money that wants to win. The Wings do things a certain way and it appears whatever they offered Babcock is their ceiling.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

When you consider the influence on team success a good coach can have $5 million/season really isn't that high a price for a team with money that wants to win. The Wings do things a certain way and it appears whatever they offered Babcock is their ceiling.

I recall reading/hearing that the Wings won't pay Babcock more than Holland's salary, so that might be the issue.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by New Era

Darkhorse in this race? Philadelphia Flyers.

Been hearing the reasoning behind that as well. Seems like it's not only money and responsibility but also a realistic chance to win in the near future. The Oilers and Leafs will have to sell hard on why draft picks mean playoff wins.

[troutman]

DET has won one out of last six playoff series. Time for a change?

[CroFlames]

I don't think Babs chooses EDM because of McDavid.

When you think about it, let's say EDM does become a contender under Babs, but are bounced in the first round 3 years running. Do you think Chia is going to trade away golden boy #1, #2 or #3? No, it's the coach that is biting the dust.

Sometimes its hard to coach the generational guy.

[Hackey]

I highly doubt that is his thinking process.

[RITFW]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Fire hartley!!! Put in offfer!!!

As an Oiler fan I agree 100%. Not sure why a Flames fan would feel this way though. Babcock may end up in Edmonton (I prefer McLellan) but there is no way Babcock would be a better coach for the Flames than Hartley. He had better win the Jack Adams and he has his boys in the palm of his hand. I envy you guys for having not only a great coach but having the right coach. Added bonus: he's shown success beyond expectations at less than half the money Katz will throw out for a competent coach.

Or maybe you were kidding...

[RITFW]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Katz was as big of an Alberta PC booster as there was. I suspect his appetite to spend stupidly in Edmonton has been tempered big time. His buddy Mandel who basically gave him his new arena got taken to the woodshed in this last election.

He's probably closer to being Bill Wirtz spiteful right now than Steinbrenner win at all costs spending.

You idle speculation is laughable. Katz may be pissed about the election results but I'm quite certain it will have absolutely no bearing on how he spends his millions (wisely or otherwise) on his hockey team.

[Cheese]

Babcock will stay in Detroit. His family is comfortable there and he really loves it. Why wouldnt he want to try and rebuild the Wings? Challenge is as good or better than Toronto or Edmonton. They have assets that can be moved for youth.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Locke

...

Its actually a very important cautionary tale of bedroom and suburban communities because while Detroit provided the jobs and wealth it never recouped any of that in the form of real-estate revenue or property taxes due to all of that money effectively existing outside of the City itself.

Not the right thread for this discussion. But if you are drawing inferences to Calgary, you are making wrong conclusions. Detroit suburbia is true urban sprawl suburbia, meaning that all those little communities around the city are not within city limits and the city has no control over them (and no tax revenue). Calgary is very different.

[T@T]

I'm probably the only one who thinks Babcock is slightly overrated, good solid NHL coach but he's not really a game changer IMO. He pushes enough buttons to get in the playoffs but his Detroit teams have 3 series wins the last six years and one in the last four.

A blind monkey could have coached his cup win in 08 and his 2 olympic wins were more about Crosby(2010) and Price last year.

[Yoho]

Edmonton looks like they're trying to reunite the Olympic dream team coaching/management staff.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

DET has won one out of last six playoff series. Time for a change?

That's not on Babcock. The Wings haven't drafted an impact player since Kronwall 15 years ago.

Even an excellent organization like the Wings can't sustain success in a capped league when they almost never draft higher than 20th. The Wings traded away their 1st rounder 8 times in the last 14 years. Here are the Wings' highest picks over each of the last 14 seasons:

62
58
64
97
19
41
27
30
32
21
35
49
20
15

Those moves that kept them at the top for so long have taken their toll on a roster with little high-end talent. It's remarkable how much Babcock has gotten out of the team over the last five years or so. If I'd blame anyone for the Wings' gentle yet relentless decline, it's Holland for not retooling. They could probably regenerate the lineup by moving Datsyuk this summer, but it's too little too late.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

That's not on Babcock. The Wings haven't drafted an impact player since Kronwall 15 years ago.

Even an excellent organization like the Wings can't sustain success in a capped league when they almost never draft higher than 20th. The Wings traded away their 1st rounder 8 times in the last 14 years. Here are the Wings' highest picks over each of the last 14 seasons:

62
58
64
97
19
41
27
30
32
21
35
49
20
15

Those moves that kept them at the top for so long have taken their toll on a roster with little high-end talent. It's remarkable how much Babcock has gotten out of the team over the last five years or so. If I'd blame anyone for the Wings' gentle yet relentless decline, it's Holland for not retooling. They could probably regenerate the lineup by moving Datsyuk this summer, but it's too little too late.

I don't know if I agree with blaming Holland. Flames fans should know all well that the 24 year playoff streak in this day and age is nothing short of remarkable and to continue making the playoffs without the aid of top 10 draft picks tells me quite frankly that Holland is without a doubt the best GM of all time. The success was there long before Babcock and I'm willing to bet they continue to be a competitive organization after he leaves. The one flaw as you highlighted is that the lack of top picks has robbed them the opportunity to find the difference makers come playoff time but when I look at how hard the Flames had to scratch and claw to make the playoffs this year and think the Wings have been doing it for 24 years it's honestly one of those streaks that doesn't get enough attention for how incredible that organization has been run. Just think that some young adults have never seen the Wings miss the playoffs in their entire lifetime.

[powderjunkie]

Sportsnet guys have talked a bit about discontent between Quenneville and Bowman in Chitown. It's an outside shot (especially if Chicago makes finals), but that could be a pretty nice gig.

As a few have already said, he inherited a great culture in Detroit, and has proven that he can get superstars to do play to their full potential (Olympics 2014). No Oilers were on that team. Even with McDavid, it's a few years of banging your head against a brick wall there...plus the dry cleaning bills for his suits when Hallsys respect for him boils over.

I think San Jose would be my top choice if they will match cash - it looks like it's time for Jumbo Joe #1 to be shipped out of town, so he would get a bit of a blank slate for leadership, and still lots of young guys coming up. Nice place to live too.

[ReinhartonD]

Originally Posted by saillias

I sort of hope Babcock goes to some mediocre or average team for big money, power etc. and underwhelms just to bust this myth of him being the greatest coach ever. Sort of like what happened to Burke in Toronto.

or Sather in New York...