Random Mike Babcock thought: It's pretty weird that he's never won the Jack Adams. Last season was only the 2nd time he was even nominated for the award.
Leafs search for a new coach/GM
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
herman
Well-known member
CarltonTheBear said:
His work with Team Canada at the last Olympics also impressed me. Sure his team was stacked to the gills with talent, pulling all those egos together in a very short time frame could not have been easy. Playing a different system effectively (for most of them) in such a short time frame is amazing. The way they stifled and dismantled top flight teams in the elimination rounds? Skynet-esque.
bustaheims
Active member
CarltonTheBear said:
The Jack Adams inevitably goes to a coach whose team performs well above the expectations people had for them before the season started. The only time that's really been true for Babcock is the year he got the Ducks into the Cup Final - and, even then, most of what his team accomplished above expectations happened after the votes would have been submitted.
Jolly good show chaps
Member
Dare I ask : if we need a couple of seasons of poor final positions to aid the rebuild then should we go for a merely good coach who can keep things ticking over and result in a top 5 pick rather than a great coach who could get us picking in the 6-10 area with the same team?
Kin
New member
Jolly good show chaps said:
That's overestimating the impact a coach will have on a team's final record by an incredible amount. The key element of getting a top 5 pick will be in assembling a bad enough roster. A Buffalo like roster. Last year Buffalo had 54 points. Getting the 6th overall pick with Buffalo's roster would have required them to get 24 more points than they did. No coach is worth 24 points over the course of a season. The Coach who could take Buffalo's roster to the #10th pick hasn't been born. The difference between the Leafs and the #10 spot was 22 points. No coach, heck, no player is worth 22 points.
Admittedly it's not much of a metric but the guys who coached the teams with the worst and second worst records this year? Both have won the Jack Adams trophy. No coach, good or great, will make the sort of difference you're talking about.
So Cox and Friedman with some updates here during the intermission of the NYR-TB game:
-The Leafs are heavily interested in 4 GMs: Mike Futa (LA), Julien BriseBois (TB), Jeff Gorton (NYR), and George McPhee
-Toronto and Buffalo are the only 2 teams to have officially spoken to Babcock, if Babcock re-signs with Detroit Blashill will be a target for both teams (and others)
-The Leafs will likely have Sheldon Keefe in the organization next season, but not as the Leafs head coach
-The Leafs are heavily interested in 4 GMs: Mike Futa (LA), Julien BriseBois (TB), Jeff Gorton (NYR), and George McPhee
-Toronto and Buffalo are the only 2 teams to have officially spoken to Babcock, if Babcock re-signs with Detroit Blashill will be a target for both teams (and others)
-The Leafs will likely have Sheldon Keefe in the organization next season, but not as the Leafs head coach
L K said:
Yup, I like the intent of the rule but they really need to clean it up. It shouldn't be applied to people who were fired or will be free agents in a month. It really goes against the spirit of the rule.
Kin
New member
I've been hearing quite a bit of Babcock to Philly chatter of late. That would certainly be a team with more talent on it than Toronto or Buffalo but it's still not a team I think of as one that's right on the edge of doing something big. They have some decent defensive prospects in the system but the bridge between that and having a really good NHL defense could be years.
Nik the Trik said:
Yeah Philly has been the one other team aside from Toronto and Buffalo to have been attached to Babcock in the media. The group of teams apparently interested is much smaller than I would have imagined. One team that I'm very surprised we haven't heard anything about is St. Louis. They're likely losing Hitchcock, so that would easily make them the best team without a coach. Imagine Babcock coaching a defence comprising of Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, and J-Bo?
I still believe the Leafs have the best chance of getting Babcock...They are probably talking over who they are going to get as GM.
There is no point of leaving Detroit otherwise...it will be the challenge of turning the biggest team in hockey into a winner...I can't see why he's stalling other than putting a team structure together.
There is no point of leaving Detroit otherwise...it will be the challenge of turning the biggest team in hockey into a winner...I can't see why he's stalling other than putting a team structure together.
Kin
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
Yeah, although St. Louis maybe isn't a situation where it makes a ton of sense from the other side. They've never struck me as either being profitable enough or having the sort of owner who'll see the upside in breaking the bank for a new coach, especially when the extent to which Babcock is a clear-cut upgrade over Hitchcock is unknowable.
I don't know if 3 or 4 million dollars a year, which could very well separate what they're paying Hitchcock and what they might have to pay Babcock, is as palatable to them when getting out of the first round hasn't been much easier for Babcock over the last few years.
hockeyfan1
New member
L K said:
I don't think it's something so catastrophic if they'll need to give up a third rounder in order to obtain a top guy like Babcock, especially if they prefer him over the other candidates.
Let's face it, the Leafs haven't really had a coach of Babcock's caliber or even McLellan's for that matter. A coach who can deal with the overall structure of the team and mould the team in his own way in order to get the results desired (even a rebuilding team as the Leafs are).
My choice would be between Babcock and McLellan. For experience, flexibility and adaptability that they bring with them to the organization in many ways that will transcend to the team.
bustaheims
Active member
L K said:
I don't love the idea, either, but it's not an immediate outlay - there's a 3 year window for them to give up that pick - and 3rd round picks aren't exactly difficult to acquire, either. The difference between an early 3rd rounder and a late 3rd rounder really isn't all that significant, so sacrificing their own 3rd isn't such a big deal if it comes in a draft year where they've acquired at least one other 3rd rounder (or, even better, an additional 2nd rounder).
moon111
New member
I wonder where Montreal would be if they had failed just a little more consistent. One extra fail season, one more impact player. When I look at Babcock, I'm more worried about success then failure. I want the team to fail badly. No short-cuts. Build from the ground up a team that wins the Cup. Take a decade even, what is one more? Leafs might not get an impact player if Babcock turns the team around.
moon111
New member
I think a huge difference could be made just by adjusting that #1 line. Either through trade or coaching. As much as it pains me to say so, Phaneuf's -11 doesn't look so bad when you think about who he was on the ice with. Playing with Kessel is like playing short-handed. The opposition exploited them like they started exploiting Raycroft's glove hand. Everyone has it down to a science now. Can Babcock coach Kessel?
Highlander
Active member
Alfred or Ken?