Another comment from Francis:
The consensus around the league is that the only thing Suter has left to decide is what number he'll wear for the Red Wings.
22, maybe? I wonder if Miller will give up his number 20.
Nobody is getting defensive. People just don't buy it, given all the supplementary evidence we have. People not believing the rumor monger is part of the "discussion" you wanted to prompt.
It's the same "hivemind" people doing one of two things.
The benchy crowd says its not true! No! How could it be True!
The SoupNasty Crowd says everyone knew that already. Not worth talking about.
I thought Francis and Stellick had a good conversation about it.
Francis said that all good coaches get tuned out eventually.
Stellick said, yeah, but not Trotz in Nashville, and called him the exception to the rule
And Francis, quite candidly, pointed out that Trotz hasn't won. Nor has he even been close.
It was an interesting exchange.
A lot more interesting then the
"It's not true!!!! He's a rumor monger"
"Everyone knew about this. There's nothing to talk about."
But some guys here want to advance discussions instead of turning it into the "Bashers vs Apologists Battle#67678"
Obviously Babcock worries about being tuned out—he mentioned this explicitly when they hired two rookie assistant coaches.
The thing was news to me was that Francis said he was "despised."
Honestly, that's the first I've heard of this since the Yzerman/Shanahan rumblings at the beginning of the Babcock era.
Well... It would certainly help if we have more sources than a western canada journalist/ talk show host. I can't buy this especially with the player polls contrasting to what Francis is saying.
Well... It would certainly help if we have more sources than a western canada journalist/ talk show host. I can't buy this especially with the player polls.
I agree with you on this. Who is this Western Canadian journalist, anyway?
I agree with you on this. Who is this Western Canadian journalist, anyway?
Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with this Francis fellow. I'm only making assumptions based on who he mainly talks about (Edmonton/Calgary?). I assumed he's from Western Canada.... Eh. You get some right and you get some wrong. I was talking about Francis.
Well... It would certainly help if we have more sources than a western canada journalist/ talk show host. I can't buy this especially with the player polls contrasting to what Francis is saying.
What do player polls really say?
People see the Stanley Cup and Olympic medal and that might account for the votes right there.
Eric Francis has been a Calgary Sun sports columnist since 1994, covering everything from the Flames and Stampeders to the British Open, Super Bowl and Olympics. A graduate of Carleton University's journalism program, Francis is also a best-selling author, local morning show host and weekly panellist on Hockey Night in Canada's Hotstove. Francis is extremely active in the community, emceeing various charity events including his own, which raises money for KidSport. Francis and wife Sarah have two young children.
I'm not arguing. I just don't know if having 8 percent of the players saying they want to play for Babcock is an indicator of how the Red Wings players feel about him.
If players hate him and he's successful, why fire him?
The question with Babcock will be, can he reach them again? Scotty did it in 02. But he got a serious revamp of the roster.
This is crazy because an owner of a bar that talks to different Wings and affiliates told me the exact thing a year and a half ago. My innocent mind could not believe or even imagine such a thing. Now that I've been corrupted from HF Boards the idea is not a surprise. Canadians and Euros do have a different attitude IMO which is only natural.
The way our season ended and some of the reactions were...weird. MB seemed dumbfounded and kind of distant/detached in his comments about why we lost. Zetterberg was SOO pissed off but could never in this world say what the real problems with the team are. We looked pathetic and frustrated. My thought is things will be shook up this off-season enough to bring back the hope in us all. Like it was said, when you're winning everybody's happy!
I'm not arguing. I just don't know if having 8 percent of the players saying they want to play for Babcock is an indicator of how the Red Wings players feel about him.
You are saying nothing. Like usual you are picking an argument.
You don't like anyone Anything about the organization. You argue for the sake of arguing.
What I can't wrap my head around though is why people even bother to acknowledge you anymore.
This is crazy because an owner of a bar that talks to different Wings and affiliates told me the exact thing a year and a half ago. My innocent mind could not believe or even imagine such a thing. Now that I've been corrupted from HF Boards the idea is not a surprise. Canadians and Euros do have a different attitude IMO which is only natural.
The way our season ended and some of the reactions were...weird. MB seemed dumbfounded and kind of distant/detached in his comments about why we lost. Zetterberg was SOO pissed off but could never in this world say what the real problems with the team are. We looked pathetic and frustrated. My thought is things will be shook up this off-season enough to bring back the hope in us all. Like it was said, when you're winning everybody's happy!
That's odd because I have friends that own a nightspot in Royal Oak that many Red Wings frequent quite a bit and according to him all he has ever heard is positive stuff about Babs from the players. Of course they acknowledge he is a no BS kind of guy, but outside that he is a winner, gets the best out of his players, and knows when to use his authority and when to lay off and let the locker room handle whatever situation they have.
That's odd because I have friends that own a nightspot in Royal Oak that many Red Wings frequent quite a bit and according to him all he has ever heard is positive stuff about Babs from the players. Of course they acknowledge he is a no BS kind of guy, but outside that he is a winner, gets the best out of his players, and knows when to use his authority and when to lay off and let the locker room handle whatever situation they have.
I would believe that completely. I would also believe that there is some tension or dis connect within the team. This is not a huge issue, there isn't going to be a mutiny. Bob is just bringing up the discussion he heard in the media here which is interesting. You've got to agree that by how we ended the season and losing who we are is difficult and there are some ripples that need to be ironed out.
So, who was the last coach to win back-to-back cups.
Other than Bowman, who was the last coach to win two cups with one Franchise.
Colorado won with two different coaches. NJ won with three different coaches. Pittsburg won with two coaches.
Prior to Bowman, you have to go back to Sather to find a guy who won more than one cup with the same team.
How many coaches have ever won cups separated by two losing seasons or more?
There's Bowman (three years between 98-02).
Bowman again (two years between 73-76).
Prior to that, you've got to go back to the Original 6 era with Punch Imlach.
So this begs the question: Once your cup-winning coach loses, why do you keep him?
On the topic of Lidstrom not giving Babcock a huge amount of appreciation in his retirement speech...
What did Babcock have to do for Lidstrom? I mean, Lewis and Bowman were there when Lidstrom broke out, pretty much. They helped him shape his game. He found a huge amount of success with those two as his coach/assistant coach.
Babcock... he just gave the guy a C... Lidstrom was already what... 34? 35? when Babcock took over. Babcock had confidence in Lidstrom to give him playing time, but what could Babcock do to really help Lids? He already had Norris trophies and a Conn Smythe trophy in his closet, and he was already widely considered the best d-man in the game at that point...
My guess is that someone like Zetterberg or Datsyuk will thank Babs wholeheartedly in their retirement conference eventually. Think of the things people say when they leave Detroit... Hossa and Stuart have both said that playing in Detroit made them better players... I think that should have a lot to do with Babcock coaching the team.
With that being said, it is entirely possible that the team is tuning Mike out. He's been coaching the team for years. He's a good coach, but the results haven't been that special over the past few years. After the last few seasons, seeing how unsuccessful they have been, it really wouldn't surprise me if he has gotten stale. He's been in Detroit for a long time now. It's scary to wonder who they'd hire to replace him, though.
