Detroit Red Wings: Mike Babcock Said No to Contract Offer

Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, has reportedly turned down a contract offer from the team per Ken Campbell of The Hockey News. Babcocks contract situation was one of the bigger stories this off season for the Detroit Red Wings.

Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Babcock is in the last year of his contract he signed in 2010 and is currently the longest tenured head coach in the NHL. Babcock was nominated for the Jack Adams award but finished second to first-year coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Patrick Roy.

While contract talks seem to be on a hiatus for the season, they will surely be a major talking point after the season has concluded. If Babcock doesn’t re-sign with the team at least a week after his contract is up, he will be the hottest coach on the market. However, let me tell you my interesting idea I had late one morning.

Let Mike Babcock go and get a new coach.

Now, I said this to some friends who are die hard Detroit Red Wings fans and the look on their faces said it all. The idea of not re-signing Babcock would explode their heads had it actually happened. They were not into the idea whatsoever and thought it was a silly idea to not try and keep one of the best coaches in hockey

I’ll give them that, yeah it would be silly, but Babcock hasn’t won a cup since the 2007-2008 season. Yes, I know a coach can’t win the cup himself and that it is a team effort and blah, blah, blah. Trust me I know this, but why not change things up? The Red Wings have gone 253-142-63 since they lost the Stanley Cup in 2008. Each season they hover around 48 to 50 wins a season and last year they managed 39 of them.

You know that saying; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That is kind of how the feeling I got looking at records and playoff results for the Red Wings since that Cup loss in 2008. Cool, the team makes the playoffs every year but it means nothing really when they can’t produce a Stanley cup win in 6 seasons. The Kings and Blackhawks have both won 2 championships each within 3 years since the last Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup win.

The Red Wings have been slowly falling farther and farther down the standings when the season ends. Why not change it up? You can’t keep things the same forever. The team needs a new playing style, a coach who lights a fire underneath them half way through the season. I’m not saying Babcock doesn’t do this, but the team barely made it into the playoffs last season and watching them play now, they don’t look like a Detroit Red Wings team to me.

If the Red Wings make a good run in the playoffs this year then you try and resign him, I have no problem being proved wrong by Mr. Babcock and the team. However if the team doesn’t make the playoffs or gets axed in the first-round again, then maybe you look into someone else. You can only keep things the same way for so long, until finally you have to stop and realize things need to change.