Red Wings: Jeff Blashill Amazingly Outlasts Mike Babcock
By Bob Heyrman
With a bit of a surprise move, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fired former Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock.
Who would have thought that current Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill would have outlasted former Stanley Cup winner Mike Babcock? Not me. Jeff Blashill isn’t precisely safe either, but he survived longer than the high priced Babcock.
Remember when Ken Holland and Mike Babcock sat down for an interview before Babcock’s departure? Holland spun the discussion to keep Detroit Red Wings fans skeptical. Looking back now, there is no doubt in my mind that both Holland and Babcock knew that Mike was about to hit the 401 in Windsor with the next stop being Toronto.
The Red Wings sort of low-balled Babcock with an offer about half of the amount he’d go on to sign. Mike cashed in with the desperate Maple Leafs. Babcock earned himself an $8 million per season salary to coach a team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
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He left the Wings mentioning he wasn’t prepared to be involved in a rebuild. Um, ok? His first year in Toronto, the Leafs finished dead last in the NHL. The benefit was being able to draft star center, Auston Matthews.
The fact of the matter is, Babcock saw a couple of young talented players within the Leafs system. Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, William Nylander with the hopes of landing the first overall pick. Everything worked in Babcock’s favor, but the results have been few and far between even after landing one of the best players in the league during free agency just a summer ago in John Tavares.
There have been plenty of rumors over the years that veteran players, in particular, don’t enjoy playing for Mike Babcock. The same used to be said about the legendary Scotty Bowman. Clearly, Babcock doesn’t have a similar resume, but perhaps his ego would have told a different story. It’s the old adage, winning cures all. Well, the Leafs weren’t winning. Babcock lost the locker room.
It’s odd to see the headline, Mike Babcock, fired. Indeed, some of you reading this is snickering with satisfaction reading that. Perhaps this will force Mike to coach with a bit more of an open mind? His style of coaching is old school, it certainly has it’s positives, but in today’s star-driven league, the fourth line shouldn’t play more than a teams’ top line. We are still used to this philosophy here in Detroit, but I’m confident change is coming sooner than later here too.
The Leafs have lost six games in a row, with a star-studded roster they are currently ranked 5th in the Atlantic Division with 9 wins in 23 games totaling 22 points. To compare, Detroit has won 7 of their 23 games and has totaled 17 points. For one team, its a major disappointment, the other sort of expected.
Mike Babcock wasn’t able to win a single playoff series throughout four seasons with the Leafs. The Boston Bruins served as Toronto’s kryptonite. So when you think of it that way, Jeff Blashill and Mike Babcock have the same amount of series wins during this post Red Wings Babcock duration.
Related Story. How long can Steve Yzerman stay with Jeff Blashill?. light
One Babcock memory I will never get over is scratching a healthy Mike Modano on the last day of the season as his career total of games played sat at 1499. Unbelievable.