Mike Babcock back in Detroit: Old voice meets the new one
Mike Babcock makes his return to Detroit – well, in the regular season – as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But rather than facing a Red Wings team that had to throw away the script when he departed, he faces one that’s trying to continue the legacy of success he helped build there. Jeff Blashill, the new head coach, is preaching the same kind of pace and puck control that Babcock did.
And like Babcock was with the Wings, GM Ken Holland’s the reason he’s there as head coach.
The Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom asked Leafs president Brendan Shanahan about the disciples of Holland, who are not only coaches but also GMs like Jim Nill with Dallas and Steve Yzerman with the Lightning.
"I'll give Kenny the credit," Shanahan says. "There are certain organizations in hockey that have the kind of leader that makes you want to stay in the game.
"Kenny, Jimmy Nill, they were good, they were fun, they were pros and they were kind. And I think that's why you see a lot of Red Wings stay in hockey.
"There are a lot of teams when guys retire they just play golf. Steve (Yzerman) went right to work. And I remember thinking that's what I want to do. Kenny made work look like fun."
Another team might have been left reeling by the departure of Mike Babcock, and there’s no doubt that not having him behind the bench impacts the Wings.
But I was always surprised by the reaction of a lot of fans when he was looking to leave, and then finally did. There wasn’t panic. There wasn’t a sense that when the Best Coach in the NHL leaves, the franchise spirals down the toilet.
Instead, there was confidence that Holland might be able to keep this thing going in the right direction, and that Jeff Blashill was a younger model and an important change in voice in the locker room. That sentiment was echoed by Tomas Tatar when we spoke to him during the NHL media tour.
“For a coach to be in the same organization that long, you don’t see that as much,” he said. “The guys maybe needed a little bit of a change.”
We’ll see if it was a change for the better by season’s end.
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