Mike Babcock
Mike Babcock
Michael "Mike" Babcock, Jr.is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach, currently serving as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. He previously spent 10 seasons as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and helped to the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year during his tenure. He holds the record as winningest coach in Red Wings history, surpassing that of Jack Adams. He has also served...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth29 April 1963
benchmark bunch cups detroit earn everybody good great hang jersey looks measure player recognized teams test three winning
There are a whole bunch of teams right now that think they have an opportunity. Everybody looks at us and says, 'If they did it, we can do it.' The measure of a great coach, player and organization is the test of time. Being recognized as good isn't a one-time thing, so you have to hang around to earn that. That's what Detroit and New Jersey have done by each winning three Cups in a 10-year span. If you want to be a benchmark team, you have to do it again.
brother coached committed good guy hard older puck relative skill younger
He was as good with the puck and as hard on the puck as he is now, relative to the skill level. He was a committed guy then. I coached his older brother and his younger brother as well and they're good people.
tried
He tried and he couldn't get going. I think he'll be fine.
great motivated proud stanley wants won
He won the Stanley Cup, let's be honest, and something stopped. Like Shanahan, he wants it back. He's a proud guy. He's in great shape; this is where he wants to play. ... He wants to be here, and that's a pretty motivated guy. I like that.
courageous lead perceives played team
He's been a courageous competitor. He probably shouldn't have played tonight, but he perceives this as his team and he wanted to lead them.
capable game minutes
We have to play the game we're capable of playing. We have to look after it during the 60 minutes of the game (in regulation).
chances controlled inside second until
We didn't think we had second chances until partway through the game. They controlled the inside of the rink.
best evaluate gets joe player trade
When I evaluate a trade as a coach, I evaluate who gets the best player. That's all, it's just about the best player because the best player makes everyone else better. That's what Joe has done.
early good rest
I thought the goalie was really good early when the rest of us weren't.
early few front good humble minutes played players proud record rest start tonight until yelling
I thought the goalie was real good early when the rest of us weren't. He'll be real humble here tonight and he'll say the players played real well in front of him and all that stuff. If you set a record ... you should be proud of yourself. At least for a few minutes until we start yelling at him tomorrow.
against five game guys improves love six talent
I thought the game was a lot of fun. It's zooming out there against those guys. I'd love to play these guys five or six times because I think it improves your play to play against talent like that.
gave middle putting tonight
I thought putting Z in the middle tonight gave us a boost, some energy.
defense discipline half puck second
I thought our discipline was good. Our defense really managed the puck. The second half of the game, they didn't have the puck much.
expect good hard playoffs prepare shocked team
Just like everyone here, I'm shocked at our situation. It's hard to look at our team and think we didn't do a lot of good things to prepare for the playoffs and you would expect to have success.