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
battle everybody excited foundation great hard huge hung last locker nice opportunity people pictures playoffs quickly saying trying work year
I think everybody realizes that we had a great opportunity. But you find out quickly that last year was last year. There are now nice pictures of the playoffs hung up around the locker room, and people were saying nice things about us and patting us on the back all summer. But now we are trying to reestablish work habits, foundation and identity. I think it makes you more hungry, because we all know how hard it is to get there. It will be a huge battle for us and we are excited about the opportunity to try to get back there.
great
He's a great player. He's skating. It's great to see.
best bring great regular
Let's be honest, we had a great regular season, and the regular season's over. It you don't bring your best game, you don't win.
came great hard ice middle panic people plays puck tons work
It's not like we hadn't had tons of chances, we just weren't finishing. The big thing we wanted to do was not panic and just keep doing what you are doing, get people to the net, work hard at it and let's not be pressing. I thought we managed the puck well and made great plays in the middle of the ice and really came at them with some speed.
among great guy leader phenomenal rallying
It'll be a rallying cry. This guy hasn't done anything wrong. He'll do a great job. He has a phenomenal reputation, and he's a leader among men.
brain dominant feels good great knows leg news skating works
We want him to feel good and be an important part of our team. He told me the other day that he feels he's skating well, and that his leg doesn't hurt. Well that's great news for us. He's dominant in the face-off circle, his brain works all the time; he knows how to play in all situations.
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.
determination determined good great hard played practiced
Good for him. He's played hard, he's practiced hard and when he's on the ice, he's determined out there. That's great for him. It's fantastic. He should feel good.
coach great hard
He's been outstanding, so he's making it as hard on the coach as possible. That's a great thing.
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.
guys worked
We just rolled (the lines) one, two, three, four. It didn't matter. We let our guys go, and it kind of worked out well.
chance good hung job ourselves players took
We weren't ready. Between the players and myself, we didn't get the job done to get out and get started and get after them and set the tone. We hung on good enough defensively, and Manny was good enough to give us a chance to get ourselves going and then I think we took over.
best coach consultant game history phone talked
I've talked to Scotty a lot. The best reputation, the best record, the best coach in the history of our game is here as a consultant for us. All I've got to do is phone him and ask. He's unbelievable.
came chance cup finals game people period three tied win wins
It was unbelievable. Making the finals is one thing, but getting to a Game 7 and being tied in that game after the first period is another. A lot of people think they have a chance to win the Cup, but the only chance to win the Cup is when you have three wins in the final. It's something that I'll always remember, but in the end, we came up empty.