World Cup Injury Scares
One reason team executives and coaching staffs aren’t too keen on tournaments like the World Cup of Hockey is the fear one of their top players might get hurt playing in a meaningless – to them anyway – exhibition. If, for example, the Capitals lost Alex Ovechkin for any significant duration due to an injury playing in the World Cup, Washington’s chances to compete for a Stanley Cup would take a major hit. So general managers and head coaches nervously watch these games with the hope that no one gets injured and thus consequently derailing a team’s playoff hopes.
We’re just one warm-up game and a handful of practices into the tournament and already have seen a number of injury scares to key players. Here’s a quick rundown.
- Vladimir Sobotka of the Czech Republic was injured in Thursday’s game with Team Russia and according to early reports, was transported to the hospital with an apparent shoulder/clavicle injury. Tom Gulitti of NHL.com later reported that x-rays were negative and that there was a chance Sobotka would be available for Saturday’s return tilt against Russia. However, Gulitti followed up via Twitter this morning and said that Sobotka is indeed out for tomorrow’s contest. Roman Cervenka would have ultimately replaced Sobotka in the lineup but he won’t be available in time to suit up tomorrow. Instead the Czechs will be forced to ice seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Sobotka has spent the past two seasons in the KHL but was expected to return to North America and the Blues for the 2016-17 campaign. After losing Troy Brouwer and David Backes to free agency, the hope was Sobotka would be able to pick up some of the slack in St. Louis. Even though he may miss some time in the World Cup, the early indications are the injury isn’t too severe, much to the relief of the Blues and their fans.
- The Chicago Blackhawks experienced a bit of a scare when Marian Hossa left Team Europe’s game against Team North America after a puck struck his right foot causing the veteran Slovak to sit out the third period. But after a quick trip to the hospital revealed just a bruise, Hossa is expected to continue on in the tournament though he might still sit out future World Cup exhibition games as a precaution, according to Scott Powers writing for The Athletic. The 37-year-old Hossa, whose offensive output dropped last season to just 33 points in 64 games, is still a vital cog in the Chicago lineup due to his outstanding two-way play.
- Earlier it was reported that superstar goaltender Henrik Lundqvist may have injured himself while on a golf outing ahead of the World Cup of Hockey. However it was later revealed he took a shot to the ribs during a practice and that he was indeed good to go for the tournament. According to Dan Rosen of NHL.com (via Twitter), Lundqvist is in fact expected to get the start between the pipes tomorrow and play the whole game for Team Sweden.
- The news isn’t quite as good for fellow Swede and Chicago Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger. Again according to Rosen, Kruger suffered an upper body injury which caused the pivot to miss the final 7:39 of regulation and all of OT in the game against Finland (both links via Twitter). With Kruger out for tomorrow’s contest, Team Sweden will insert Mikael Backlund into the lineup in Kruger’s place. Backlund, of course, was added to the Swedish roster as a replacement for Henrik Zetterberg.
Snapshots: Duchene, Weise, Hronek
When the Colorado Avalanche were stunned by head coach Patrick Roy walking away from the organization on August 11th, many pointed to a perceived rift between Roy and superstar forward Matt Duchene over some of the exuberant celebrations he performed after scoring goals. One goal in particular, scored in a 5-1 loss to St. Louis on April 4th, prompted much scrutiny from the media after Roy said “Are you kidding me? What is that? It’s not the (reaction) that we want from our guys. Not at all.”
In Mike Zeisberger’s new column in the Toronto Sun, he gets Duchene to set the record straight about their feud:
At the end of the day it wasn’t anything against me. He was just trying to set a precedent for the team and make an example of me. He expected me to be a leader and at that moment I let him down. We had a great chat the next day and right then everything was fine. It was blown out of proportion in the media. It was really nothing after that.
Zeisberger reiterates that Duchene’s main message is that there was no feud between the two, and that Roy called him just hours after he had made his decision to leave. It’s not, then, a problem with the 25-year old sniper that made the hall of fame goaltender leave the team.
- In a piece by Sam Carchidi of The Inquirer, Dale Weise opens up about the mid-season trade to the Chicago Blackhawks and how excited he is about his new deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. “Going to Chicago was a disaster because I played like five minutes a night.It’s pretty tough to do anything when you play so little. It was a new experience for me.” says Weise, who had no goals in fifteen games with the Hawks down the stretch. He signed a four-year, $9.4 million deal with the Flyers this offseason, and thinks he “can play on any line and any role” with them this year.
- Dan Wakiji for the Detroit Red Wings team site writes about Filip Hronek (the Wings’ second-round pick this year) and his journey in hockey thus far. Taken 53rd overall, Hronek has very little experience on the North American ice, but will get some this season; he’s heading to Saginaw to join the OHL. Only weighing 163 pounds currently, Hronek’s biggest challenge will be getting stronger and tougher in his own end.
Canucks Hire Malhotra As Development Coach
If Manny Malhotra wishes it, so it shall be. Just three days after a report that the recently retired Malhotra would like to get into coaching, a former team, the Vancouver Canucks, has made it happen. The team announced today that the veteran of 16 NHL seasons will put that experience to work in his new role as a development coach.
In this capacity, Malhotra will work with the coaching staff at home practices, focusing on specialized skill development, such as face-offs. He will also travel frequently, working on the same development skills with Canucks prospects. Malhotra, a multi-faceted player with strong hockey sense, is likely to develop himself; the higher ranks of coaching don’t seem like too far of a reach. Almost immediately after retiring, it was reported that he had reached out to Vancouver GM Jim Benning, and the team itself reported that Malhotra met with coach Willie Desjardins, who understood the situation, saying that the “only reason you get into coaching is because you can’t play anymore”.
Malhotra has been highly valued by the Canucks organization before. In 2010, the team signed the then-31-year-old to the most expensive deal of his career, a three-year, $7.5MM pact on the first day of free agency. He had a strong first season, with 30 points in 72 games to go along with his trademark two-way game, but his numbers fell off in 2011-12, and injuries limited him to just nine games in 2012-13. After taking one-year deals with the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens in each of the following two seasons with little success, Malhotra instead stepped into a leadership role with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters (now Cleveland) last season, and helped to propel the team to a Calder Cup championship. Prior to his time in Vancouver, Malhotra spent the prime of his career with the Monster’s parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 344 games over five seasons with the team, he accounted for 145 points and was a face of the franchise. Malhotra’s career started with the New York Rangers, before he was traded to the Dallas Stars, but it really didn’t take off until he got to the Blue Jackets. During his time in Columbus, San Jose and Vancouver, Malhotra became known as one of the best defensive centers in the game, and he will now bring that two-way expertise to his role as a development coach.
Five Questions: Colorado Avalanche
After missing the postseason party for the second consecutive year in 2015-16, it was expected in some circles that the Avalanche would be active this offseason in attempting to upgrade their roster. Instead, aside from a couple of minor free agent signings, all was relatively quiet in Colorado this summer until the abrupt resignation of VP of Hockey Operations/Head Coach Patrick Roy. The Avalanche would eventually settle on young, up-and-coming head coaching candidate Jared Bednar to replace Roy behind the bench.
Mike Chambers of The Denver Post was gracious enough to take time out of his schedule and answer some questions for Pro Hockey Rumors about the Avalanche’s offseason and their chances to compete for a playoff spot in 2016-17.
PHR: With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps it’s fair to wonder about discord existing in the Avalanche front office entering the summer. As someone who has covered the team on a daily basis, were you surprised by Patrick Roy’s resignation or did you have a sense that there may have been some issues behind the scenes which could lead to a change of this nature?
MC: The timing of Roy’s resignation put the organization in a bind. I don’t believe that was Roy’s intention but it’s obvious he was unhappy about his diminished role in player personnel. He made that clear in his news release and you could see he didn’t have a major voice at the draft in June, and the Avs didn’t make the splash Roy wanted in free agency. To answer your question, I was surprised at the timing of Roy’s resignation but, knowing his personality, he wasn’t going to continue if he didn’t steer the ship. He wanted more and Joe Sakic obviously grew into his GM role by leaning more on his assistant GMs Craig Billington and Chris MacFarland.
PHR: After leading Lake Erie to a Calder Cup championship, Jared Bednar was widely considered one of the top, up-and-coming head coaching prospects in the game. That being said, the timing of his hire probably doesn’t do him any favors; particularly as it pertains to his assistant coaching staff. What direction do you think he goes; does he retain Roy’s assistants in full or will he make some changes?
(Note: The questions were submitted prior to Bednar officially confirming he was retaining all of the team’s assistant coaches.)
MC: Bednar will retain Tim Army (power play), Dave Farrish (penalty kill) and Francois Allaire (goalies) — plus defensive specialist Nolan Pratt, whom the Avs hired from Bednar’s staff in July. Army and Farrish might have different roles and we certainly believe Bednar and Pratt will spearhead the new systems. It’s not a complete new staff but close, and that’s perhaps what this team needed.
PHR: Trade rumors involving some of the team’s core young players have persisted since early in the 2015-16 season. How close did the Avalanche actually get to making a blockbuster type of deal at any point?
MC: I believe that was a big part of the Sakic-Roy split. Roy told us he wanted to sign a marquee free-agent defensemen in July and I believe he was the executive wanting to move major parts such as Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie and Gabe Landeskog. In the end, I believe Sakic and his other support staff chose to stick with the core. Not pulling the trigger on a blockbuster deal was probably not what Roy wanted.
PHR: Does the new coach and presumably a fresh approach on the ice mean management is content with the core and willing to ride out the season with that group intact or do you think a poor start could lead to drastic changes in player personnel prior to the 2017 trade deadline?
MC: Drastic changes. If this team doesn’t improve with a new bench boss I think Sakic makes major roster changes. Nobody is expecting a huge improvement on the blue line but if this team evens out its shots for/against the forward core has the ability to score in bunches.
PHR: The Central may well be the toughest division in the NHL. How would you handicap Colorado’s chances to qualify for a postseason berth and if they do get in, are they capable as currently constructed of making a long run?
MC: The Avs have made the playoffs just three times in the last 10 years, but twice a rookie coach has led them to the postseason: Joe Sacco in 2009-2010 and Roy in 2013-14. Bednar’s arrival gives this team a fresh start, but Colorado will be hard-pressed to keep up with Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago. Anything can happen in the playoffs and I do believe this roster is capable of getting there.
Mike Chambers has been a writer for The Denver Post since 1994 and has covered both the NCAA’s Denver University Pioneers and the Colorado Avalanche for much of that time. For a full bio, click here. To stay up-to-date on all things Avalanche, follow Mike on Twitter by clicking here. Pro Hockey Rumors would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Mike for taking the time to answer our questions.
Snapshots: World Cup
When looking at the rosters for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the United States roster.
Initial lines via USA Hockey (changing each day):
Max Pacioretty – Joe Pavelski – Patrick Kane
Zach Parise – Derek Stepan – Blake Wheeler
Justin Abdelkader – Ryan Kesler – T.J. Oshie
James van Riemsdyk – David Backes – Brandon Dubinsky
Kyle Palmieri
Ryan Suter – Dustin Byfuglien
Ryan McDonagh – John Carlson
Jack Johnson – Matt Niskanen
Erik Johnson
Ben Bishop – Cory Schneider – Jonathan Quick
The goaltending is superb, but USA lost out to Canada 1-0 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics despite a lights out performance by Quick. Other than obvious picks like Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski, there are some surprising choices, like no Phil Kessel and grinders like Justin Abdelkader making the cut.
It’s a different philosophy than the States’ rivals Canada: their bottom six features five number one centers, a very good second line center, and a first line winger. USA GM Dean Lombardi told ESPN’s Craig Custance that “it’s no different than putting together an NHL team … this had to be about team and identity.”
In other World Cup news:
- USA named their captains Wednesday: as expected, Pavelski will wear the C, with Kane and Ryan Suter wearing As.
- Russia also named their leadership group: Alex Ovechkin will be captain; Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin will be assistants.
- Back in the U.S., TSN’s Gary Lawless posited that USA coach John Tortorella is wrong to force his views on his players. Yesterday, Tortorella told ESPN that any player who protested the American anthem like NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick would stay on the bench for the whole game. Lawless argued that while it’s admirable that Tortorella wants to honor his son, an Army Ranger, he shouldn’t be able to arbitrarily block someone from doing their job and publicly shame them for exercising free speech.
Quotable: Gomez, McLellan, Babcock
Scott Gomez marked his retirement today with a post in The Players’ Tribune, and instead of simply thanking his fans, teammates and everyone that had supported him along the way, Gomez used the opportunity to share his second love: poetry. Gomez delivers a 23-stanza freestyle, expressing his love for the game he played for 32 years, and one he affectionately refers to as Mrs. Hockey.
So this is our goodbye
Damn girl, it’s finally here
The fact that you leave me
You’d bet I have tearsI will always love you
That I’ll never hide
Because of you Mrs. Hockey
I’ll always live my life with pride
Till the day I die…
Snapshots: Canucks, Avalanche, Nielsen, Donskoi
Many pundits feel the Vancouver Canucks are a team lacking direction. On the one hand, they introduced some much-needed youth to their aging core last season with young forwards Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann given their first extended NHL looks and joining second-year pro Bo Horvat as possible future building blocks. On the other hand, Vancouver failed to advance their rebuild by dealing expiring assets at the trade deadline for draft picks and/or prospects. Trading Dan Hamhuis and/or Radim Vrbata would have netted the Canucks multiple futures to further the team’s roster reconstruction.
Instead, the Canucks surprised many this spring by parting with the aforementioned McCann as part of a package to acquire veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson in what was clearly a move designed to help the team win now. The free agent addition of winger Loui Eriksson also signals that Vancouver is not committed to a rebuild and will rather try to slowly integrate younger players onto the roster while at the same time attempting to remain in the mix for a playoff spot.
It’s with this mentality that GM Jim Benning continues his search for an impact offensive LW, as Ben Kuzma of The Province writes. Daniel Sedin remains the team’s top port side winger and the team expects young Sven Baertschi – currently listed as the team’s #2 LW – to improve upon his 15-goal output in 2015-16. Beyond those two the Canucks have a few wingers who can line up on either side of center – including Eriksson – but don’t have enough depth to switch a player to the left without creating another hole on the right side.
Kuzma lists several candidates who could fill the role of impact LW, both internal and external. The most interesting might be Anton Rodin, the team’s second-round pick in 2009 and whom the Canucks signed to a one-year deal worth just $950K. Rodin enjoyed an excellent 2015-16 campaign, netting 16 goals and 37 points in 33 contests with Brynas IF of the Swedish Elite League while capturing the league’s MVP award.
As for possibilities currently outside the Canucks organization, Kuzma lists Evander Kane as a potential trade option – a notion we’ve reported on in the past – though he also brings up the off-ice issues surrounding Buffalo’s talented winger and suggests that might limit Vancouver’s interest. Kuzma also opines that the cost to acquire an established player like Kane would likely start with one of Chris Tanev or Horvat, and that’s simply a price the Canucks are unwilling to pay.
Surprisingly, Kuzma writes that the Canucks didn’t view Jiri Hudler as a short-term answer even though the Czech winger is just two seasons removed from a 76-point campaign and ultimately signed a one-year pact with Dallas worth $2MM. Hudler would have been a perfectly reasonable buy-low add for the Canucks. He’s capable of producing at a rate more than acceptable for a top-six forward and would have been a potentially valuable asset to possess at the 2017 deadline with contending teams always looking to augment their scoring depth.
Elsewhere in the NHL on this Labor Day:
- At his introductory news conference last week, new Colorado head coach Jared Bednar confirmed he would be keeping all three assistant coaches – Tim Army, Dave Farrish and Nolan Pratt – from the previous regime, according to Terry Frei of the Denver Post. It’s not much of a surprise given the late hiring of Bednar meant that many coaches he may have considered for positions were already committed elsewhere. Additionally, Pratt worked under Bednar as an assistant with Lake Erie in 2015-16 so there was already a comfort level between the two coaches. After talking with each of his assistants, Bednar is satisfied he has the right mix of experience and knowledge among his staff.
- An unheralded free agent signing by the Sharks in May of 2015, Joonas Donskoi would end up playing a key role for the Western Conference champions in 2015-16, scoring 11 goals and 36 points in 76 regular season games. He would ramp up his performance in the playoffs tallying six goals and 12 points in 24 contests. Now that Donskoi has established himself as an NHL regular, the expectations have been raised going into year two of his career, as Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area writes. After establishing solid chemistry with C Logan Couture, both down the stretch of the regular campaign and in the postseason, Donskoi is again likely to slot in on the right side of the skilled pivot. If he takes advantage of his opportunity to play with Couture, it’s conceivable Donskoi could approach 50 points in a full season.
- After losing superstar center Pavel Datsyuk, who chose to return home to Russia to be closer to his family, the Detroit Red Wings were left with a gaping hole down the middle of their lineup. They attempted to address that loss in part by signing solid two-way pivot Frans Nielsen to a lucrative six-year, $31.5MM free agent deal this summer. While he won’t be expected to replace Datsyuk’s offense, he will be counted on to play a responsible game and appear in all situations for the Wings, says Ansar Khan of MLive.com. Nielsen has only ever tallied 20 goals or 50 points on two occasions but is known as an excellent playmaker and someone who should help improve both the Wings PP and PK units. He is also an elite shootout performer who might be worth an extra few standings points a year to Detroit in that area alone.
Snapshots: Oilers, Blue Jackets, Tortorella
In two posts over the weekend (here and here), David Staples of the Edmonton Journal pondered whether the organization’s minor league coaches “thwart the development of their prospects,” by assigning more ice time in key situations to veteran players as opposed to the kids. It’s an important question to ask as developing prospects is the key to sustaining success at the NHL level. But as Staples points out, there are two sides to this discussion.
First, and most obviously, prospects need to be on the ice in meaningful games and playing important minutes to best advance their development. Practice time is important but it’s during games that players can implement what they’re being taught in practice. Essentially, prospects learn by doing better than they would by watching.
Staples also argues that it often does benefit younger players to play with established pros. He cites the example of Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall each having the opportunity to skate with veteran pivot Shawn Horcoff during their first season in the league. Seeing how Horcoff went about his business day-to-day helped the youngsters learn what it took to become a solid pro player.
On the other hand, most organizations want their prospects to experience success, both individually and as part of the team, while in the minors as a way to better prepare them for potential playoff races in the NHL. Carrying a handful of veteran pros and giving them significant ice time improves the team’s odds for regular season success and subsequently to earn a playoff berth. The experience of postseason games is valuable in the development of a team’s prospects.
It’s a fine line minor league coaches have to walk. Their first obligation is to develop the parent club’s prospects, turning talented kids into quality NHL players. The ideal way to do so is by bringing them through a winning culture. That’s to say nothing of the pressure the coaches feel to win simply to keep their jobs. Just like at the NHL level, if you’re not winning much, you won’t be coaching long.
Ultimately, after analyzing a handful of previously successful AHL coaches who have gone on to earn NHL jobs – including: Jon Cooper, Dallas Eakins, Willie Desjardins, Jeff Blashill, Mike Sullivan, Jared Bednar, John Hynes and Jack Capuano – Staples concludes that Edmonton’s AHL head coaches – Todd Nelson and Gerry Fleming – have distributed ice time in roughly the same proportions as the successful coaches suggesting they have not thwarted the development of the team’s prospects. All together, it’s an interesting read and offers insight into what the thought process is for organizations assembling their minor league teams.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch writes about the struggle head coach John Tortorella faces dividing his time between the Blue Jackets and Team USA. Due to his commitment to coach the US team at the World Cup of Hockey tournament, Tortorella will miss 10 days of Columbus’ training camp and half of their eight exhibition games. It’s especially difficult for Tortorella, who was hired seven games into the 2015-16 campaign, since this would be his first training camp with the team and the club is expected to integrate several young players to the roster. Columbus has traditionally started the season slowly and if they again struggle out of the gate, it would be fair to wonder how much of a role Tortorella’s absence played. However, on the positive side, many assistant coaches who have designs of one day running their own bench get valuable experience running training camp while their team’s head coach is in Toronto for the World Cup. In the case of the Blue Jackets, the responsibility of taking over the team falls to assistant Brad Larsen. Tortorella also discusses that representing his home country has taken on even more significance with the knowledge his son, 26-year-old U.S. Army Ranger Nick Tortorella, is serving his country and currently deployed in the Middle East.
“I know these are hockey games … but I do look at it like it’s for my country. What Nick is doing by far dwarfs what we do. We’re entertainers; we’re playing a sport.”
“But with my son over there — this might sound selfish — I want to team up with him and help my country. I get pretty caught up in representing my country. There’s nothing like it.”
Tortorella is one of the league’s most polarizing coaches. His intensity and brutal honesty can turn off some players. But, as this piece demonstrates, there is more to Torts than just the firebrand head coach.
Snapshots: PTO’s, Minnesota, Florida, Hall, Larsson
The closer we get to training camp, the less likely veteran players still without one are to receive a guaranteed contract for 2016-17. Indeed, a lot of quality NHL-caliber players will have to earn a job by way of a professional tryout (PTO). Several players have already gone that route as our PTO tracker shows, while some teams are still discussing their available options and determining who they may extend invites to.
On that front, Mike Russo writes that Minnesota’s brain trust is considering adding “one or two forwards to professional tryouts.” He points out that the Wild only have 10 forwards signed to one-way contracts giving the club room to add more competition to the group if they are so inclined. Russo adds that head coach Bruce Boudreau has already communicated to Chuck Fletcher, Minnesota’s GM, that he would like to “get bigger and tougher and stronger.”
Russo lists Paul Gaustad, Steve Downie, Lauri Korpikoski and R.J Umberger as possible PTO targets for the Wild. Although it appears we can dismiss the possibility of Gaustad joining Minnesota, or anyone else for that matter, as it has been said the veteran center is set to announce his retirement. Kyle Chipchura, David Legwand and Tuomo Ruutu could also fit Boudreau’s criteria but those options are purely speculative at this point.
- Count Florida among the teams giving serious consideration to adding more veteran talent via PTO to compete for jobs. According to Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel, Panthers GM Tom Rowe told him Florida’s management team is “discussing possible veterans to bring in to camp.” Fialkov later added that head coach Gerard Gallant would prefer to add a veteran depth defenseman prior to the preseason. Florida was one of the summer’s most active teams and is aiming to compete for the Stanley Cup this season. It makes sense they would continue to try to add depth to bolster their chances and further guard against injury. The Panthers of course invested heavily in their defense corps this summer and still have rookie Michael Matheson – who we profiled here – and veteran Steve Kampfer to complement the top-six. Yet adding additional competition does make sense, particularly on a no-risk PTO. One wonders whether Jakub Nakladal – PHR analyzed his free agent case here – would be an option given he is a favorite of the analytics community and considering Florida’s recent shift to a more analytically-inclined front office but again, that’s just conjecture.
- Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli continues his campaign to justify the team’s acquisition of D Adam Larsson in exchange for high-scoring LW Taylor Hall. Writing for Today’s Slap Shot, Chris Nichols provides several quotes from a recent interview Chiarelli did with 630 CHED radio in Edmonton. Chiarelli reiterated that the deal was simply the “cost of doing business,” as part of the club’s efforts to address their defensive shortcomings. He added: “Our fans, once they see Adam, they’ll see what we see in him. Any time you trade a player like Taylor, it’s going to have reverberations throughout the local hockey community through our fan base, and it did.” Credit to Chiarelli for sticking with his convictions. It isn’t easy to make a decision you already know will be an unpopular one but his job is to make the Edmonton Oilers a better team and to do so, the organization had to upgrade the blue line. Evidently Chiarelli and Co. felt this was the best deal they could make to accomplish that objective.
Maple Leafs Notes: Babcock, Matthews
Mike Babcock knows how to say the right thing. And it’s something Maple Leaf fans should love to hear. Speaking with the National Post’s Kevin Mitchell, Babcock touched on a number of issues, but there’s one in particular that Leafs fans should love. In regards to cementing his legacy should he indeed turn Toronto around, Babcock had this to say:
“It’s not if. It’s when. The second thing I’d say is yes — the Leafs opportunity is a big, big challenge. But we’re going to make it happen. It’s a great city, an unbelievable hockey market. And now we have to get the hockey team back to its rightful place.”
He wasn’t done either. Babcock expounded on the difficult position he undertook. and took another sunny, yet realistic approach:
“You’ve got to fix it quick, right? It’s painful. So you’ve got to get up every day, the sun gets up, and you get on with it — getting better, and doing your job. It’s different, depending on which team you’re with, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”
The unbridled “can-do” attitude that Babcock coaches by has propelled his career in both Anaheim and Detroit. Back in 2003, then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim general manager Bryan Murray said this about the team–an underdog guided by Babcock–as they marched to a Stanley Cup Final in impressive fashion:
“This team, great credit to Mike Babcock, has been able to focus on the task at hand since the playoffs began. Our philosophy has been: Win a series, go out for a beer and celebrate, by all means, but be ready for work the next day.”
And in Detroit, Babcock guided the Red Wings to a conference finals appearance in 2007, a Stanley Cup in 2008, and narrowly missed another Cup in 2009 when the Wings lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to Pittsburgh. The standing ovation he received when he came back as the bench boss of the Maple Leafs was well deserved. It was during his introductory press conference after being named the Wings coach, though, where he set the tone early:
“I believe in leadership. I believe in being the best in the world at what I do.”
Past results indicate that he is one of the best in the world–if not the best–at it. If his words are any guide to what can be accomplished, Leaf fans should be excited. Don’t be fooled–the rebuilding plan will still take time. But with Babcock in charge, a quicker return to greatness shouldn’t be dismissed.
In other Leafs news:
- The Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran writes that Auston Matthews is excited to “get things rolling” with the Leafs. Matthews has relocated to Toronto, and “slimmed down suitcases” as he prepares for the future with Toronto. Many believe the 18-year-old to be the savior in the Leafs’ revival, and he’s honing his skills at the next level quickly. Matthews is slated to make his Toronto debut not in a Leafs jersey, but donning the colors of North America for the World Cup of Hockey. Regardless of who it’s for, Matthews is “excited” to be in Toronto, and it can surely be said a legion of Leafs fans are excited to have him there as well.