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Babcock fired by the Leafs discussion

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ULF_55 said:
Everyone should agree he's a good coach.
The debate is how good.

He's probably there with several other 1 Cup coaches, but there have probably been better coaches who never won the Cup.
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I can agree with this. Good, not great coach, bad person.
In his defense, he did not get the type of players he prefers to coach. Management didn't supply him with an even average defense. It still is far below average. His system did work with that stacked DET team he inherited. Having Lidstrom & Rafalski, and a pair of elite 2-way centers helped him a great deal.
 
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LeafsLegendAkiBerg said:
The nicest thing I've seen under Keefe was on our PP last game. He calls a timeout and keeps our top unit on to try to push for a goal to increase our lead. It's so simple and obvious but Babcock would never do that in a million years. We'd have gotten 40 seconds of the first PP, 40 seconds of the second PP and then the 4th line. Hell, Babcock was pretty allergic to using his timeout full stop.

To me this bodes very well. If we're in the playoffs and it's game 7 and we're down a goal I'm confident Keefe is actually going to play our best players.
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definitely a great first sign.
 
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Myopic said:
I can agree with this. Good, not great coach, bad person.
In his defense, he did not get the type of players he prefers to coach. Management didn't supply him with an even average defense. It still is far below average. His system did work with that stacked DET he inherited. Having Lidstrom & Rafalski, and a pair of elite 2-way centers helped him a great deal.
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he had one of the most talented defense corps in the league to work with.
 
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zeke said:
funny thing is that the marner story will look like nothing if these other stories all keep coming out.
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Perhaps it will be considered the knock on the door, something Commodore has been doing, and Aliu has opened the door.

I think others have knocked, but today is not yesterday.
 
SprDaVE said:
Continue your discussions about everything Babcock here.

There will be zero tolerance of rules being broken as there have been plenty of warnings over the past couple days.

Any rule breaks, flaming, bickering or name calling will get you thread banned, or worst. This also includes OT political type discussion. Keep it regarding Babcock only.
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+ I despise the grammer police as much as the next guy but its "worse" not "worst".
 
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ULF_55 said:
Perhaps it will be considered the knock on the door, something Commodore has been doing, and Aliu has opened the door.

I think others have knocked, but today is not yesterday.
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Funny, one of the radio heads this morning said "it's been a week and only 2 out of 31 coaches ...".

I remember thinking actually it's been less than 48 hours and 2 coaches, I wonder what where we're at when a week has actually passed.
 
ULF_55 said:
Everyone should agree he's a good coach.
The debate is how good.

He's probably there with several other 1 Cup coaches, but there have probably been better coaches who never won the Cup.
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Or two Olympic Golds or a World Cup, World Championship, Junior World Championship? The only member of the IIHF Triple Gold Club. The only coach other than Victor Tikanov to win consecutive Olympic Gold Medals. You are right..this guy sounds like your typical run of the mill ham and egger.
 
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rimshot said:
Or two Olympic Golds or a World Cup, World Championship, Junior World Championship? The only member of the IIHF Triple Gold Club. The only coach other than Victor Tikanov to win consecutive Olympic Gold Medals. You are right..this guy sounds like your typical run of the mill ham and egger.
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If he was coaching the Swiss I might agree with you.
 
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Canada is pretty good at failing to win in international tournaments, both in men and U20, despite almost always having the best team on paper. For whatever the reason, whenever Babcock coaches them it's gold, when not Babcock, it usually ends up something else. Actually the only other coaches who have won with Canada men's team in this decade are former Babcock assistants McLellan and Peters.
 
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Thinking about it more, i view Babcocks time with the Leafs very similarly as Lou and Hunters. Imo for all three men, i thought their best moves were all made during their first full season with the team.

With Babcock in particular, he did really well with a talent deproved roster. He seemed a bit looser with his systems then, things unfortunately just started to go down hill when he tightened things up and rigidity set in - and to make things worse was his inability to adapt when needed (special teans)
 
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MyBudJT said:
If he takes a gig with another team, does he still get full salary from the Leafs?

I wouldn't be surprised if Babcock just goes into retirement.
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The Leafs will pay the salary difference if the other team offers him less. He wont get a whole new salary + full payout from the Leafs assuming hes hired again
 
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Carlo Colaiacovo Said Vets Tried To Get Babcock Fired 'Every Year In Detroit'

"I played with guys in Detroit that hated him. Every year in Detroit the leaders would go in and try to get him fired, but Kenny Holland wouldn't even entertain that conversation because he knew what he was getting as a coach."

"When I signed with Detroit, my biggest thing was that I really wanted to play for the Red Wings. But I was also very worried about playing for Mike Babcock, because the players who played for him, the things they were saying about him -- how he’s not a good person, how he doesn’t treat guys with respect, how he singles guy out, how he makes examples of players," Colaiacovo said.

Former Red Wing Says Veterans Tried To Get Babcock Fired 'Every Year In Detroit'
 
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I have mixed feelings about him.

There's no way he's a "bad" coach. His assistants followed him here. He was picked to coach Canada's teams - I can't believe folks didn't know what he was about or that the Canadian stars wouldn't whisper if they had a problem with him. Yzerman was GM for some of those teams and played for Babcock in Detroit and Yzerman knew a lot of his Detroit players.

Like any story, there are two sides. Jury is out for me until I hear his side on some of this recent stuff - if I ever hear his side. I suspect he's not all bad or as bad as Jeff O'Neill portrayed him. As Paul Maurice said recently, with finite ice time, not all players can like the coach - particularly the ones not getting the ice time - it's part of the job.

All the circumstances appear to line up that a change was needed. Time will verify that but as time goes on, it looks like the right decision so far.
 
Credit where credits due, Babcock has a 100% gold medal rate as the HC of TC in international competition. That's not inconsequential.
 
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