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 behind came good group guys played ready short talked team
We have a good team and the guys came out and played hard. With a short group you don't want to get behind and battle back. We talked about being ready right from the start.
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.
came label
They always have a label for you, ... When I came out of junior, I was a 'junior coach.' When I came out of college, I was a 'college coach.' Then when I made it to the NHL, I was a 'minor-league coach.' And now I'm a 'defensive coach.'
bear came dallas exception good looked mini philly played playoff rangers winning
I looked at this as a five-game mini playoff series. We played Nashville, Dallas, Carolina, Philly and the Rangers and came out of it winning 3-2. With the exception of the Dallas game, we played real well. When we bear down and have a good focus, we're a good team.
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.
came dan face joke run sheet trying white win
Dan Cleary came in and his face was sheet white ... and I apologized to him. I had no idea. I don't run the team. I'm just trying to win tonight. I wouldn't have done it that way. I don't joke about that stuff.
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.
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.
challenge drew night smith
I thought he was fine. He drew (Chris) Pronger and (Jason) Smith most of the night and that's a challenge for him.
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.
blue good job passion played power putting specialty team
We just did a good job on the specialty teams. They (the Blue Jackets) played with a lot of passion and urgency. (But) what do you do when your (the Blue Jackets') power play isn't putting them in, and the other team is?
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.