The Detroit Red Wings will renew their rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night as the feature game on CBC Hockey Night in Canada. The Red Wings are in a tight neck-and-neck race with the Tampa Bay Lighting for the top spot on the Atlantic Division while the Leafs were a surprising fourth-place team that was in the thick of the wild card race. But there is no doubt that the Red Wings are the better and more complete team with the difference being head coach Mike Babcock.
Leafs Nation Will Drool
Saturday’s game will again spark the rumors about the 51-year-old Babcock becoming coach of the Leafs next year. Babcock is in the final year of his contract with the Red Wings and is not likely to get into serious negotiations with the team until after the season so that he can focus completely on another Stanley Cup Playoff run. The Leafs were expected to fire current head coach Randy Carlyle after last spring’s collapse for the ages as they blew a certain playoff spot in the final month of undisciplined and uninspired play.
Yet, curiously, the Leafs brought Carlyle back and with a modest extension on his contract. The thinking is that if Babcock becomes available next summer they can easily enough can Carlyle instead of having had to get rid of a new coach that they just brought it. Babcock is the dream coach of Leafs Nation and with good reason.
A Record of Accomplishment
Babcock led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup championship in 2008 and has won two Olympic Gold Medals as head coach of Team Canada. Babcock has an undeniable prickly personality and attention to detail that can wear thin on players. Last year the Red Wing struggled to attract free agents and a big reason why was thought to be Babcock and his overbearing style. The coach was unrepentant and defiant as he simply stated that players that do not want to be coached have no business coming to Detroit.
The Red Wings rank as one of the most compete teams in the NHL as they ranked fourth for goal scoring and seventh for goals against. That is a direct reflection on Babcock. Perhaps his best coaching job was turned in last year when he found a way to rally the Red Wings to a playoff spot despite being decimated with injuries.
With Toronto still half of a team that refuses to play defense and as the richest team in the NHL according to Forbes there is every reason to expect the Leafs to back up the truck for Babcock come summer.
