Nichols' Notes
/Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock was on Detroit Sports 105.1 Thursday. Free Press writer Brian Manzullo had part of the interview for his story, but here’s a larger scope of what Babcock had to say on the air.
The free agency period did not exactly go as you and Ken Holland had planned.
“No, but what I would tell you is no bad contracts and so to me, that’s a home run. It’s a silly season where we overpay everybody and then you end up with guys on your team you overpay too much and it sets you up bad economically and it doesn’t help you either. Did we target guys? Yes. Did they come here? No. Last year we were fortunate to get Alfredsson to come. This year we had targeted a couple of d-men and that never happened. That’s the parity in the league now. It’s all part of the process. I’m real comfortable. We have a young group. We’re getting better each and every day. I think we need to let our young people grow. We signed enough players to buy our kids time in the minors. We have four d-men who are going to play here eventually and probably be upgrades on our roster. How much time do they need? We don’t know the answer.”
So you’re planning on bringing defensemen up from Grand Rapids?
“We’re going to play the best players. Just like we did last year. It’s always a hard thing when a veteran who is on a one-way contract doesn’t make the lineup, but that’s life. We’re committed to the growth of this team. Most franchises to get back on top have to get bad for 10 years. That’s not our plan. We scrounged to get into the playoffs to the last two years in a row and did a real good job. We had a good run against Chicago. I didn’t like us in the playoffs last year against Boston, but we like what we have coming. And we like our kids. So the biggest thing is not to rush it. We could really use some puck-moving D. Well, we just happen to have some puck-moving D in the minors. Big guys that can skate. When are they ready? We’re sure not going to rush them, but if they’re capable of taking jobs they’re getting the jobs.”
On Henrik Zetterberg:
“I just talked to Z the other day. He feels as good as he’s felt since ’08.”
On Jimmy Howard:
“I talked to him yesterday, too. He’s having a big summer, getting ready.
On the criticism by some that free agents might not want to come to the Detroit Red Wings because Mike Babcock is too hard on players.
“Well, I’d phone Sidney Crosby and see if he liked playing. Or Shea Weber, if he liked playing, or those guys. Another way to look at it would be maybe they don't want to come because Mike Babcock has a one-year contract."
Babcock continued.
“The way I look at it here, if you don't want to be coached, don't come here. If you want to be pushed to be the best that you can be, that's what we do here. You know what? The proof’s in the pudding. The other thing I’d say to you is if they’re concerned about that, then I should coach somewhere else.”
How long do you want to be in Detroit?
“Well, I like being here. I like the ownership. I like the commitment to win and I like what we’ve got going on. My relationship with Ken Holland, I believe, is second to none. Is it rosy every day? No. Do we battle? Absolutely. In saying all of that though, we have an understanding and I think we work well together. So I’m a big believer the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. And yet these are big decisions for people, but I’m sure confident things are all going to get worked out.”
What motivates you to be so intense as a coach?
“Well, I don’t know the answer to that question. I just do what I do. This is what I believe. I believe I change drastically every year. And try to get better and I hire people all the time. Nobody has gone through more coaches than me with people moving on and when you bring in new people they help you get better and change and work hard at getting better and evolving. Am I warm and cuddly every day? I am with my family. I think I care a lot about my players. When you care about people, you make them do it right. When you don't, and there's lots of coaches that don't, then their teams don't do it right and they don't have success. So sometimes... you go to a meeting and no one talks about the white elephant in the room. You don’t have a hard meeting and everyone leaves and talks behind each other’s back. That doesn’t happen with the Red Wings. We just have the hard meetings. We get it out front. Does it piss people off once in a while? Absolutely. But it also leads to behavioral changes and getting things better. So you know what, I'm not apologizing for that stuff at all. I like to be treated honest. If Ken Holland’s got something he wants Mike Babcock to do, when he tells me I do it. If he doesn’t tell me, I can’t read his mind. That’s kind of the way I look at it. Now, I think it's easy to stand on the sidelines and second-guess everything all the time. I think that's what you get paid to do and the more controversy you can create in the media, the more they like you. And the more bloggers we have, the more controversy we have. But that's all part of sport. What I've found is that if the people in the hockey department make the decisions, we're employed. When we start looking for answers in the media, we'll be in the media pretty soon."
Babcock was asked about Tony Granato near the end of interview and noted that Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, and Ray Shero all recommended him Granato highly.
How close are Ken Holland and you from reaching a long-term deal?
“Well, this is what I would tell you. Ken Holland is at the lake. Mike Babcock’s at the lake. We’re not talking about this one bit right now and neither guy is concerned about it at all. We’ll get together. I’m not too concerned about that. You know, during the year and all I was trying to say was during the year it’s for the player. It’s about the players. It’s about the team winning. It’s not about negotiating contracts for me. We do that in the off-season. I’m comfortable with what’s going on. There’s no issues here. It just gives you guys something to talk about.”
Luke Richardson is long-since removed from his playing days with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Alex Busch with the team’s website caught up with the head coach of the AHL Binghamton Senators to discuss that transition from playing to coaching.
Blue Jackets broadcaster Jody Shelley was a teammate of Richardson’s with Columbus.
“He was the man of the room. He just had that toughness about him and this perception that he was a stone wall. He really was as a leader in the room," Shelley told BlueJackets.com. "He was a man of the league and of the room. We all followed him."
There was one moment in particular that stood out.
"He took a slap shot in the face and shattered his jaw," Shelley said. "I was on the ice and I heard the puck hit his face, he didn't go down, and skated off the ice. I saw him on the dentist chair and was just sitting there and he was mad. Anyone else would've been down on a stretcher. I remember that moment like 'holy cow.'
"(He was) that figure, that dad, that leader of the room — he led in all situations. There was no weakness in him at all."
24-year-old UFA defenseman Michael Del Zotto tells Sportsnet.ca’s Luke Fox that he’s been speaking with a “bunch” of teams. “I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to prove myself again and prove everybody who’s doubted me wrong.”
Del Zotto, needless to say, has been humbled and is trying to get his confidence back this summer.
“It’s motivating. This summer is the hardest I’ve ever worked.”
Take the comments of any player’s agent concerning his client with a grain of salt because they can be equivalent to asking someone’s mom what they think of their kid. Eustace King though, the agent for Tyler Ennis, was bang-on with this assessment following the announcement of his client’s five-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
“I clearly believe we haven't scratched the surface yet to what Tyler can be," King told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
Ennis, who will turn 25 in early October, should hit peak production at around 27 or 28.
"Many guys have hit that mark and exploded," King said. "I truly expect Tyler to do the same type of stuff. When Tyler has played with top players, he's always fostered a mutually beneficial relationship between those guys. I expect Tyler to be a 25-30-goal scorer in the National Hockey League without a doubt. I also expect him to be a 70-plus point guy in the National Hockey League.”
King also noted how they believe the rebuild in Buffalo "is going a lot faster than people anticipate."
Calgary Flames winger Curtis Glencross was on Sportsnet 960 Thursday. He's entering the final season of his four-year, $10.2 million contract.
Glencross described the frustration of last year's injuries and the work he's put in during the off-season to make sure he'll be ready for 2014-15.
Glencross spoke very highly of Mark Giordano as a leader and a captain, noting how well Giordano represents himself as a pro on and off the ice. "There was no question in my mind he was going to be our leader when the opportunity came about."
On a contract extension and whether his agent will just handle all of that stuff:
"For the most part, my agent's going to run most of it. It'd be nice to get something done and possibly get an extension done early, but if it comes down to it... being an unrestricted free agent after next year, hopefully we don't have to go to that point. But at the same time, it's going to be a little different this time around I think than the last time around. We're excited to get the ball rolling as soon as we can so when the season comes down to it and we're playing that we don't have to worry about a headache of talking contracts and that."
You were an incredible bargain for the Calgary Flames the last time around. Is it safe to say you'll be a little closer to market value now? Is that fair?
"Yeah, for sure. Obviously I love the organization. I love the Flames. That's why I - it was a big part for the stage of my family when I did my last deal. My biggest thing I told them when I did my last deal, I was like - I love playing at home. I love this organization and everything. I'll take kind of a hometown discount hit to bring some more guys, so we can make this team a better team and do that kind of thing. Like I said, I was playing at home and I absolutely love playing at home. But at the same time, I might only have a couple of contracts left in my career and this is probably going to be the biggest contact of my career... It's something where the Flames have to know that as well and hopefully they take into consideration what I did take the last four years."
Glencross says he's talked to GM Brad Treliving several times and it seems like contract talks will get rolling once the Joe Colborne arbitration case is wrapped up.
Glencross likes the direction the Flames are going.
"Our goal is not to be in a full rebuild here. Our goal is to bring some young guys in and build the young guys, but also at the same time we're still a team that wants to make the playoffs. We're not into kind of throwing seasons away and make it a two or three-year rebuild and try to get all these first round picks and all that kind of stuff. Our goal is to make the playoffs and we've got to make our team appealing to guys that are proven guys that want to come and play in Calgary too."
New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider phoned in to Team 1040 in Vancouver Thursday morning.
The segment was introduced with the hilarious David Puddy New Jersey Devils fan clip from Seinfeld, with Puddy screaming "Don't mess with the Devils, buddy. We're No. 1. We beat anybody. We're the Deviiiillllsss! The Deviiillllsss!"
"You know," Schneider began, "I wanted to get David Puddy on my helmet this year, but Jersey's a little tighter than Vancouver and I think they shot it down pretty quickly."
On the contract:
"I'm really excited. I'm ecstatic. It's kind of been a long, strange road, but to finally get this opportunity, it's just exciting. I can't wait to sort of get going and really start my career in earnest."
Do you feel like you were undercut here a little in Vancouver?
"No, no. I never felt under-appreciated - especially by the fans and the people of the city. I feel like I was really embraced there and I had a great time. Unfortunately, the situation forced its hand and it had to at some point and I was kind of the odd man out. It's sad to leave, but I think things happen for a reason and I ended up in a good spot in New Jersey.
"When they kind of came to me to talk about extensions, I mean they really made no qualms about what they thought of me. They were very forward and made an aggressive offer. So that did feel good. Just to say, 'Hey, you're our guy.' And again, there's only 30 spots in the league, only 30 starting jobs, so to have a team really offer you that and back it up with a contract, it means a lot now."
On Jaromir Jagr:
"Man, that guy is something else. You can't even describe it. He's 42 and he's strong as an ox and I think he loves the game more than anyone I've ever seen. There's a reason he's Top 10 in everything and is going to go down as one of the best ever. So it was fun to watch him up close. Especially having him and Marty Brodeur in the same room. You don't get that too often, and just kind of hearing some of the stories they shared and their experiences. Their passion for the game, it really kind of inspires you and makes you say hey, if you want to be one of the best just take a look at these guys. We're hoping Jags can do what he did last year. He was our best player all year, so if he can do that again at 42, no complaints here."
Schneider was effusive with his praise of Vancouver.
"It's one of my favourite cities I've ever been to. We loved living there and I always rave about it to everybody. I really enjoyed my time there. It always feels like a second home."
On what's going on with the Canucks now:
"It seemed like a change was needed and they're definitely doing that. They kind of cleaned house."
New Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Tony Granato was on Sportsnet 590 Thursday morning.
On what excites him about this Wings team:
"Well, I think the first thing that got me excited was the chance to work alongside Mike. I mean, you don't win as consistently as he has and at different levels and what he's done with the Olympics and obviously what he's done from his Stanley Cup stuff - he's a guy that I've always wondered, you know, geez, how does he get so much out of his teams? I think I know, but I also want to be right next to him and learn from him and be part of his staff.
"So I think that was the first and most exciting part about potentially having this opportunity. And then second, the tradition and history of the organization. How they've been consistent the last 23 years in a row now. In today's game, in today's sports arena, it's pretty hard to have an organization be able to sustain that much excellence for so long. It's a great organization. Like I said, tradition and history makes you want to jump in and be part of it and I'm lucky enough to have that opportunity."
Fans and media tend to think Mike Babcock is the best coach in hockey. Do players and other coaches feel that same way?
"Well, I certainly do. I'm lucky. I was able to play for Darryl Sutter and I coached with Joel Quenneville and I coached with Dan, who I think are all outstanding coaches in their own right. I've coached against Mike a lot in the past 10 or 12 years. I know I've heard from players who have played from him. I know from coaching against him. His details. His ability to get the most out of players. His ability to get the consistency. How they play night after night after night out of all of his players is certainly something I've admired. I'm looking forward to see how he gets that through to the players. I agree with you that whether it be a player, coach, fan, or anyone the game of hockey he is suspected as the premier guy and deservedly so."