Official 2015 NHL Playoff Thread

[nino33]

In the meantime the Flyers sign Evgeni Medvedev. And it's not April 1st

I've noticed a few NHL signings from the KHL lately...

[philou21]

Seems like Buffalo and Detroit are not in Babcock's mind anymore. Can't wait to find out!!!

And Sweeney is named DG in Boston, is that a good thing?

[Peter_Doherty]

In the meantime the Flyers sign Evgeni Medvedev. And it's not April 1st

I've noticed a few NHL signings from the KHL lately...

Because of the rubel crash earlier in the year, add the war to that and you have a lot of uncertainty so they want out, atleast those are part of the reasons.

[Peter_Doherty]

Seems like Buffalo and Detroit are not in Babcock's mind anymore. Can't wait to find out!!!

Looks like Leafs, only Leafs and STL left in the running from what i've read and Friedmann posted some weird flight plan for a private jet between Detroit and Toronto (love stories like this )

[B. Stinson]

As long as we're on-topic I don't mind some heated discussion... we are hockey fans after all ... but let's not get personal.

Also, just to clarify, I edited Peter's previous post. I don't think any discipline is necessary as it looked to me like a simple case of the swear filter not picking up that particular variation of the word. With that being said, I'd ask everyone to try to avoid relying on the filter to clean things up. Naturally, it's never going to catch everything, so some self-moderation is necessary.

[CJ]

I hope Babcock chooses the Sabres. Would be interesting to see what he can do with them.

Andrew Shaw trying to score with his head haha Awesome stuff!

That was an awesome goal!! I didn't know that you're not allowed to headbutt the puck in!?

[Peter_Doherty]

Wow, Babcock to Toronto... 8 year deal worth $50m with an out clause after 5, insane...

[archibalduk]

I've tidied up this thread and re-upped the Forum Guidelines Thread. I think if this thread descends into argument again then I'll have to lock it for the remainder of the season.

Now back on topic...

[Loosie]

Leafs flexing their financial muscle where they can, no cap on staff. Rumors are they are still meeting with Guy Boucher to bring him in as an assistant coach.

[philou21]

Will be interesting to see how things goes with Babcock in Toronto. Not to insult the Leafs fans but the players, the staff and the overall mentality of that organization vs Detroit are REALLY diffferent. Would not be surprise if it does not work in Toronto for him.

I'm guessing Babcock clearly established some rules by himself in the negociations though. That "out clause" after 5 years looks like any 5 years plan team have when they try to rebuild and if it's not working, out!

[Peter_Doherty]

Yup, will be real fun to follow. And yeah, looks like he had some demands to sign, looks like Shanahan will take a step down aswell, possibly to GM or something more like that and that was probably part of Babcocks demand i would assume. That and the out clause. The contract is front heavy aswell with up towards $8m rumored in the first 3 years, that along with the out clause sure looks like he's just cashing in

[Joe]

As a Wings fan I'm not really that bummed about Babcock leaving. But I do think its ridiculous how he said money was not important and that winning was. So he goes to the team that offers the most money and is probably furthest from winning. Good on Detroit for not offering a ridiculous amount of money.

Looks like Blashill will be the next coach. Hope this doesn't turn into a Dave Lewis thing where Blashill is too buddy buddy with most of the players. But he's done well in the AHL and I hope that translates well to the Wings where he knows most of the young guys.

[batdad]

Here is the deal

1. Detroit did not need to pay that kind of money because of Blashill. He will be very good for them.
2 This move to Toronto will prove whether the Detroit model--scout, get good players, develop them to be even better good players was dependent on who the head coach of the Wings was. Or whether it was dependent on management and their ability. I believe it is as much the latter as the former. Babcock was good, but much of Wings results to do with good scouting and a good solid development model.
3. The Leafs---These players will now HAVE to play. With the amount of $ Babcock is getting...whether you agree with the amount or not....any Loaf not playing hard (looking at you Phil) will be gone. No excuses time. Good for the Leafs on that.
4. The Babcock--will now show us whether he is a great coach or a coach who is good with great players, and a great system around him. I prefer to believe it is more the former than the latter As Mike is a great person. I have met him and seen him speak several times. He knows his stuff, and it will be interesting to see if it works in an environment not as driven by successes as Detroit has been,

All in all...Leafs win the day. They can now look at their players and say...yes, no, yes no no no no no yes no no no no yes. Based on what those players are willing to put out there for that jersey.

[Loosie]

The fact that it's an 8 year deal means he's here for the long run. Batdad is right, he's going to hold them accountable like no other coach has. It's a new coach who is very respected and players who don't compete will be very encouraged to be moved out.

Some people are saying that it's going to scrap the rebuild that Leafs need to do, and I don't think it would, especially with that 8 year deal.

[RomaGoth]

Here is the deal

1. Detroit did not need to pay that kind of money because of Blashill. He will be very good for them.
2 This move to Toronto will prove whether the Detroit model--scout, get good players, develop them to be even better good players was dependent on who the head coach of the Wings was. Or whether it was dependent on management and their ability. I believe it is as much the latter as the former. Babcock was good, but much of Wings results to do with good scouting and a good solid development model.
3. The Leafs---These players will now HAVE to play. With the amount of $ Babcock is getting...whether you agree with the amount or not....any Loaf not playing hard (looking at you Phil) will be gone. No excuses time. Good for the Leafs on that.
4. The Babcock--will now show us whether he is a great coach or a coach who is good with great players, and a great system around him. I prefer to believe it is more the former than the latter As Mike is a great person. I have met him and seen him speak several times. He knows his stuff, and it will be interesting to see if it works in an environment not as driven by successes as Detroit has been,

All in all...Leafs win the day. They can now look at their players and say...yes, no, yes no no no no no yes no no no no yes. Based on what those players are willing to put out there for that jersey.

Well stated, couldn't have said it better myself. As a Wings fan of over 30 years, I find it humorous seeing some of the people on other boards ready to jump off bridges because Babs left Detroit. These are the same people who jumped when Bowman left. Yes, very humorous.

[philou21]

I think it's perfectly normal that after 10 years of success, a coach would want something new, especially a guy like Babcock.

[CJ]

Pretty disappointed that he chose Toronto. I like Babcock but dislike Toronto. What will I now do?!

[philou21]

Have mixed feelings?

[RomaGoth]

Pretty disappointed that he chose Toronto. I like Babcock but dislike Toronto. What will I now do?!

Cheer for Detroit of course.

[Primis]

Some people are saying that it's going to scrap the rebuild that Leafs need to do, and I don't think it would, especially with that 8 year deal.

Babcock is not in TOR for a normal, proper rebuild.

If you look at his time in DET... Babcock is not a fan of young players in the least. A proper rebuild would force him to play young players he doesn't want to, and lose a whole lot while they learn. Babcock likes to staple young players to the bench while playing aging vets who really don't deserve the nod. And when he does play them, he gives them barely any time to actually do anything. Wings fans know this very well, and it's been a source of frustration over the past few years when it was clear the kids needed ice time and Babcock wouldn't give it to them because Cleary and Sameulsson and others inexplicably kept getting preferred ice-time and opportunities.

Babcock had to have signed on in TOR with the intent of remaking some stuff quickly to start winning. So yes, it's not a good sign for Leafs fans hoping for an actual rebuild. A rebuild is now out of the question. If he wanted a proper rebuild, EDM and BUF were in far better positions for that. Nope, TOR is going for it *now*.

Expect a lot of FA signings, not a lot of actual youth, and maybe even Dan Cleary. Because Babcock was the one who insisted on Holland signing Cleary. Twice, now.

[philou21]

Sometimes it's good to slowly add ice time to prospects. Nyquist, Tatar are turning good so far IMO. What you're saying is exactly what people here complain about in the case of Galchenyuk and even Gallagher. Not enough ice-time to develop. Though if we look at what Detroit did with most of their players, we can't say it did not worked!

[Peter_Doherty]

Seems like there is no out clause after all...

[Primis]

Sometimes it's good to slowly add ice time to prospects. Nyquist, Tatar are turning good so far IMO. What you're saying is exactly what people here complain about in the case of Galchenyuk and even Gallagher. Not enough ice-time to develop. Though if we look at what Detroit did with most of their players, we can't say it did not worked!

Nyquist, Tatar, etc, have all generally already put in 2 or 3 (or 4 even) years of AHL time before they sniff NHL. Occasionally you get say a Sheahan who does really need the sreally low build. But when guys like Nyquist and Tatar and displaying skills that they can help, and then you don't give them the ice time to actually help the team.... that's not really a good thing. And we saw it again with Pulkkinen. If you watched him in his NHL cups of coffee, he was not out of place and could have contributed. It's fine to hold them back if your team is loaded. However, when your team is not scoring and you're refusing to play youngsters who absolutely could help that.... that's missing the point entirely IMHO.

I can tell you Tomas Jurco is a guy they could have used more ice time out of this year, and he continually got 4th line duty or sat. His corner work is underrated, and everyone knows his sense and his hands are good. It's not the same as some calling for Anthony Mantha to play: that was a pipe-dream. We're talking pretty NHL-ready guys, not raw kids... a lot of Wings fans feel Jurco was incredibly mis-used this year.

Scotty Bowman once famously scratched Pavel Datsyuk for the playoffs years ago because Pavel was a defensive liability. And he was. The difference is Scotty let Pavel play and show that before then pulling back on the reins. Babcock has a bad habit of just assuming that's the case, and not playing the guy period. Where Scotty would let guys make mistakes (and then hear about it), Babcock wont even put guys in a position to even make those mistakes and hear about it anyways, he won't give them enough ice time to. So while they won't potentially make the mistakes, you also get absolutely no production or benefit from them.

You don't want to be a young player under Babcock. He won't trust you, and he won't give you opportunity to prove otherwise. DET was fortunate in a way with the injuries a year ago because they gave Babcock no choice but to play some of the kids.

[steviewhy]

Well stated, couldn't have said it better myself. As a Wings fan of over 30 years, I find it humorous seeing some of the people on other boards ready to jump off bridges because Babs left Detroit. These are the same people who jumped when Bowman left. Yes, very humorous.

I'm also tickled at fans being mad at him for taking the money. Would any one in their right mind pass on that the biggest offer ever by far in their profession? I guess these are the same wings fans who still boo hossa

[Manimal]

Why are we discussing the Leafs in the playoff thread?

Let's go Rangers! Please show us last game was a fluke