The Official Dave Ayres CC "All Thing Leaves" thread

[BurningBeard]

I'll bet Phil choked on his cookies when this story broke...

Assuming they're still on the team, it'll be interesting to see the "dynamic" between Babcock, Diane, and Phillis.

[Hockey Widow]

Babcock sold his soul for a few dollars more and 2 extra months of golf every year.

Hockey Gods gonna get him for that one…

Does "front loaded" mean he's be making $10M+ next season?

I'll bet Phil choked on his cookies when this story broke...

Apparently the leaves offer included a promise to be free every April right through to draft day.

I heard it is front loaded with the first three years at 8 million.

Kessel won't be able to play his game any more, and stay a Leaf. His days of his way or the highway just ended.

[Strangelove]

I heard it is front loaded with the first three years at 8 million.

So approximately 4Xs what the average NHL head coach makes?

Gonna be hilarious when they fire him after 3 years.

Yeahno, Godcock ain't gonna save the Leaves, fools and their money are soon parted...

[Hockey Widow]

I heard it is front loaded with the first three years at 8 million.

So approximately 4Xs what the average NHL head coach makes?

Gonna be hilarious when they fire him after 3 years.

Yeahno, Godcock ain't gonna save the Leaves, fools and their money are soon parted...

Rumours surfacing that there is some type of out clause for both Babcock and the leaves after five years. This also explains the front loading as he will be guaranteed most of the money in the first five years.

Rumours also out there that Hunter could be named GM with the GM duties handled by team of Babcock, Shanny, Hunter. So GM in name but a team approach.

I wonder how BB feels. He was the guy that got rid of Babcock from Anaheim, only to watch him go on to a successful ten year run in Detroit. Today he has to watch him get that coveted centre of the universe position, for more money BB could every dream of making.

[Topper]

I heard it is front loaded with the first three years at 8 million.

So approximately 4Xs what the average NHL head coach makes?

Gonna be hilarious when they fire him after 3 years.

Yeahno, Godcock ain't gonna save the Leaves, fools and their money are soon parted...

Rumours surfacing that there is some type of out clause for both Babcock and the leaves after five years. This also explains the front loading as he will be guaranteed most of the money in the first five years.

Rumours also out there that Hunter could be named GM with the GM duties handled by team of Babcock, Shanny, Hunter. So GM in name but a team approach.

Wang Dang Doodle

I wonder how BB feels. He was the guy that got rid of Babcock from Anaheim, only to watch him go on to a successful ten year run in Detroit. Today he has to watch him get that coveted centre of the universe position, for more money BB could every dream of making.

Are the leaves still paying Carlyle and Wilson?

[Per]

Babcock sold his soul for a few dollars more and 2 extra months of golf every year.

You think there'd be less golfing in Buffalo?!

[Strangelove]

BB was the guy that got rid of Babcock from Anaheim, only to watch him go on to a successful ten year run in Detroit.

I dunno, a lot of great players for those ten years... but only one Cup under The Cock.

For the first time ever, he'll be coaching a truly shit team now.

I mean sure he's a top coach & all, but 4Xs what the average coach makes??

He's going to have to live up to that contract and he won't.

The pressure at the centre of the universe will crush The Cock.

But he'll get his money so....

[Strangelove]

Babcock sold his soul for a few dollars more and 2 extra months of golf every year.

You think there'd be less golfing in Buffalo?!

Now what would a 'godless commie' know about "souls" eh?

I was comparing the Buffalo/TO options to the Motown/SJS/StLou options.

The Cock went for the money.

[Strangelove]

I'll bet Phil choked on his cookies when this story broke...

Assuming they're still on the team, it'll be interesting to see the "dynamic" between Babcock, Diane, and Phillis.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

I'd LOVE to see the fireworks... but no doubt Shanny assured him the Salutegaters will be gone.

[BurningBeard]

I'd LOVE to see the fireworks... but no doubt Shanny assured him the Salutegaters will be gone.

Given the contracts and everything, I'd be surprised if they're both gone by the beginning of the season. I have no doubt that the leaves be looking to deal, but that's a lot of coin to move around, and they're both damaged goods.

[Strangelove]

Given the contracts and everything, I'd be surprised if they're both gone by the beginning of the season. I have no doubt that the leaves be looking to deal, but that's a lot of coin to move around, and they're both damaged goods.

I'll bet they're both gone by then.

Leaves can take bad contracts back, retain salary, whatever.

Shanny and The Cock haven't always seen eye-to-eye.

But one thing guys like them agree on is this.

Salutegaters (AKA "anarchists") must go.

Sure the Leaves are gonna get fucked up the ass on these soon-to-be trades

... but if they didn't enjoy a good ass-fucking they wouldn't have given those contracts to Bert & Ernie.

[Meds]

Gotta give Shanahan credit. He landed the biggest free agent of the year, coach or player. The leaves now have one of the best coaches in the world. Lots of work to do, though.

What do you base this assessment on Herb?

Surely you aren't going to point to his Stanley Cup and 2 Olympic gold medals.....

Babcock is a good coach, no question, but he had most definitely not done anything to earn that kind of recognition.

As a WHL coach he compiled a 288-251 record through 8 seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors and Spokane Chiefs. He had 4 losing seasons and 4 winning seasons. He made a pair WHL Finals appearances but didn't win anything. He then made the jump to the AHL and took the reigns of the Might Ducks affiliate in Cincinnati for 2 seasons going 74-59, with a great first season and a .500 second season, where he exited in the first round and then lost in the qualifying round the following season.

He entered the NHL coaching ranks behind Anaheim's bench in 2002-03. The Ducks had a great season and a really solid playoff run to the finals on the back of Giguere. They lost to New Jersey in 7 games. The following season saw the departure of Oates and Kariya and the team suffered. They finished outside of the playoffs and management decided it was time to go into rebuild mode. Babcock declined an offer to remain with Anaheim after the NHL lockout and was named as head coach of Scotty Bowman's Red Wings soon after. The team was still a dynasty at that point and proceeded to win the Cup in his 3rd season. He followed that up with a Finals loss the next year and has not gone beyond the 2nd round since that year.

With the exception of the 2003-04 Ducks, Babcock's teams have always had a very strong leadership core. In Anaheim he had Kariya, Oates, and Thomas. In Detroit he started with Yzerman, Chelios, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Draper, and Shannahan. That group transitioned into Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Kronwall, etc. His team has always had that kind of mix of players who know how to lead each other.

Now you see a Red Wings team that is starting to get long in the tooth, and they don't have a Zetterberg or Datsyuk ready to step up. I think the writing is on the wall for Detroit and their 24 year playoff streak will be a tough bar to meet in the next couple of seasons, regardless of who is coaching them. Babcock chooses a good time to move on, and going to a team like Toronto means that there will be no early expectations.....$50M is a huge sum to walk away from, but I won't be surprised if he see's it through for the front-loaded years and then opts to retire if things aren't panning out.

As for his Olympic gold medals, well I have a feeling that RD and Blobby could have replaced Babs and Hitch and coached teams like those to their gold medals by simply handing the reigns to Julien to enforce short shifts while the two of them duked it out in the tunnel.

I don't say all of this to smear the guy, just to point out that it is grossly over stating things to say he's the best there is.

Consider.....could Babcock gotten a team like Calgary to the 2nd round? Just sayin'.....

If he turns the leaves around then I'll begrudgingly change my tune.....but only "begrudgingly" because the leaves got turned around.

[Meds]

Babcock sold his soul for a few dollars more and 2 extra months of golf every year.

Hockey Gods gonna get him for that one…

You mean the Hockey God's are gonna put him in the playoffs so he can't hit the links?

[Meds]

I wonder how BB feels. He was the guy that got rid of Babcock from Anaheim, only to watch him go on to a successful ten year run in Detroit. Today he has to watch him get that coveted centre of the universe position, for more money BB could every dream of making.

Burke got rid of Babcock?

Babcock severed ties with his former team on Wednesday night, rejecting a one-year extension offer from new general manager Brian Burke.

"I'm not going back to Anaheim," Babcock said Thursday from his off-season home in Emma Lake, Sask., before leaving for the golf tournament. "Coaching in this league is a fit. They didn't know me good enough obviously to offer me more than one year and I respect that."

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/babcock ... s-1.536134

Babcock had only coached 2 years in the NHL at that point, and his last outing saw no playoff hockey behind the bench of a team that was going to go into rebuild mode. Babcock had not really proven himself to be an all-star winning coach at the junior levels either, his record in the WHL and AHL was overall above .500, but not much for results. Burke offered him a 1 year extension, not unfair considering he was taking the reigns of a team that he was about to overhaul and Babcock had missed the playoffs in epic fashion the previous season (winning only 29 games).

Chances are that Burke wanted Carlyle, and he wasn't the most amicable negotiator, but he never is.

I also doubt Burke is really upset at all seeing as 2 years later his Ducks knocked Babcock and the Wings out of the playoffs en route to a Stanley Cup. Chances are BB is just chuckling and waiting to see if Babcock actually can be successful with a group of misfits or a rebuilding roster.....

[Topper]

BB was the guy that got rid of Babcock from Anaheim, only to watch him go on to a successful ten year run in Detroit.

I dunno, a lot of great players for those ten years... but only one Cup under The Cock.

For the first time ever, he'll be coaching a truly shit team now.

I mean sure he's a top coach & all, but 4Xs what the average coach makes??

He's going to have to live up to that contract and he won't.

The pressure at the centre of the universe will crush The Cock.

But he'll get his money so....

A team he inherited from Scotty Bowman, not Wilson/Carlyle/Horacheck.