Mike Babcock, is turning over a “new leaf” and has accepted the head coaching job in Toronto. Babcock’s new contract with the Maple Leafs is for 8 years and a monstrous $50 million. Babcock coached the Red Wings for the last 10 seasons, made the playoffs every time, won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and called the Detroit Red Wings the greatest in hockey.
One of the likely successors is Jeff Blashill, who’s coaching the minor league Grand Rapids Griffins led them to the Calder Cup in 2013. Blashill was an assistant for Detroit for a year under Babcock and said his ultimate goal is to coach in the NHL.
Ken Holland, the Red Wings general manager, speaking at a press conference said:
“I’d like to thank Mike for 10 fabulous years,” Holland said. “We’ve made the playoffs for 10 consecutive years. Went to the final four three straight years in ’07, ’08 and ’09 and won a Cup in ’08. The last few years, I thought he did a fabulous job in putting some younger players in our organization and developing them.
“I’ve got mixed emotions because he’s one of the greatest coaches in the league if not the greatest coach, but at the same time, as we went through the process, I think Mike understood that when you’ve coached in the same city for 10 years, my offers were a four-year term. Yesterday I said the best we can do is five years. When you’ve been in the same city as long as I have and as long as I have, you don’t get much longer term than four or five years.”