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DALLAS — Mike Babcock has us all figured out. Here it was, on the eve of the fourth game of the Detroit Red Wings' series against the Dallas Stars last night, when there was nothing of consequence to talk about, so naturally the conversation turned to coaching.
Babcock addressed one important piece of housekeeping business about his future yesterday. His contract is up and Babcock said he wasn't going anywhere, so scratch him from the list of coaches looking to fill one of the many NHL openings at the moment.
Sources with knowledge of the situation say that Babcock and the Red Wings came close to hammering out a new deal just before the playoffs began, but there were a few details left to negotiate. Rather than press the issue and let it spill into the playoffs, they put the talks on hold and will complete the finishing touches on his new contract once the season ends.
“I'm staying in Detroit,” Babcock said. “We'll get all that worked out. … I know that we'll get it worked out and it's just some details, that's all.”
For a lot of reasons, there is no place else that Babcock would rather be, and it isn't just because the Red Wings are poised to return to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in six seasons. Babcock predicted he would be here early in his coaching career.
“I always told [general manager] Ken Holland I was going to be the coach of the Red Wings,” Babcock said. “He didn't believe me. When I was a minor-league coach for Detroit and Anaheim [in Cincinnati between 2000 and 2002, when they shared an affiliate], I used to go to the games all the time. I remember in '02, I sat with Kenny for the first two games when they were down in Vancouver and didn't look like they were going to win then. But you're hopeful you'll get to coach a team. There are only 30 jobs in the league.”
Thirty jobs, but only a handful with smart, stable organizations that can provide a coach with a steady pipeline of player talent.
“There are 30 jobs, but there are some great jobs,” Babcock said, “and I happen to have one of them. I work for a great owner and a general manager and assistant GM who love hockey and work 24 hours a day and they love players, love skill.
“When you're coaching and the people you work for just keep bringing players, it's a good opportunity. There's other jobs in the league, they're all great jobs, don't get me wrong. Some just have a better opportunity for you to be successful if you do a good job yourself.”
Scotty Bowman, the 10-time Stanley Cup-winning coach and consultant for the club since he retired after 2002, turned up here for the third game. Bowman flits in and out with the Wings. He was with the team earlier in the playoffs and is back again now, along with the rest of the brass – Holland, senior vice-president Jim Devellano and assistant GM Jim Nill. Steve Yzerman, currently with Team Canada at the world championship, will be here, assuming the Red Wings get through to the Stanley Cup final.
Babcock said his relationship with Bowman predates his employment with Detroit, but grew during the 2004-05 NHL lockout year when they were together at the world championship.
“We just kind of got to the point that we've become good friends,” Babcock said. “We talk about hockey, but we talk about life, too. He's a good man and you know I'm big into that – lifelong learning. I think Scotty is the best at that in the game. I think he continued to change from decade to decade and he had a passion for it and still does.
“We talk all the time. He's always saying: ‘Did you see this? Did you see that? Where are you going to watch the game?' He's an energized gentleman who has been probably different than a lot of people would perceive Scotty. With me, anyway, he's shared anything I've ever asked of him.
“It's great to be able to call the best coach of all time any time you want and say, ‘What do you think about this?' We talk about matchups all the time. We talk about who he thinks is the best player. We don't always agree, but that doesn't matter.
“I think when you have a sounding board, sometimes that's very, very effective.”
Just another reason why the Red Wings are where they are – Presidents' Trophy champions and soon to be half of a dream Stanley Cup final matchup against the emerging Pittsburgh Penguins.
