it won't really be up to Babcock. if the organization develops and acquires good players, he'll be successful in Toronto. if they don't, he'll be another Randy Carlyle. he's a great coach. and he's in the discussion for best in the game with Quenneville and Vigneault (Jon Cooper is getting there too). but he still needs horses. he hasn't had them in Detroit in the last 5-6 years and so he didn't win much. but he had them early on in Detroit (2 Cup finals, one win) and he had them with TC (2 golds). going to be a few years before we can start judging this move.
- DoubleDown

poop man. I like the non-trolling DoubleDown.

Ya kessel is worth 8 and Ryan is worth 7.25... both need to pick thier @$$ up. who the hell is brown and what the hell has he won?

Strome or Marner... ya I'll give them that when they have it. Trade those players along with JVR. trade everyone except MR and WN.
- AlfieisKing

he was the leading rookie scorer in the ahl. he led the ohl in scoring the year before that. they also have leipisic who was 4th in ahl rookie scoring, and he led the whl in scoring before.

comparing ryan to kessel made me laugh. even in kessels poopiest season he still easily outscored bobby. last 4 seasons 57,30,48,54 compared to 82,52,80,61...yeah thats comparable

also trade their highest pick since 89? nah I think they will just pick a guy being compared to Getzlaf or Patrick Kane

At the same time, you can always count on one team to make a stupid decision because they have the money to do so, and 90% of the time it's the Leafs making the decision. Just saying.
- dps0610

alex semin. just saying. worst contract in the league hands down

There is only one fact that matters. Babcock has a huge ego and there is no bigger legacy move then to win a cup in Toronto.

Face it, the Leafs will always have that lure and hook. The longer the drought goes the more people keep getting caught up in "what if I can win there".

Plain and simple.

STOP ALL THE WHINING!

embarrassing for our game and for him .. next eight years ... wow ... lucky if they make the playoffs in that time.
- Snipes8686

I'm sure you would turn down 50 million.

Wish him well and luck, he'll need it. It was time for some new blood, a new message and breath of fresh air...so can't be too saddened to say the least.

you do realize, that Babcock has power that he can veto the GM when it comes to player personel. Why would a GM want a part of a job that his coach can essentially get him fired? that sounds like a potentially volatile situation.
- BooBoo997

Not if they hire Kyle Dubas as GM.

They are not going to go with a big name GM. Book it.

There is only one fact that matters. Babcock has a huge ego and there is no bigger legacy move then to win a cup in Toronto.

Face it, the Leafs will always have that lure and hook. The longer the drought goes the more people keep getting caught up in "what if I can win there".

Plain and simple.

STOP ALL THE WHINING!
- 13LEAFS01

You're right. And it's forgotten by everyone. Winning in Toronto is bigger than anywhere in the NHL. Add to that the most money and you hve a great draw despite what everyone thought.

to bad he wont win a cup for at least 8 years now
- Maverick1818

seems like this is where all the NHL fans come together to bash the Leafs. Like honestly, they just signed the worlds best coach, why is it necessary to come point out how bad the Leafs are?

The Leafs are finally rebuilding...No more quick fixes.

They have a lot of good young talent. They have tradeable assets they have high end picks. They also have two of the smartest minds in junior hockey as co GMS

They are going to be a force in a few years. Det and their dinosaurs are over the hill
- legendguy

You obviously don't know squat about the Wings current roster or the organization.

Outside of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Kronwall this is a relatively young team. And Grand Rapids is STACKED with talent. People like you have predicted the Wings demise for over a decade. The Wings draft and develop their talent better than any team in the NHL. The Wings are only a couple trades and/or free agent from being elite again.

As for Babcock leaving most of us Wings fans are fine with it. A new voice / direction behind the bench is probably a good thing after 10 years. Blashill is an excellent coach and has won at every level he's been a coach. The Grand Rapids Griffins are a Calder Cup contender again this year.

“I don’t even know if there’s three or four players in the league who make that kind of money.”

I hope this statement was taken out of context or holland should be immediately fired.

Stupid is who they are. It’s what they do.

You should probably reconsider this statement.

What the leafs did was completely disruptive, particularly to budget teams. If the leafs (and other wealthy teams) can drive dollars away from players salaries to other areas of the business, it becomes an additional competitive advantage over budget teams.

Really, they should be looking to drive up costs across all areas of hockey operations.
- Tumbleweed

Yeah.. we should fire Holland because you don't like something he said ? He's arguably the best GM in the league. Put away your crack pipe. What planet do you live on ?

Well i gota admit nothing makes my day better when i come to hockeybuzz to read all the clueless dribble from all the haters about the leafs and what thier doing wrong and how this and that will never happen and how all us true leaf fans are retarded for thinking things will change..

Remember all the hype about the bad move the leafs did when they hired Shanny?You remember all the Montreal,oilers,philly,van fans jumped into the threads and crapped all over the leafs for that..Looks like it was a good move now eh,hes going threw with the full rebuild as he stated would happen,it all starts with staff and trickles down eventually to the players..

How about the clarkson deal? Yep it was a bad deal and we all knew it but it happened anyways didnt it?Then the talk from all the haters turned to how were stuck with him for the full contract and would never be able to get rid of him other then buy him out..Well where is he now? Oh ya that horrible contract was traded with him for someone that wont affect the leafs salary cap issue,since the new players is hurt and on long term disability his salary is covered by insurance and wont cost a penny towards the cap..Oh ya all the haters were wrong again..Yep all those oiler fans and habs fans and van fans were clueless and wrong again for the 10000000000 time..

Now we have Babs..Remember all the haters saying the leafs were dreamers and he would never set foot in the acc to coach a team like the laffs? How he would rather goto the oilers or buff or stay with det..Well all u haters and nominds were wrong again eh

Moral of the story is you haters know squat about hockey and should seriously just sit there and read and stfu..You know the scrubs like Iggy and Vantel and the rest of u tards..

I could sit here all day and pick ur teams apart but i dont cause its more fun to sit here and read all ur crap and laugh in the end when everything u said turns around bites u in the ass...

Enjoy my long post and know im sitting here laughing at all ur dumbass responces to this just as i was laughing at all ur wrong predictions for the last couple yrs..It's almost like ur all kids of Ek's,You know how he never gets a trade rumor right just like ur predictions never come true either..

Ouch, career suicide.

Since the purpose of a career is generally to make money, I hardly see how 50 million is the bank is suicide.

Since the purpose of a career is generally to make money, I hardly see how 50 million is the bank is suicide.
- oldstyle

Did people not think the money was important? Babcock said himself last summer.

All anyone talked about was "Winning NOw!". That was not his only priority.

Yeah.. we should fire Holland because you don't like something he said ? He's arguably the best GM in the league. Put away your crack pipe. What planet do you live on ?
- Vladdie_Kon1

He is the GM of an nhl franchise .... If he has no clue what top players in the league are paid he should absolutely be fired. He sounded absolutely clueless based on the quote.

Probably taken out of context, but makes him sound completely out of touch if true and does not provide any justification for or against babcock's contract.

edit: i don't know why i can't stop talking in italics

There is only one fact that matters. Babcock has a huge ego and there is no bigger legacy move then to win a cup in Toronto.

Face it, the Leafs will always have that lure and hook. The longer the drought goes the more people keep getting caught up in "what if I can win there".

Plain and simple.

STOP ALL THE WHINING!
- 13LEAFS01

and start the laughing

Did people not think the money was important? Babcock said himself last summer.

All anyone talked about was "Winning NOw!". That was not his only priority.
- RogerRoeper

really curious to see if the Leafs hang onto their vets now, for one season at least. if nothing else, maybe Babcock can lift the trade value of certain players. with an 8 year deal i don't see him in a rush to strip the thing to the studs on day 1.

He seems pretty set on building through the draft.
- walshyleafsfan

Building through the draft doesn't necessarily mean tanking. With the new rules, it's such a role of the dice.

I suspect next year will be a bottom 5 finish, but beyond that, putting together a competitive team without trading draft picks and accumulating a few extra will be building through the draft.

I think the overall focus will be on improving success in later round drafting, developing players at the appropriate pace, buying low on trades (including acquiring decent players on bad contracts), selling high on trades (trade deadline sells) and good value UFA acquisitions.

There is only one fact that matters. Babcock has a huge ego and there is no bigger legacy move then to win a cup in Toronto.

Face it, the Leafs will always have that lure and hook. The longer the drought goes the more people keep getting caught up in "what if I can win there".

Plain and simple.

STOP ALL THE WHINING!
- 13LEAFS01

winning a cup in toronto?

really curious to see if the Leafs hang onto their vets now, for one season at least. if nothing else, maybe Babcock can lift the trade value of certain players. with an 8 year deal i don't see him in a rush to strip the thing to the studs on day 1.
- DoubleDown

They'd better not. I'm cautiously optimistic about the hiring, but the proper rebuild we've been led to believe is finally happening, is far more important than who is behind the bench. If all the "doing it right" talk, turns out to be just talk, then my Leaf fan days are over.
Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but eventually the whole "fool me once..." scenario ends with "Fool me several dozen times, and I start to resent you for making me look like a fool".

You obviously don't know squat about the Wings current roster or the organization.

Outside of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Kronwall this is a relatively young team. And Grand Rapids is STACKED with talent. People like you have predicted the Wings demise for over a decade. The Wings draft and develop their talent better than any team in the NHL. The Wings are only a couple trades and/or free agent from being elite again.

As for Babcock leaving most of us Wings fans are fine with it. A new voice / direction behind the bench is probably a good thing after 10 years. Blashill is an excellent coach and has won at every level he's been a coach. The Grand Rapids Griffins are a Calder Cup contender again this year.
- Vladdie_Kon1

I was just going to respond to that same post, but I see there is no need to address it--

As for the Leafs signing Babs to that contract-- good for them. More power to them. I would rather see a team like the Leafs offer and have a contract like that, than a team who gets revenue sharing and turn around a have a contract like that.

As for Babs, lost a little respect for him. He could have come out and said $$ was one of the main factors, rather than how my family feels (stating his wife didn't want to leave) and the "winning now" factor etc. Just be upfront and honest. He earned the right to look and sign elsewhere, buh-bye Babs.

Since Babs has made it known he wants control/input on players and he was the one who wanted Weiss so much.....can he take him and his contract with him?!?

I also wonder what Don Cherry is going to say now that Babs took the $$ and signed with the Leafs

Well i gota admit nothing makes my day better when i come to hockeybuzz to read all the clueless dribble from all the haters about the leafs and what thier doing wrong and how this and that will never happen and how all us true leaf fans are retarded for thinking things will change..

Remember all the hype about the bad move the leafs did when they hired Shanny?You remember all the Montreal,oilers,philly,van fans jumped into the threads and crapped all over the leafs for that..Looks like it was a good move now eh,hes going threw with the full rebuild as he stated would happen,it all starts with staff and trickles down eventually to the players..

How about the clarkson deal? Yep it was a bad deal and we all knew it but it happened anyways didnt it?Then the talk from all the haters turned to how were stuck with him for the full contract and would never be able to get rid of him other then buy him out..Well where is he now? Oh ya that horrible contract was traded with him for someone that wont affect the leafs salary cap issue,since the new players is hurt and on long term disability his salary is covered by insurance and wont cost a penny towards the cap..Oh ya all the haters were wrong again..Yep all those oiler fans and habs fans and van fans were clueless and wrong again for the 10000000000 time..

Now we have Babs..Remember all the haters saying the leafs were dreamers and he would never set foot in the acc to coach a team like the laffs? How he would rather goto the oilers or buff or stay with det..Well all u haters and nominds were wrong again eh

Moral of the story is you haters know squat about hockey and should seriously just sit there and read and stfu..You know the scrubs like Iggy and Vantel and the rest of u tards..

I could sit here all day and pick ur teams apart but i dont cause its more fun to sit here and read all ur crap and laugh in the end when everything u said turns around bites u in the ass...

Enjoy my long post and know im sitting here laughing at all ur dumbass responces to this just as i was laughing at all ur wrong predictions for the last couple yrs..It's almost like ur all kids of Ek's,You know how he never gets a trade rumor right just like ur predictions never come true either..



- ALeafsFan4Ever

By the time I finished I forgot the point. Was it that everyone predicted that because of stupid moves that the leafs would suck for a long time? And you're countering that with "they don't suck and are getting awesome?" ?

If that's the takeaway I think I agree with the people you contend with. The leafs may be doing things right now, but they have, in fact, made questionable decisions and do suck. They may not going forward, but they do now.

Larkin leaves college to join Griffins/Wings.

By the time I finished I forgot the point. Was it that everyone predicted that because of stupid moves that the leafs would suck for a long time? And you're countering that with "they don't suck and are getting awesome?" ?

If that's the takeaway I think I agree with the people you contend with. The leafs may be doing things right now, but they have, in fact, made questionable decisions and do suck. They may not going forward, but they do now.
- datswho

No worries i understand that for most of u completely out to lunch trollers cant follow anything that spreads over 2 complete sentences long..Thats fine i kinda expected a reply like yours from the out to lunch and clueless here

Carry on being bitter and troll away..

No worries i understand that for most of u completely out to lunch trollers cant follow anything that spreads over 2 complete sentences long..Thats fine i kinda expected a reply like yours from the out to lunch and clueless here

Carry on being bitter and troll away..
- ALeafsFan4Ever

Ah ha. I also expected this haughty reply to which I say eat a Richard. Who's trolling who anyway?