Detroit Red Wings Clips  May 22, 2015

Detroit Red Wings PAGE 2 Mike Babcock thanks Red Wings fans in full-page ad PAGE 3 Nicklas Lidstrom co-authors scientific paper in Sweden PAGE 4 Top Wings prospect Dylan Larkin leaves U-M for pros PAGE 5 Writer: Red Wings lose Babcock, still come out winners PAGE 6 Fedorov, others in alleged Ponzi scam awarded millions PAGE 8 Blashill speaks: I want to be Red Wings' next coach PAGE 9 St. James: Babcock knows 'pain coming' with Maple Leafs PAGE 11 Grapes and Gretz like Maple Leafs' hiring of Babs PAGE 13 Jeff Blashill wants to be Red Wings' next coach PAGE 14 Dylan Larkin to leave Michigan, join Wings PAGE 16 Babcock: Leafs job about 'maximizing your potential' PAGE 18 Dylan Larkin jumps into mix with Griffins; 'We believe he can help right

now' PAGE 19 Mike Babcock links: 'Crushing blow' leaves Sabres 'livid' over decision to

go to Toronto PAGE 21 Red Wings draft pick Dylan Larkin confident he's ready to begin

professional hockey career PAGE 23 Detroit Red Wings' high-end prospect Dylan Larkin turns pro, will join

Grand Rapids for AHL playoffs PAGE 25 Mike Babcock embraces challenge of making Maple Leafs relevant,

grateful for time with Red Wings PAGE 28 Jeff Blashill 'determined' his interest in Red Wings job won't distract playoff

run PAGE 30 Red Wings who played for Jeff Blashill in Grand Rapids speak highly of

their former coach PAGE 33 Babcock pledges to build Cup contender in Toronto PAGE 35 Dylan Larkin to leave Michigan, sign contract with Red Wings PAGE 36 Gave: Babcock, Leafs in for rude awakening PAGE 38 Babcock: Returning Leafs to prominence will be 'massive challenge' PAGE 40 Players love Blashill; Holland loves that he wins PAGE 42 Sportsnet.ca / Babcock: Blashill will be next Red Wings coach PAGE 44 Sportsnet.ca / Holland: Red Wings’ offer to Babcock was fair

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Mike Babcock thanks Red Wings fans in full-page ad By Brian Manzullo, Detroit Free Press 12:09 a.m. EDT May 22, 2015 Mike Babcock may be on to a new team, but he clearly hasn't forgotten about his old one. The former Detroit Red Wings coach who won a Stanley Cup in 2008 and made the postseason in each of his 10 seasons in Detroit took out a full-page ad in Friday's Detroit Free Press to thank the team's fans. It says: "Detroit Red Wings fans, Thank you for an amazing 10 years! We'll never forget the support you've provided us and will always cherish the memories we've shared together in Hockeytown. - The Babcocks" The ad features a portrait of Babcock and a photo of him hoisting the Stanley Cup around his family. Babcock left the Red Wings this week to sign an 8-year, $50-million deal to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. That leaves the Red Wings looking for a new coach for the first time since 2005 - though they may not have to search for long. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Nicklas Lidstrom co-authors scientific paper in Sweden By Steve Schrader, Detroit Free Press 4:25 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 It sounds like a plot on "The Big Bang Theory." Two really smart science-type guys decided to study whether you can apply intelligence and learn to make up for physical limitations to excel in sports. So Swedish researchers Jan Lennartsson and Carl Lindberg went to the man who seemed to be the smartest hockey player on the planet, former Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Not that Lidstrom wasn't physically talented, but he always seemed to know what was going to happen before it did. And it turned out he agreed with their theories, that he learned how to analyze situations and put himself in the best position to succeed, often not going by the book. Lidstrom was so much help to the research, he was listed as a co-author on the paper that backed up the research, "Game Intelligence in Team Sports," published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. And to think that they called Igor Larionov "The Professor." But how can athletes — from recreational on up — apply their findings? Well, there's a formula for that, the kind those advanced-metrics guys can only dream about. For example, the paper talks about "the concept of potential. This idea is fundamental to our analysis, and it is applied in all game situations that we consider." Basically, the intelligent player analyzes the potential game situations and his or her reactions, and then acts accordingly. It's one of the simpler formulas in the paper, a building block, and looks something (but not exactly) like this: v = E [V(T)], A € [O, T]. So you kids out there, keep that in mind the next time you're playing a game. Honestly, the paper is a tad tough to understand for us laymen. It wasn't in Swedish, but it might as well have been. There's also an explanation of it at phys.org. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Top Wings prospect Dylan Larkin leaves U-M for pros By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press 4:14 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Dylan Larkin is back from the world championships and onto the AHL playoffs. Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press today that Larkin, the blue-chip prospect from Waterford, is joining the Grand Rapids Griffins under an amateur tryout contract, forgoing his final three years at Michigan. An ATO allows Larkin to play for the Griffins now without burning any of the three years of the NHL entry-level contract he also agreed to today. The Griffins open the Western Conference final Sunday at Utica. "He's a guy we think will be able to produce points at the AHL level," Holland said. "He can skate, he can play left wing or center, kill penalties. He's good defensively." Todd Richards and Dan Bylsma, who coached Larkin as he helped Team USA win bronze last week at the world championships in Prague, "unanimously agreed that he's ready for the AHL," Holland said. "And that he's close to the NHL." Larkin is scheduled to join the Griffins on Friday for their bus ride to Utica, N.Y., and practice Saturday. "My year at Michigan has been the best year of my life, the most fun year of hockey I've ever had," Larkin said in a statement released by U-M. "Going to one of the best universities in the world and having fun with my classmates, it will be tough missing out on what they're going to accomplish. On the other note, I have a chance to live out the dream of my life and I'm really excited about it. I think it's a great opportunity. I really feel like I'm ready for this challenge." Larkin turns 19 at the end of July. The Wings selected Larkin 15th overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft. He has excelled everywhere he has been, including winning gold at the 2014 world under-18 championships. His outstanding first year at U-M (15 goals and 32 assists in 35 games) earned him Big Ten freshman-of-the-year honors and the invitation to be one of only two 18-year-olds to play for Team USA at worlds. (The other was Jack Eichel, expected to be the second overall pick in next month's NHL draft.) Now Larkin can gain the advantage of playing pro hockey with the likes of Teemu Pulkkinen, Tyler Bertuzzi and 2013 first-round pick Anthony Mantha -- and be coached by Jeff Blashill, who is the leading candidate to replace Mike Babcock in Detroit. The Wings made it clear to Larkin before he turned pro that he has to work his way to the Wings. "He knows there's no guarantee he'll be on the team," Holland said. "He knows he has to come to camp and make our roster or be sent to Grand Rapids." Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Writer: Red Wings lose Babcock, still come out winners By Steve Schrader, Detroit Free Press 4:59 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 They lost Mike Babcock, the man many call the top coach in hockey. But Greg Wyshynski of yahoo.com — parsing the winners and losers in the whole deal — still has the Detroit Red Wings as one of the winners in Babcock going to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And that's not anything against Babcock. Wyshynski writes: "The Wings reaffirm two important tenets of their franchise in seeing Babcock leave for bluer pastures. "First, that no man is above the Winged Wheel. Not Mike Babcock, not Scotty Bowman, not anyone. ... The Wings were great before he arrived. They'll be great after he's gone. "Second, that the Wings look best when they're the spurned, disrespected, chip-on-the-shoulder team, despite being an Original Six glamour franchise. Babcock leaving for the Leafs firmly establishes Detroit as the rejected underdog. They wear it well." Dylan Larkin to go pro, leave U-M Another of Wyshynski's winners is the heir-apparent in Detroit, Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill. "The 41-year-old AHL coach is expected to take over a playoff-worthy roster from Mike Babcock as the next Red Wings coach," Wyshynski writes. "His bargaining position couldn't be stronger, having been framed as the ace in the hole in case Babs left. Which he did." His other winners include Babcock's ego, if he does pull off a miracle in Toronto. But his legacy will be a loser if he doesn't. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Fedorov, others in alleged Ponzi scam awarded millions By Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press 7:04 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 With the help of a federal appeals court, former Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov just checked his ex-financial manager — a Grosse Pointe Shores man who allegedly swindled the hockey star out of $43 million. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled against that manager — Joseph Zada — concluding he has to pay $112 million for selling fake investments in Saudi Arabian oil to dozens of unsuspecting victims — including Fedorov, a horse trainer, a plastic surgeon and several firefighters. The ruling comes six years after the Free Press first disclosed Fedorov's claims that Zada had embezzled millions from him during an 11-year period while pretending to be a wealthy businessman with ties to Saudi Arabian royalty. Zada was counting on the 6th Circuit to overturn a lower court decision, which ordered him to pay $56 million in damages and an additional $56 million civil penalty for running a Ponzi scheme that caught the attention of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC filed a civil complaint against Zada in 2010, alleging that Zada violated two federal securities laws. A federal judge agreed. So did the 6th Circuit, which said the SEC had "undisputed evidence" that Zada was running the following scheme: "Zada presented himself to friends and acquaintances as an extremely wealthy man. He owned mansions in Michigan and Florida, hosted extravagant parties and traveled with bodyguards," the 6th Circuit wrote in its opinion. "Zada offered potential investors an opportunity to share in his apparent wealth: through his connections with royalty in Saudi Arabia, he would combine their money with his to make large purchases of oil that would be stored on offshore tankers." Zada claimed his partners in the Middle East would keep the oil on tankers when prices were low, and sell it when prices were high. Zada told investors they could expect returns of up to 40% in as little as two months, records show. But it was all a scam. "Little of what Zada told the investors was true," the 6th Circuit wrote. "Zada's connections with Saudi royalty existed only in his imagination. On one occasion, Zada invited investors to a party, where he paid actors to pose as a Saudi prince and princess. And Zada never bought any oil; instead, he used the investors' money to pay his personal expenses, which were substantial." According to court records, Zada spent more than $4 million of investors' money to pay his personal credit card bills. And when Zada paid investors anything, records show, he used money raised from other victims. In 2009, Fedorov sued Zada in Wayne County Circuit Court, claiming Zada owed him $60 million. Fedorov won a judgment against Zada, but never saw his money.

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"It is my intent to make whole and hopefully we can resolve this," Zada told the Free Press in 2009, acknowledging that he agreed to pay Fedorov $60 million to resolve the dispute. "I still believe we can still be friends." He added: "I'm absolutely not debating that money is owed." In arguments to the 6th Circuit, Zada has claimed that the investments he sold were not securities and thus not subject to regulation under two federal securities acts. He also argued that the civil penalty improperly punished him for invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The 6th Circuit disagreed. Zada's attorney, N.C. Deday LaRene, declined to comment. Meawhile, Zada is still facing criminal charges in Florida, where he was indicted in 2013 on multiple charges involving his alleged Ponzi scheme. He is free on bond. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Blashill speaks: I want to be Red Wings' next coach By Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press Columnist 4:17 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 GRAND RAPIDS -- Jeff Blashill was clear and direct, just like he talks to his players on the Grand Rapids Griffins. "Yes, I want to be the next head coach of the Detroit Red Wings," Blashill said today, standing in his office after practice. "An ultimate goal of mine was to become an NHL head coach; obviously, within this organization, it's a great organization to be part of." Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Wednesday that Blashill is the leading candidate to replace Mike Babcock, who left Detroit to become the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Blashill stressed that the Wings' job is not his focus right now. His focus is on his team in Grand Rapids. The Griffins are getting ready to play the top-seeded Utica Comets in the Western Conference finals. Game 1 is Sunday in Utica, N.Y. "I just try to live my day not worrying about what might be or what could be," he said. "As I told our guys this morning, we are worried about what is right now. We have a special opportunity here. I believe in special moments. We are one of four teams left in the Calder Cup playoffs. Let's focus on trying to get to that special moment that some of us were able to get to two years ago." (Blashill and the Griffins won the Calder Cup in 2013.) Holland said that he will meet with Blashill when the Griffins have an off day, but they haven't set a date. "Ken and I had a real short conversation (Wednesday)," Blashill said. "It was alerting me to Mike's decision, which I knew about. He was saying, 'Let's take a time to talk, face to face,' which we have never done, regarding any potential (job). He was living in a day-to-day world, as I'm living in a day-to-day world. We don't know when that date will be. That's all we have talked about; that's our next step." A year ago, five NHL teams called to ask permission to talk to Blashill, who had a year left on his contract. Holland offered to double his salary if he agreed not to talk to other teams. Blashill jumped at the offer, and he stayed loyal to the Red Wings. "The agreement we made last year was to stay on as the coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins and for me not to talk to other teams," Blashill said. "I was very happy to be able to do that. As I've said before, my long-term goal was to become an NHL coach, but I also understand that you have to do a great job in the job you are in. That's been the only focus I've had." Then he ended his short news conference with some dry wit. When asked how his experience with the Griffins will translate to the Red Wings, he said, with a laugh, "I'll let you know if that happens."

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St. James: Babcock knows 'pain coming' with Maple Leafs By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press 2:31 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Topics ranged from trucks to tears to school teachers. Watching a live stream of Mike Babcock's introductory news conference with the Toronto Maple Leafs today proved an entertaining half-hour. There was vintage Babcock seen over and over during his decade with the Detroit Red Wings, iterating that fear is good, that he likes being challenged (and, boy, will he be) and that he is about winning. Also, that he loves Canada and wants people to be able to find Toronto on a map. Babcock sat next to Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, a player he coached for a few years in Detroit, as the two spun the future of the Maple Leafs. Warning: It's going to hurt. Possibly revealing the slogan of the 2015-16 Leafs, Babcock said, "There's pain coming." The Leafs have been in pain for a decade, making the playoffs just once while Babcock spent 10 years in Detroit making the postseason. Shanahan, in fact, realized that he maybe had painted so bleak a picture of the Leafs as to turn off Babcock after the Wings granted Babcock's request to talk to interested NHL teams prior to the June 30 expiration of his contract. "The very first conversation we had was a very difficult one for me, because it wasn't actually a sales pitch, in a way," Shanahan said. "It was a very truthful conversation. Mike asked hard questions, and I didn't lie. I told him the truth. I got off the phone and I wondered whether I'd just made a huge mistake." That Gob Bluth-ism aside (Will Arnett, who portrayed the inimitable "Arrested Development" character, is a huge Leafs fan), Shanahan got the man he had to deliver, and Babcock got the job that he deemed best all around -- for himself, for his family, and for his bank account. He stands to make $50 million over eight years (there's no out clause), not that it's about money, of course. Babcock dismissed that as he revealed his ties to the Motor City. "The contract is simply a commitment from the Maple Leafs to success," Babcock said. "They've made a long-term commitment to me, so I understand totally they're committed to the process. That, to me, is what it's all about. I don't know if my truck will fit here, but normally, I drive a Ford 150 and I'll still be driving one." Babcock also revealed that he sometimes sheds a tear, saying, "I had to get the Kleenex box out when I sat in his office, because of what he's done for me" in talking about his final meeting with Wings general manager Ken Holland. "We just had an unbelievable run for 10 years and enjoyed ourselves," Babcock said. "The opportunity in Detroit, and the relationship I have with Ken Holland and the Ilitch family and those players, is a very, emotional, emotional thing, to say the least. This was a hard decision."

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Babcock addressed accusations from two Buffalo reporters suggesting that he used the Sabres as bargaining leverage, noting that negotiations are part of the process. "That 'lying' word is an interesting word for me," Babcock said. "I've been in the public eye a long, long time. I don't think that goes anywhere near who I am or what I'm about. I've been real straightforward and honest in the process with all the teams I talked to and with my ownership." Babcock did tell the Wings about the Leafs' offer, but when Holland replied that the Wings weren't going to offer more than five years, that was that. The Wings never were going to go near the unprecedented amount of money (Babcock's average salary will be double that of the Chicago Blackhawks' Joel Quenneville, currently the highest-paid NHL coach at just under $3 million). In the end, the Leafs trumped everyone. Sure, they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and the current team is not described by anyone as ready to do the "winning" that Babcock is all about. Babcock said he did a "thorough study" of all the NHL teams that he met with (others were Buffalo, St. Louis and San Jose) and that included watching Toronto's farm team play in the playoffs (and lose to the Grand Rapids Griffins after a 2-0 series start). There's all that, but ultimately, the Leafs are a billion-dollar franchise with a fan base loyal beyond logic, and as longtime hockey man Brian Burke once put it while he was in charge of the Leafs: Toronto is the center of the hockey universe. "I believe this is Canada's team," Babcock said, "and we need to put Canada's team back on the map. "I'm a schoolteacher, that's what I am, real simply. I believe your job is to make people around you better. I'm real proud of the fact, over the 10 years I was in Detroit, we helped players get better." That's the imprint Babcock now wants to impress upon the Leafs, even if it will take years. "I never came here to make the playoffs," Babcock said. "I came here to be involved in a Cup process. I love to win, I have a burning desire to win, but I also want to win in the end. I don't want to just get in the playoffs. We want to build a team that the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs can be proud of. We have to create an environment that that is safe for the players -- and what I mean by that is, when you win every day, it becomes pretty safe for the players. Right now, it's a hard spot. We're going to change that, but it's going to take time. "This fan base here really cares about the Leafs. They want us to be good. They understand it'll be long process. I came here with eyes wide open. I'm excited about it." Today was just the beginning. Now Babcock will have to deal with the scrutiny of coaching a bad team in a city where hockey is an unbridled passion in a country where hockey is part of the national fabric. As he put it, there's pain coming. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Grapes and Gretz like Maple Leafs' hiring of Babs By Steve Schrader, Detroit Free Press 5:29 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Grapes and Gretz give thumbs up to Babs coming to the Toronto Maple Leafs, eh? "Happy days are here again!" Don Cherry sang Wednesday night on "Hockey Night in Canada," serenading coach Mike Babcock going to the Leafs from the Detroit Red Wings. (Which is a different tune from what he was singing last week.) "Mike Babcock, I'll tell ya, boy, 8 million bucks a year, $50 million," Cherry said. "They say, 'Why should he get that?' … He's the captain of the ship. He's the guy that's going to right this whole thing, I'll tell ya right now. … "Here's one thing that he's terrific at, he can bring — the Leafs right now have a lot of talent, they really do. But they don't have a team. He's one guy that can bring together the team like he did in the Olympics. I mean, he was fantastic the way he can do that. That's the one thing he can do. And he is going to be terrific. … "It's not going to be a walk in the park, let me tell you that. Like I told you before, he didn't take my advice, he grabbed the money and run. You know, 8 million bucks is tough to turn down. He's going to be great; he's going to be worth it." Yes, a week ago, in a long series of tweets, Cherry advised Babcock to stay with the Wings, remembering when he signed a big contract with the Colorado Rockies in 1979-80, lasted one season and never coached in the NHL again. "Yes I was the highest-paid coach in the world but maybe the unhappiest." Cherry tweeted. "Take my advice from a guy who has been there Mike. Don't take the money and run. Stay where you are. Believe me the grass is not greener." On second thought, Cherry said Babcock's situation in Toronto might be different. "He's going to run the ship," Cherry said Wednesday. "No way he's coming over here like I did in Colorado, and somebody else is going to tell him what to do. He'll work with everybody, but make no mistake, he's going to run the ship. … He's a winner, good for them, good for Shanahan." Another Canadian icon, Wayne Gretzky, also saluted Leafs president Brendan Shanahan's hiring of Babcock. "Obviously, it's exciting for the people in Toronto" the Great One told the Canadian Press. "You get a coach of that caliber that's got a Stanley Cup, a couple of Olympic gold medals, it's a really good acquisition for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm sure the people in Detroit are a little bit disappointed when you lose a guy of that caliber, but that's the way the business is now in sports. "I think he's really going to enjoy being in Toronto and I think he'll do a great job." Gretzky also said that Babcock is worth the big salary, which is more than all but two Leafs players make (captain Dion Phaneuf and All-Star forward Phil Kessel).

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"We have to understand the importance and the imperative of what a coach brings to the table," Gretzky said. "Is he worth what the best player on your team makes? Obviously, in this case, the Toronto Maple Leafs feel that they need to get a coach of that caliber that is worth as much as probably their highest-paid players make. That's just the way it's going to be. In sports, it's always been like that, and it's never going to change. … "That's just capitalism. That's just the way life is. In professional sports, the dollars keep rising." Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Jeff Blashill wants to be Red Wings' next coach Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News 9:46 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Jeff Blashill is ready to make the jump to the NHL. Blashill, the Red Wings' minor league affiliate head coach in Grand Rapids told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids after Thursday's practice at Van Andel Arena coaching the Red Wings has been a career goal. "I would like to be the next head coach of the Detroit Red Wings," Blashill said after the Griffins completed practice for their Western Conference Final series opener Sunday in Utica, New York. "That is an ultimate goal of mine." An opening on the Red Wings bench was created Wednesday when Mike Babcock left to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. Blashill, 41, spent one year as Babcock's assistant before coaching the last three seasons in Grand Rapids, including coaching the Griffins to the AHL championship in 2013. General manager Ken Holland said Wednesday he plans to meet with Blashill next week and considers Blashill a leading candidate for the vacant position. "I really want to keep our focus on this playoff series versus Utica," Blashill texted The Detroit News on Thursday evening. "I look forward to speaking with Ken next week but right now my singular focus is game one Sunday." Holland likes Blashill's track record of winning in junior hockey, Western Michigan and Grand Rapids. "He seems to have something, he wins wherever he goes," Holland said. "He wins. Why does he win? When I look at Mike Babcock, I see similarities in Jeff. Making players accountable. A tremendous work ethic. Passion. Having a plan. He has experience. "He's certainly a leading candidate. I haven't made a final decision. I need to spend some time with him." Detroit News LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Dylan Larkin to leave Michigan, join Wings Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News 4:44 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Detroit – Either way, the Red Wings felt Dylan Larkin was going to be fine – staying at Michigan or turning pro and joining Detroit's organization. Larkin, the Red Wings' first-round pick last June, No. 15 overall, chose the Red Wings Thursday, signing a three-year entry-level contract beginning next season. But Larkin also signed an amateur tryout, enabling him to join the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins start the AHL Western Conference finals against the Utica (N.Y.) Comets on Sunday. "What was impressive during this process was the time Dylan took to process all of his information and come to a decision," said Ryan Martin, the Red Wings' assistant general manager. "He spoke with members of our organization, people at Michigan, took all the information, and came to a decision. "We felt good about either option for Dylan. He was in a great situation at Michigan with a lot of things to achieve, and also we feel good about our development of young players in our organization." Larkin, 18, a Waterford native, competed in the recent men's world championships in Prague, where he had one assist while playing in all 10 games for the bronze-medal winning USA team. He was the second-youngest player on the roster. "He fared very well," Martin said. "He was competing against players who were in the NHL just a month before, and did real well." Larkin had seven points (five goals, two assists) in five games at the world junior championships in January, playing against his own age group. Dylan Larkin A 6-foot, 172-pound center, Larkin had 47 points (15 goals, 32 assists) in 35 games at Michigan this past season as a freshman. "My year at Michigan has been the best year of my life, the most fun year of hockey I've ever had," Larkin said. "Going to one of the best universities in the world and having fun with my classmates, it will be tough missing out on what they're going to accomplish. On the other note, I have a chance to live out the dream of my life and I'm really excited about it. I think it's a great opportunity. I really feel like I'm ready for this challenge." Larkin ranked 11th nationally in scoring, second among freshman behind only Boston University's Jack Eichel, who probably will be the second overall pick in next month's entry draft. Larkin projects as a first- or second-line scoring center. He isn't shy about taking the puck to the net and he is a good playmaker. "Definitely a top-six center who can play in all situations," Martin said.

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Larkin will get tested early, jumping into the AHL playoffs this weekend. "This will be a great opportunity and challenge for Dylan," Martin said. During his only season at Michigan, Larkin was named first-team All-Big Ten -- as well as conference Freshman of the Year -- and second-team All-American. "Dylan proved to be one of most talented players in college hockey," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "We knew this was a tough decision for Dylan but we also anticipated that this might happen. I hope that Dylan continues on a path to graduate from the university while preparing for a long career in the National Hockey League." Western Conference Finals Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Utica Comets (Games 5-7 if necessary. Grand Rapids home games at Van Andel Arena.) Game 1: Sun., May 24 – at Utica, 7:00 Game 2: Mon., May 25 – at Utica, 7:00 Game 3: Thu., May 28 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00 Game 4: Fri., May 29 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00 Game 5: Sun., May 31 – at Grand Rapids, 5:00 Game 6: Tue., June 2 – at Utica, 7:00 Game 7: Wed., June 3 – at Utica, 7:00 Detroit News LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Babcock: Leafs job about 'maximizing your potential' Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News 9:51 p.m. EDT May 21, 2015 Detroit — Mike Babcock preached patience but with big rewards in the end as he was introduced Thursday as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Babcock left the Red Wings after 10 seasons Wednesday, signing an eight-year contract worth $50 million with the Maple Leafs. He was formally introduced Thursday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto by Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan in what some observers called an "electric" atmosphere. Interestingly, there was just as much talk by Babcock about an expected rough period record-wise starting out, as there was Stanley Cups. "I'm thrilled to be here," said Babcock. "Felt like I was 25 years old, scared to death, but excited about the opportunity. "I always think, 'What's the message for your kids?' We've been going through our whole life trying to be the best that we can be. Maybe it's time for another opportunity." "It's exhilarating. It's maximizing your potential. They've made a long-term commitment and I've made a long-term commitment to the Maple Leafs and our plan is grow the team. "We have good people here, we'll acquire good people, and we'll make them better." Babcock thanked Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, general manager Ken Holland and the players "for 10 unbelievable years. It was a very special time." Babcock said leaving Detroit was a "hard decision." He said he met one final time with Holland on Wednesday morning. "It was very emotional," Babcock said. "I had to get the Kleenex box out when I sat in his office." He added: "(Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Niklas) Kronwall dragged me around for 10 years, so I'm forever indebted to those guys. I'm really proud that over 10 years in Detroit we helped players get better. We have five coaches, if not right now then shortly (the Red Wings are expected to promote Jeff Blashill from Grand Rapids) that are (or have been) coaches in the NHL." The Maple Leafs (30-44-8, 68 points) finished 31 points out of the playoffs and their prospects appear slim of making the postseason in 2016. But Babcock is comfortable with the process of building the Maple Leafs beyond just a playoff contender. "This is a great city, unbelievable fans, and it's the Maple Leafs, I'm proud to be here," said Babcock. "It's going to be a long one journey, but it'll be a lot of fun."

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Shanahan met with Babcock after the Red Wings gave Babcock permission to meet with teams earlier this month. The two met again in Prague during the world championships, where Shanahan's sales pitch struck home with Babcock. "Mike's questions for me were, 'Do we have the ability as a city and organization to go through the hard times?'" Shanahan said. "There was no last-minute change or swooping in with a new idea or financial pitch." As for the huge contract, Babcock said he drives a Ford F-150 and will continue to do so. "They've (Leafs ownership) made a long-term commitment to me and they're committed to the process," Babcock said. "We understand what the process is and what you'll have to do to make it happen." Detroit News LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Dylan Larkin jumps into mix with Griffins; 'We believe he can help right now' Peter J. Wallner | pwallner@mlive.com By Peter J. Wallner | pwallner@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 5:51 PM, updated May 21, 2015 at 10:39 PM GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Dylan Larkin will get a shot right away to show what he can do as a pro with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Larkin is expected to practice with the team in New York on Saturday and debut against Utica on Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference finals, coach Jeff Blashill said. "I've had a chance to see Dylan a little bit in the college season and in the World Championships and we believe he can help our team right now," Blashill said Thursday shortly after the announcement the 15th overall pick in the draft last year would turn pro. "He just needs to be a good piece of the puzzle and we think he can be that. So we'll see. How much he gets used will be determined by his effectiveness. But we're going to give him an opportunity to have an impact starting at practice Saturday." Larkin, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound center, will likely be paired with Andreas Athanasiou a flex center-winger, Blashill said. "That is probably what we'll do (putting those two together) and then we'll see on who else," he said. The Griffins leave Friday morning for a 12-hour bus trip to Utica. They will practice Saturday at Utica Memorial Auditorium ahead of Sunday's first game against the Comets, the conference's top seed. They also play in Utica on Monday before returning to Grand Rapids where games three through five are scheduled beginning Thursday. The 18-year-old Larkin opted to forego three remaining years of eligibility at Michigan to turn pro. He had 15 goals and 47 points this season and was the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year. The Waterford native also played on the in the just-completed International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship. He had one assist and six penalty minutes in 10 games as the U.S. took the bronze medal. Larkin also participated in the IIHF World Junior Championship earlier this season, where he tied for the tournament lead with five goals in five games. "I do feel I'm ready," Larkin said after the announcement about turning pro. "I'm excited to head to Grand Rapids and watch and see if I can work to play. If not, I'll just take it all in and see how pro hockey is." The Griffins have already had one newcomer make a significant postseason impact in 20-year-old Tyler Bertuzzi. The left winger joined the team with two games left in the regular season and has posted six goals and nine points in eight postseason games. Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Mike Babcock links: 'Crushing blow' leaves Sabres 'livid' over decision to go to Toronto Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com By Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 4:44 PM, updated May 21, 2015 at 4:45 PM It should come as no surprise the Buffalo Sabres weren't happy with what transpired Wednesday during their pursuit of former Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. It appeared as if the Sabres were going to land the most sought-after free agent in the NHL this season before the Toronto Maple Leafs swept in and signed Babcock to a staggering contract that could be worth as much as $50 million over eight years. It didn't go over well with some people, including the Sabres brass, according to Buffalo News writer Tim Graham, who tweeted "Sabres livid for way Babcock handled past few days. Sabres so confident he was coming that they were prepared for Monday news conference." What else is being said about Babcock rejecting the Sabres? We're glad you asked. • Buffalo News: Sabres owner Terry Pegula also owns the Buffalo Bills and made a splash last winter by signing Rex Ryan as his new football coach, creating optimism he'd get Babcock too, writes Jerry Sullivan. "It was a stunning development, you must admit. The hockey world had Babcock virtually signed, sealed and delivered to Buffalo late Tuesday night. All that remained was for Babcock to wake up Wednesday and tell the world he was doing what was best for his family. He was going to work for Terry Pegula. Then came the shocking reversal. Just when you thought Pegula was going to win another fight with Toronto, Babcock jumped over the border. He picked a major metropolis over a city where people get excited when there are two or three cranes rising over the downtown landscape. This was a crushing blow for Pegula and Co." • Buffalo News: Failing to land Babcock might not be such a bad thing after all, writes Mike Harrington. "Woe is us? Woe, Sabres? No way. At this stage in the Sabres' history, they need a coach committed to The Plan. That means growing with the likes of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen and, yes, even Nikita Zadorov and his wonky alarm clock. Exactly what the Sabres don't need is a guy who came here only for the money. A coach who comes here just to make a financial statement to his old boss and for coaches around the league is not my idea of what the Sabres are looking for right now. This is not a massive defeat for the Sabres at all. They went head-long into a big-money derby and, by any measure, did all they could to get Babcock. You offer to make someone the highest-paid coach in NHL history and he doesn't come, that's on him. You did all you could." • Sportsnet.ca: Losing Babcock was another kick in the pants to the Sabres after they finished second in the NHL draft lottery but that's life, writes Elliotte Friedman. "Yes, the Sabres were leveraged. That's business. Yes, they lost out on Babcock weeks after losing the lottery. That's bad luck. Yes, Babcock wanted Toronto over Buffalo. It happens. But get over it and move on. Do you want a long-term relationship with

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someone who doesn't really love you? It's hard enough when someone actually does love you. This is not the end of the world. Did you see Jack Eichel at the World Championship? Against some long-time pros on a bigger ice surface, the guy looked pretty good. People are going to want to coach that guy. People are going to want to coach for an owner who is willing to spend when the time comes." • ESPN.com: The Sabres were the big losers in the Babcock sweepstakes, writes Pierre LeBrun. "I feel bad for Buffalo in all this. The Sabres were aggressive in their pursuit, made two different offers and now find themselves losers not only on the Babcock front but also in the draft lottery, where they missed on the chance to take Connor McDavid (although Jack Eichel will be a heck of a player). That's a sports town that's taken many hits over the years and it just took another massive one. I mean, the Sabres could have lived with seeing Babcock staying in Detroit. But to go down the highway to Toronto? Ouch. I really felt all along that if Babcock left Detroit -- and I wasn't sure he would -- that he would go to Buffalo, because the money would be good there and the team is ahead of the Leafs in terms of its rebuild." • WKBW.com: The reason Babcock chose Toronto might have come down to more than money, reporter Shawn Stepner said in a tweet that suggests the Sabres were offering basically the same deal. League source tells me #Sabres thought they had deal in principle w/ Babcock 2 days ago around same term/dollars as Leafs. Maybe even 9 yrs. Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Red Wings draft pick Dylan Larkin confident he's ready to begin professional hockey career Justin P. Hicks | jhicks3@mlive.com By Justin P. Hicks | jhicks3@mlive.com Email the author | on May 21, 2015 at 4:30 PM ANN ARBOR – A lot went into Dylan Larkin's decision to forgo the three remaining years of his collegiate hockey career and begin his climb through the professional ranks. Most of all, it was a question of whether he felt his game was ready for the next level. "I do feel I'm ready," Larkin said Thursday after deciding to join the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout contract. "I'm excited to head to Grand Rapids and watch and see if I can work to play. If not, I'll just take it all in and see how pro hockey is." Larkin, who turns 19 in July, will be eligible to play in the Western Conference finals Sunday against the Utica Comets. The Griffins are the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, who selected Larkin with the 15th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. By signing a contract with Grand Rapids, Larkin will no longer be eligible to compete in the NCAA. In his lone collegiate season, Larkin recorded 47 points (15G, 32A) and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The former Wolverine said he's received support from his Michigan teammates and coaching staff. "I talked to my teammates a lot, and that was one of the biggest things for me," Larkin said. "Obviously they're my best friends and they all support me, which is huge. That means a lot. The coaches have been great, and they seem pretty understanding. "I thank those guys for the best year of my life playing at Michigan." Michigan head coach Red Berenson spoke highly of Larkin throughout the season and knew he might lose his freshman center. "In Dylan's year with Michigan, he proved to be one of the most talented players in college hockey," Berenson said in a press release. "We knew this was a tough decision for Dylan but we also anticipated that this might happen." Larkin was enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts as an undeclared major. He plans to return to Michigan after his playing career to complete his education, much like Mike Komisarek did in January. Komisarek returned to Ann Arbor after an 11-year NHL career to finish earning his degree while helping the hockey program as an undergraduate assistant. Larkin becomes the second player from the 2014-15 Michigan team to sign a professional contract. He follows junior captain Andrew Copp, who signed a three-year, two-way, entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets.

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"Just like playing college, you play against past teammates and you always have special bonds with them," Larkin said. "Whether it's going out before games or going out to dinner after or just seeing each other at the rink, we'll always be friends and I'm excited to see how well Andrew is doing at the next level." Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Detroit Red Wings' high-end prospect Dylan Larkin turns pro, will join Grand Rapids for AHL playoffs Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com By Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 3:19 PM, updated May 21, 2015 at 5:36 PM DETROIT – Dylan Larkin needed just one year of college at Michigan to determine he is prepared for professional hockey. The Detroit Red Wings agree. The Red Wings on Thursday signed Larkin, a two-way center from Waterford, to a three-year entry-level contract. He will launch his professional career with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday in their AHL Western Conference finals opener against Utica, playing on an ATO (amateur tryout contract). Larkin, who turns 19 on July 30, is regarded as the organization's top prospect. He was selected 15th overall in the 2014 entry draft, the Red Wings' highest pick since 1991. "He's a terrific young prospect. We were fortunate to get him at 15 in the draft," Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin said. "When the season ended at Michigan, Dylan expressed some interest in turning pro. Our message to Dylan was it was his decision. There were positives of turning pro and returning to Michigan. He decided he was ready to turn pro and we support him in his decision." Larkin, following the Griffins' playoff run, will participate in the Red Wings development camp in July and the Prospects Tournament in September, both events in Traverse City. Then he'll compete for a spot on the NHL roster in training camp. If he doesn't earn it, he'll go to Grand Rapids. Larkin (6-1, 195) was the unanimous winner of the Big Ten's freshman of the year award. He led the conference's first-year players in goals (15), assists (32) and points (47) while appearing in 35 games. He flourished in the World Junior Championships, where he led Team USA in goals (five), points (seven) and plus-minus (plus-7). He had only one point (an assist) in 10 games at the recent World Championships in the Czech Republic but did well to even make the roster, as few college players are selected to play against men, many of them established NHL players, in that event. "Since the time we drafted him through Lake Placid (the World Junior camp last summer) and the World Juniors, and it continued at Michigan, there continued to be an upward trend in his development and his impact in the game," Martin said. "He's embraced a number of challenges since we drafted him and he's developed along the way." Martin described Larkin as a complete player, who does a lot of good things and plays a 200-foot game.

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"He competes in all three zones," Martin said. "He's a good skater, he's responsible defensively, he's productive on offense. He's reliable and can produce at both ends of the ice. "He had a very big role with the U.S. at the World Juniors. To play against men at the World Championships, he represented himself well." Like all young players, Larkin needs to gain strength before competing against NHL players. "He has decent strength but he's still 18," Martin said. "He's going from the college to the pro game against men." The Red Wings will be keeping a close eye on Larkin's play with the Griffins over the next couple of weeks – maybe longer. "The AHL I think is the second-best league in the world. The coaches plan on playing him," Martin said. "He's going to embrace it. It'll be a barometer of where he needs to be coming into training camp and competing for a spot on the big club." General manager Ken Holland said two weeks ago he doesn't believe in guaranteeing roster spots to prospects. "It's competition (in training camp)," Holland said. "If you don't win that competition you go to Grand Rapids." Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Mike Babcock embraces challenge of making Maple Leafs relevant, grateful for time with Red Wings Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com By Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 1:48 PM, updated May 21, 2015 at 2:13 PM Mike Babcock is invigorated by change. He embraces the massive challenge of making the moribund Toronto Maple Leafs relevant again. He appreciates the record-setting financial commitment hockey's most valuable franchise made to him. Only he knows how difficult a decision it was to leave the Detroit Red Wings after 10 years. He touched on it Thursday during a news conference at the Air Canada Centre introducing him as coach of the Maple Leafs. He talked specifically about his final meeting Tuesday morning in general manager Ken Holland's office at Joe Louis Arena. "Ken Holland is a great man and a good friend of mine," Babcock said. "It was very emotional. I had to get the Kleenex box out when I sat in his office because of what he's done for me. "I was believer in Ken; I'm a believer in Shanny. Now we got to build a relationship over time." Leafs president Brendan Shanahan made an aggressive pitch to lure Babcock from the time he was granted permission to speak with other clubs two weeks ago. He landed him with an eight-year, $50 million contract. The Red Wings weren't prepared to even come close to matching it, offering five years at $20 million. Babcock thanked the Ilitch family, Holland and the organization for "10 unbelievable years" and the opportunity for his family (three kids) to grow up in one city, calling it a very special time. "I'm very respectful for Mr. I (owner Mike Ilitch) and Kenny for giving me that opportunity, but it was also trying to figure out what's best for Mike Babcock and his family for the next 10 years," Babcock said. "We just had an unbelievable run for 10 years, enjoyed ourselves. "I always think 'What's the message for your kids?' We've been going through our whole life trying to be the best that we can be, and maybe it's time for another opportunity. But the opportunity I had in Detroit and the relationship I had with Ken Holland and the Ilitch family and those players are a very, very emotional thing to say the least. This was a hard decision." Babcock said he's been around "great, great" people in Detroit, including former captains Steve Yzerman and Niklas Lidstrom as well as the current leadership group. "(Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Niklas) Kronwall, to be honest with you, packed me around for 10 years," Babcock said. "So I'm forever indebted to those guys." He added, "I'm really proud of the fact that over the 10 years in Detroit we helped players get better. I think we got five coaches, if not right now, then shortly (after the

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Red Wings promote Jeff Blashill) that are (or have been head) coaches in the National Hockey League. We got Stevie and Jimmy Nill running teams (as GMs in Tampa Bay and Dallas, respectively). We got people all over. You develop people and you develop leadership." He is going from a winning culture – a model franchise that has qualified for the playoffs 24 consecutive seasons – to what many would describe as a dumpster fire. Toronto is a dysfunctional organization that has missed the postseason in nine of the past 10 years and has a roster with much dead weight. If he wanted a challenge, they don't come much greater. "This is a great, great city, unbelievable fans," Babcock said. "It's the Maple Leafs and I'm proud to be here and I'm looking forward to the process, the battle, the pain, the fun, the journey. It's going to be a long one. But it's going to be a lot of fun." As Atlantic Division rivals, he'll be coaching against the Red Wings four times a season. If all goes as planned, he'll be competing against Detroit for a playoff spot. "I never came here to make the playoffs. I came here to be involved in a Cup process," Babcock said. "I have a burning desire to win, but I also want to win in the end. I don't want to just get in the playoffs. We want to build a team off the ice and on the ice that the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs can be proud of. "Right now it's a hard spot. We're going to change that, but it's going to take time." Shanahan said he spoke to Babcock shortly after the Red Wings granted teams permission to contact him. They met at the World Championships in the Czech Republic a week later, where Shanahan made his pitch. "From the beginning I outlined our vision, from early in the process we outlined what we were prepared to do financially," Shanahan said. "We met again in Prague and I reiterated nothing changed. Mike's questions for me were do we have the ability as a city and an organization to sit through the hard times. "So there was no last-minute change or swooping in with a new idea or a new financial pitch. It was me just hammering the same thing back to Mike, which was brutal honesty." Babcock also spoke with the St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres thought they had an agreement as recently as Tuesday. Babcock indicated he didn't use the Sabres to leverage against the Maple Leafs. "In the end we went through the process and talked to lots of teams," Babcock said. "We made this decision to come to Toronto. I've had a lot of opportunity to coach Canada's teams and I enjoyed that. I believe this is Canada's team and we have to put Canada's team back on the map." Babcock said he and his wife are empty-nesters who will live in a downtown condo. He called Toronto a fantastic city and said he and his wife are excited to live downtown. "It's a new start for her and I, a different kind of life, without the young kids around, and Toronto presents that opportunity for us," Babcock said.

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He'll sleep well, after not sleeping much during this process. "I'm proud to be the coach of the Maple Leafs, excited to live in Toronto, excited to bring my family here," Babcock said. "I understand how hard it's going to be." Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Jeff Blashill 'determined' his interest in Red Wings job won't distract playoff run Peter J. Wallner | pwallner@mlive.com By Peter J. Wallner | pwallner@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 11:05 AM, updated May 21, 2015 at 12:02 PM GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Jeff Blashill's goal has been to coach the Detroit Red Wings but with the Calder Cup Playoffs ongoing, he said that won't be his focus until the day he interviews for the job. The Grand Rapids Griffins coach got a call from General Manager Ken Holland on Wednesday afternoon informing him the two would talk sometime next week, although no date was set, Blashill said. That was great news, he added, but Blashill was adamant his commitment is to the Griffins and their upcoming Western Conference finals series against Utica. "To be honest, my focus this morning is everything it is going to take to get ready for Sunday," he said Thursday, a day after Mike Babcock's decision to leave the Red Wings for Toronto. "Ken knows me and I know Ken and when we sit down, it will be good to talk. But, right now, my focus is on trying to get this team ready for Utica." Once Babcock's decision was known, attention to a successor immediately shifted to the 41-year-old Blashill, a former Red Wings assistant who since has led the Griffins to three consecutive playoff appearances and the AHL championship in 2013. "He's certainly a leading candidate," Holland said Wednesday. "I haven't made a final decision. I need to spend some time with him before I know anything." The Griffins practiced Thursday and will depart Friday morning for Utica. The first two games of the series will be Sunday and Monday. The team will return afterward and then play Game Three on Thursday at home. The two days in between would seem most likely for an interview. In the meantime, how can Blashill put the prospects of coaching the Red Wings aside? "I guess in some ways I can do that because I live in such a day-to-day world," he said. "The day I sit down and talk to Ken is the day I will be thinking about the Detroit job. Today, I'm thinking about practice and travel and what it's going to take to win Game One against Utica. That's just the reality of the way I look at it." Asked if it would have been easier if the Griffins weren't still playing, Blashill said, "The answer to that question is that I'm sure damn glad that we're still playing." Going forward, he said, "Right now the only comment I'm having on it is that Ken and I are going to sit down. Beyond that I will absolutely stop talking about it because I'm determined to make sure my focus and that of everyone around here is on Utica." Blashill expected to address the team at practice Thursday "on a number of things, and I'll mention it."

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"We have a special opportunity, and I believe in moments," he said of the playoffs, "and so let's not distract ourselves from doing everything we can to have a special moment." Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Red Wings who played for Jeff Blashill in Grand Rapids speak highly of their former coach Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com By Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com on May 21, 2015 at 6:06 AM, updated May 21, 2015 at 6:07 AM DETROIT – The list of candidates to replace Mike Babcock as the next coach of the Detroit Red Wings is a short one, according to general manager Ken Holland. Holland said he plans to speak with only two or three candidates before deciding who will get the job and Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill is considered to be the leading candidate. Blashill is no stranger to most of the players on the Red Wings roster. The veterans were around when Blashill was a Red Wings assistant coach in 2011-12 and the younger players know Blashill from his three seasons as coach of the Griffins, Detroit's top farm club. "He's a great coach," said Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar, who spent one season with Blashill in Grand Rapids. "He's a good talker. He can motivate the players. I feel like the system and how he's willing to play with the players is really good. "Players feel like they can talk to him. He's somebody who they can trust and feel good. He's really good with the players. I feel like the players can trust him. He's a really good coach." Blashill led the Griffins to the AHL championship in 2013, his first season in Grand Rapids. Tatar was the playoff MVP with 16 goals in 24 games and hasn't been back to the minors since. He led the Red Wings with 29 goals this season. Tomas Jurco was also on the Griffins' Calder Cup team, scoring 14 goals during 74 regular-season games and then adding eight more in the playoffs. He split the following season between Grand Rapids and Detroit before spending all of last season with the Red Wings. "I love Blash," Jurco said. "He just understands the game really well. He's a really good guy and you can talk to him and he understands you a person. Great guy, great coach, and I only have great memories of him." Blashill communicates well with players, according to Jurco. "Yeah, he's a really good talker and that's one of the best things about him," Jurco said. "Every time he showed me something it was like 'You are right. I can do it differently.' He just understands it so well. He knows what the players can do a little differently. "He's a great coach." Nobody on the Red Wings' playoff roster spent more time playing under Blashill in Grand Rapids than forward Landon Ferraro, who played 212 regular-season games with the Griffins the past three seasons.

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Ferraro was one of Grand Rapids' top players this season with 27 goals before joining the Red Wings at the end of the regular season and then appearing in all seven playoff games vs. Tampa Bay. He sees similarities between Blashill and Babcock. "Just the attention to detail I think is the biggest part," Ferraro said. "They both are really good hockey minds and they care and they want to make sure they give their teams everything to succeed on the ice. "With Blash, for him it's all about work and if you do your part, it's going to come together and you just got to make sure that happens and when we finally bought into that was his first year, it really turned our year around and it obviously ended up in a championship." Ferraro, the Red Wings' second-round choice (32nd overall) in the 2009 NHL draft, struggled as a rookie with the Griffins in 2011-12 before blossoming under Blashill the following season. He scored 24 goals during the Griffins' championship season but it was Ferraro's speed and defensive ability as much as anything that helped him land a spot on Detroit's playoff roster. Ferraro credited Blashill with helping him develop into a regular for the Red Wings during the playoffs. "He's taken me from a guy that had the tools to get here and get a chance to someone that's actually got here," Ferraro said. "(Blashill) made it clear that I wasn't going to make it right away as a scorer and I got to make sure I'm good defensively and I made a ton of strides with him working with me the last three years. "I owe a lot to him and it's been good. He's a guy I would pretty much do anything for. I trust him and he's got the respect of the all the guys in Grand Rapids." In Grand Rapids, Ferraro said Blashill knew the difference between handling younger players as opposed to veterans. "Some of the younger guys, he's harder on them," Ferraro said. "You kind of want to break that junior mold. You can be a really good goal scorer in junior but you get into the American League and guys are good. "He did it with Jurco. It took him until Christmas and then he turned it around and was a huge part of our team." Blashill, 41, is a former goaltender who played four seasons at Ferris State before spending the next three as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs. He spent six more seasons as an assistant at Miami (Ohio) University, led the USHL's Indiana Ice to a championship in the first of two seasons there and coached at Western Michigan for one year before being hired by Babcock. In three seasons with the Griffins, Blashill has a record of 134-71-23 (.638).

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This season, the Griffins won the Midwest Division championship with a 46-22-8 record and their 100 points were tied for the third-most in the 30-team AHL. They're in the Western Conference Finals. Blashill is a Michigan native who was born in Sault Ste. Marie. Michigan Live LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Babcock pledges to build Cup contender in Toronto By Chuck Pleiness, The Macomb Daily Posted: 05/21/15, 2:22 PM EDT | Updated: 24 secs ago DETROIT >> Mike Babcock has never minced words when it comes to his need to win. Now Babcock’s biggest desire will turn into what could be a very long process after he was officially named the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Thursday afternoon. “I never came here to make the playoffs,” Babcock said during his press conference. “I came here to be involved in a Cup process. That goes from scouting, to drafting, to development, to analytics, from putting an off-ice team together, putting an on-ice team together. “I love to win,” Babcock continued. “I have a burning desire to win, but I also want to win in the end. I don’t want to just get in the playoffs. We want to build a team that the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs can be proud of.” The Leafs, who have won 13 Stanley Cups, that last of which came in 1967, last made the playoffs in 2013, losing in the first round to the Boston Bruins in a heartbreaking Game 7. The last trip to the postseason prior to that was 2004. “When you win every day it becomes pretty safe for the players,” Babcock said. “Right now it’s a hard spot. It’s tough. We’re going to change that, but it’s going to take time. As a coach you’re in the day-to-day winning business. I’ve been in it a long time. On game day I’ll be short sighted for sure, but I’ve got a big picture in mind. But if you think there’s no pain coming … there’s pain coming.” The Leafs, who have the fifth and 24th overall picks in this year’s draft, finished 27th in the overall league standings last season. “Fear I think is a great thing,” Babcock said. “It’s about being alive. At 52 I’m not ready to die. I want to get on with it here. I made a long term commitment to the Leafs and our plan is to grow the team.” Babcock also became the highest paid coach – $50 million over eight years – in the NHL in the process. “The contract is simply a commitment from the Maple Leafs to success,” Babcock said. “They made a long-term commitment to me, so I understand totally they’re committed to the process.” All signs on Tuesday pointed to Babcock heading to Buffalo. That changed when Toronto and the Wings rejoined the process. “I talked to lots of teams,” Babcock said when asked if he used Buffalo to leverage his bargaining position with other teams. “When you’re talking to teams negotiating is in that

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process. The hardest thing for the media to do was to figure out where I was going because I had no idea where I was going. It was a hard decision. We changed our mind … not a change of mind we went back and forth so many times (about) the right thing was to do.” Detroit’s final offer to Babcock, who made $2 million last season, was $4 million for each of the next five seasons. The offer the Wing made prior to that was a four-year deal worth $3.25 million a season. “That lying word is an interesting word for me,” Babcock said when accused by a reporter of lying to the Sabres. “I’ve been in the public eye for a long, long time. I don’t think that goes anywhere near who I am or what I’m about. I’ve been real straightforward and honest in the process with all the teams I talked to and with my ownership. I just worked for 10 years in Detroit, as a head coach you don’t work in places for a long time unless you have good relationships and you treat people right. So that would be the end of that for me.” The Wings will get a third-round pick during the next three seasons as compensation for Babcock, whose contract was set to expire on June 30, signing with Toronto. “I embrace this opportunity of coaching the Maple Leafs,” Babcock said. “I came here with my eyes open and I understand totally what’s going on. I went through a process of I don’t know how many days to figure this out. In the end I made the right decision and I’m excited about it.” Babcock’s the only coach to have guided a team to the playoffs every season of the salary-cap era. However, the Wings have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in three of the last four seasons and haven’t made it out of the second round of the playoffs since losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final in the 2008-09 season, the year after Babcock won his only Cup in Detroit. Macomb Daily LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Dylan Larkin to leave Michigan, sign contract with Red Wings KEITH GAVE FOX Sports Detroit MAY 21, 2015 3:54p ET The Red Wings' top prospect is turning pro. After a successful season at the University of Michigan and a strong performance with the Bronze Medal-winning Team USA at the recent World Hockey Championships, Dylan Larkin has agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Wings and will begin his professional career soon with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Larkin, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-shot center from Waterford Township, was Detroit's first pick 15th overall, in last year's NHL Entry Draft. He had 15 goals among 47 points in 35 games, earning the Big Ten conference's Freshman of the Year honors. He also earned First Team All-Big Ten honors as well as making the All-Big Tem Rookie Team. He drew rave reviews from NHL scouts and Wings executives for his play in the Worlds, which concluded Sunday in Prague, Czech Republic. The Griffins continue their pursuit of their second Calder Cup trophy in three years in a showdown with Utica (New York) in the AHL's Western Conference finals. That best-of-seven series begins Sunday at Utica. foxsports.com LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Gave: Babcock, Leafs in for rude awakening KEITH GAVE FOX Sports Detroit MAY 21, 2015 2:14p ET Mike Babcock was introduced Thursday as the new coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Maureen and Mike Babcock are packing up their decade-old household in suburban Detroit and moving it to Toronto, and with their kids grown and moved away, they go as empty-nesters. That's probably just as well, because family life in their new surroundings is about to get a lot more interesting. And difficult. Babcock was introduced Thursday as the new coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs -- the Mt. Everest of the NHL coaching landscape -- spurning an offer from Detroit and a richer one from Buffalo for a deal worth $50 million over eight years. He's being paid an unprecedented fortune to lead a team that has qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs once in the last 10 seasons, losing in the first round. It's a team even its executives say is several years from serious Cup contention, a franchise that's being rebuilt from the ground up with a new coach, a new scouting staff and a lot of new players -- if they can dump some underachieving and overpaid so-called stars. "Mike Babcock is a rich, rich man, but I don't think he'll be a very happy man in Toronto," said an NHL executive. "He and his wife will not be able to go into a restaurant in Toronto without being mobbed -- by the hostess, the waiter and the people at the next table. He won't be able to walk down a street without people saying something." At first, that might not be so bad. Mike Babcock has no shortage of ego, and egos like to be stroked. He'll be getting high-fives from strangers. Everyone will be congratulating him, wishing him well, encouraging him. Then the puck drops and the Leafs will have to play the games. "The team is really bad, and he's behind the bench," the NHL executive said, "and they'll all turn against him." It's happened to some awfully good coaches and very fine men -- Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice, Ron Wilson and Randy Carlyle -- in these last 10 fruitless seasons in Toronto. Carlyle was fired in his third season in Toronto. For him, and especially his wife, it was a merciful ending. Players love Blashill In Jeff Blashill, the Red Wings would have a coach whose players would throw themselves in front an oncoming bus to protect him.

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"We're talking about a really fine guy here, and he got so much criticism," the NHL executive said. "There was so much negativity. Even his wife got abused, verbally abused, wherever she went. People, they'll say (expletive)." And if the Babcock kids were still in school, they'd get similar treatment there, too. It's Toronto, and these are its "fans." The media can be worse. A postgame news conference can quickly turn into a feeding frenzy -- reporters using their pens, cameras and microphones like weapons as they compete with one another for headlines. Maurice once likened dealing with reporters there to "a drive-by shooting." This is what awaits Babcock, who's has shown little patience or regard for the rather passive and largely supportive Detroit media market. "Mike Babcock doesn't play. He doesn't score goals," the NHL executive said, "and if you don't have good players in this league, you're not going to be a good coach." People around the NHL also are a bit curious to see how things unfold in Toronto, with a coach who doesn't always play particularly well with others on the management side of the operation, which the Leafs are soon to find out. That should be a rude awakening for first-year Leafs President Brendan Shanahan, the former Wings star who played for Babcock one season before retiring to an executive position in the NHL. The Leafs are without general manager. But that, essentially, is the role Shanahan is filling regardless of titles. He has a couple of front-office hockey assistants and seems to be in the market for someone he might call a general manager. In the end, however, the major hockey decisions are his. Or are they? Early on in his tenure in Toronto, Shanahan has established himself as an executive who likes to have a lot of hockey people around him, gather their ideas and run things by committee. That's perceived by some long-time NHL front-office operatives as a lack of confidence. "There has to be one boss in our business," the NHL executive said. "That's the only way it really works. And they're really going to be in for a huge surprise there in Toronto, because Mike Babcock doesn't like operating by committee. "All those guys under Brendan who are used to giving their opinions are going to find out real quick that the only opinion that's going to count is Mike's -- and now that they've given him all this money, they can do (nothing) about it." Shanahan has four years left on his contract at $2.5 million per year. The owners just signed Babcock for twice that long and five times the money. "Who do you think the owners are going to listen to? They're going to say, "You're the man, Mike," the NHL executive said. "It's going to be very interesting, to say the least." foxsports.com LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Babcock: Returning Leafs to prominence will be 'massive challenge' AP MAY 21, 2015 1:54p ET TORONTO -- Brendan Shanahan's first conversation with Mike Babcock about the Toronto Maple Leafs' coaching position was more of a disclaimer than a sales pitch. The club president wanted Babcock to know how far away the Leafs are from being a winning team. Babcock wasn't scared off. The most sought-after free-agent coach in the NHL could have stayed with the Detroit Red Wings or picked the up-and-coming Buffalo Sabres, who pitched a deal that wasn't far off the $50 million and eight years he got from the Maple Leafs. Just embarking on a rebuild, Toronto represented the Mount Everest of coaching challenges. Babcock couldn't resist the climb. "When people were talking about him during this process that why would he take on a challenge this big, my view was that was not our greatest weakness," Shanahan said Thursday. "It was potentially our greatest strength, just in knowing the man, that our mountain was the biggest, that we were starting behind the others, that he was coming in at the ground floor." The 52-year-old Babcock already overcame his own fear to win gold for Canada at the world junior championship, world championship and twice at the Olympics, including in 2010 on home ice in Vancouver. He took a "leap of faith" to join the Red Wings 10 years ago and won a Stanley Cup. But trying to build the Leafs from perennial losers into Stanley Cup contenders is far and away his biggest undertaking. "I've had a lot of opportunity to coach Canada's teams and enjoyed that immensely," Babcock said. "Whether you believe it or not, I believe this is Canada's team and we need to put Canada's team back on the map." Stanley Cup playoffs The Leafs have missed the playoffs nine of the past 10 seasons, and Babcock predicted "there's going to be pain" in the near future. Saying he took the job with "eyes wide open," the allure of coaching in hockey's biggest market and being part of a full-scale process made it worth the upcoming suffering. "Lots of teams we talked to were set up better," Babcock said. "But they weren't the Maple Leafs and they weren't in this city." Babcock narrowed his pool of suitors to the Leafs, Sabres and Red Wings before finally deciding Wednesday.

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Television stations filmed the plane's arrival at the airport, and his image was plastered on the video screen outside Air Canada Centre with the message: "Welcome to Toronto, Mike." Media members and MLSE employees packed the concourse for his introduction as some fans looked through the glass from the street trying to catch a glimpse of the Leafs' next big hope. Inside, there were no mentions of the franchise's Cup drought that dates to 1967 or any promises that it would end soon, only talk of the long-term plan set forth by Shanahan last month when he fired general manager Dave Nonis. After expressing frustration recently that the Red Wings were too good for too long to build up young talent needed for a championship run, Babcock insisted he's all-in with the Leafs. "I never came here to make the playoffs, I came here to be involved in a Cup process," said Babcock, who managed to talk up his skills without seeming full of himself. "I have a burning desire to win. But I also want to win in the end." Babcock hasn't won it all in the NHL since lifting the Cup with Detroit in 2008, and that organization's success started with GM Ken Holland and pre-dated his coaching. If the Leafs manage to tear down, build back up and get the job done, Babcock's fingerprints will be all over it. "I look forward to the process, the battle, the pain, the fun, the journey," said Babcock, who brushed off the fame that would come with bringing a title to Toronto. "It's going to be a long one, but it's going to be a lot of fun." Losing at first may not be a lot of fun, with or without captain Dion Phaneuf, star winger Phil Kessel or other pieces of the Leafs' core who seemed to be ticketed for offseason trades. The Leafs finished second-last in the Eastern Conference with 68 points this past season, a year after collapsing late to miss the playoffs and two years removed from a memorable Game 7 collapse in the first round. Those failures led Shanahan to fire Nonis, coaches Randy Carlyle and Peter Horachek, several assistants and many scouts and lay out a multiyear plan. It's his hope having Babcock behind the bench can help build a foundation of winning for young players like defenseman Morgan Rielly, center Nazem Kadri and prospect William Nylander. Before Babcock gets his chance to coach them, Shanahan said he'll hire a GM "if" one fits, leaving the door open that assistants Mark Hunter or Kyle Dubas could get the job. Whoever is making roster moves will be doing them with an eye on the future. Babcock could have won now with the St. Louis Blues or perhaps sooner with the Sabres or Red Wings, but made sure in talks with Shanahan and ownership that the Leafs were committed to winning the right way. "Let's stick to the plan," Babcock said. "You get impatient. Don't get impatient. It's going to take a long time." foxsports.com LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Players love Blashill; Holland loves that he wins KEITH GAVE FOX Sports Detroit MAY 21, 2015 12:34p ET Jeff Blashill was Coach of the Year in the American Hockey League last season, and now has his team in the Western Conference finals. In Jeff Blashill, the Red Wings would have a coach whose players would throw themselves in front an oncoming bus to protect him. In the departed Mike Babcock, they had a coach whom players often wanted to push into the path of a bus. Not that it makes a damned bit of difference when it the puck drops and winning is on the line. It's just to suggest that coaches often have dramatically different ways to motivate their players. And as different as their demeanors might be, Blashill, like Babcock, is a proven winner behind the bench. And that's why the Wings are unlikely to consider anyone else after general manager Ken Holland sits down with Blashill to talk about a little vacancy in Detroit. It should be a short conversation. Blashill is the guy the Wings have been grooming for an NHL gig, and this is the dream job for a made-in Detroit guy, the son of a former police officer. Money won't be an issue when the Wings tear up his $400,000 annual contract and multiply it by three or four times in a deal likely to be worth in the neighborhood of $5 million to $6 million over three years. That's a fair wage for an entry-level NHL coach, even considering Babcock's front-loaded deal worth a reported $5 million over eight years. Todd McLellan, the former Babcock assistant in Detroit who went on to coach San Jose, signed on with Edmonton for $3 million a year -- which for a day made him the highest-paid coach in the NHL. But this is less about money and more about continuing a legacy of winning in Detroit. That's something Babcock contributed greatly to in the decade he served the Wings -- though Detroit fans would have liked to see his team win a few more playoff series. Holland likes his club's chances with Blashill. Why? "First off, he seems to have something. He wins wherever he goes," Holland said, mentioning how Blashill got a beleaguered Western Michigan team into the NCAA tournament by quickly rebuilding that program before coming to Detroit. "Prior to that, he won a championship in Indianapolis ... The first year we hired him as coach in Grand Rapids, they won the Calder Cup." Blashill was Coach of the Year in the American Hockey League last season, and now has his team in the Western Conference finals after two series wins. In the opening, best-of-five series this spring, his Griffins lost their first two games at Toronto, but responded with three straight victories to advance.

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What first caught Holland's eye about Blashill, though, was when he coached Detroit's kids in the Wings' annual Prospects Tournament in Traverse City. Gave: Thanks to Holland, Wings prepared for new era This whole Mike Babcock betrayal fiasco should stand as yet another indication that the Red Wings are in very good hands under GM Ken Holland. "It's now eight teams, and we never won that tournament," Holland said. "The first year we hired him as Grand Rapids coach, he coached our team and they won the tournament." As far as Blashill's credentials go, Holland said, "I think those are enough. You hire people and you make them accountable. He's got a work ethic. He's got a plan. He's coached before. He's got experience. "He wins." That's management talking. The players who grew up in Detroit's system and were developed under Blashill are even more effusive in their praise. "I love Blash," said winger Tomas Jurco, who struggled this season and needs a bounce-back year to establish himself on the Detroit roster. "He understands the game really well. He's a really good guy, and you can talk to him and he understands you as a person. Great guy. Great coach." Tomas Tatar, the leading goal-scorer on the Calder Cup team a few years ago, agreed. "He's a good talker. He can motivate the players," Tatar said of Blashill. "I feel like the system and how he's willing to play with the players is really good. Players feel like they can talk to him. He's somebody who they can trust and feel good (about)." Winger Landon Ferraro, who made an immediate impact as an energy-line winger with Luke Glendening and Drew Miller after a late-season call-up, goes even further. Ferraro says he owes whatever NHL career he'll have to Jeff Blashill. "For me, Blash has been huge," said Ferraro. "He's taken me from a guy that had the tools to get here and get a chance to someone that's actually gotten here. "He made it clear that I wasn't going to make it right away as a scorer, and that I've got to make sure I'm good defensively. I made a ton of strides with him working with me the last three years, and I owe a lot to him. He's a guy I would pretty much do anything for. I trust him, and he's got the respect of all the guys in Grand Rapids." The Detroit roster is loaded with players -- 14 of them regulars on the roster this season -- who were groomed under Blashill. If he can establish the same kind of rapport and trust with the veterans in the Wings' locker room -- and there's nothing on his resume to suggest he cannot -- then this should be a seamless transition from one coach to another. foxsports.com LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Sportsnet.ca / Babcock: Blashill will be next Red Wings coach EMILY SADLER MAY 21, 2015, 7:21 PM While all eyes in Toronto are focused on welcoming Mike Babcock as the new head coach of the Maple Leafs, those in Detroit are eying the empty office he leaves behind. But it won’t be vacant for long. One name that’s been circulating ever since the beginning of #BabWatch is Jeff Blashill, the head coach of Detroit’s AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. According to Babcock himself, Blashill is the right man for the job. “We had a great run,” Babcock said of his 10 years in Detroit during an appearance on Prime Time Sports. “But what we did is we developed people. Steve Yzerman and Pat Verbeek are in Tampa, Jimmy Nill’s in Dallas, Todd McLellan’s in Edmonton, Paul MacLean was in Ottawa, Bill Peters in Carolina, [Jeff] Blashill’s going to be the next coach of the Wings... “These people came to Detroit and they got better. And the players got better. And we developed talent, and we made better men." Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has made no secret of the fact that Blashill's at the top of the organization's short list of candidates. “He’s the leading candidate," Holland told Bob McCown and Ken Reid on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. "Mike and I are very high on Blashill. He’s the leading candidate. I believe in loyalty." KEN HOLLAND ON BABCOCK'S COMMENT THAT JEFF BLASHILL BEING DRW'S NEXT HEAD COACH: "HE'S A LEADING CANDIDATE. I'LL MEET WITH BLASH NEXT WEEK." — JOHN SHANNON (@JSPORTSNET) MAY 21, 2015 "He will be the first person I talk to," Holland added. "I’ll talk to (Jeff) Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Based on the conversation, I’ll decide my next move. Certainly there’s no doubt he’s the leading candidate but no final decisions until Grand Rapids' season is over." It certainly works to Blashill's credit that he's already familiar with not just the organization, but the players, having worked with and developed many of the young talent on the Red Wings' roster. He was also Babcock's assistant coach in 2011-12. The 41-year-old Blashill is highly regarded as an up-and-coming head coach in the NHL, and was even contacted by some NHL teams a year ago before the Red Wings re-upped his contract for another three years. "I want to be the next head coach of the Detroit Red Wings," Blashill told the Detroit Free Press Thursday. "An ultimate goal of mine was to become an NHL head coach; obviously, within this organization, it's a great organization to be part of."

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Blashill won the Calder Cup with the Griffins (2013) and was named the AHL's Coach of the Year (2014). Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 05.22.2015

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Sportsnet.ca / Holland: Red Wings’ offer to Babcock was fair JEFF SIMMONS MAY 21, 2015, 7:44 PM The Detroit Red Wings wanted to keep Mike Babcock as their head coach, but general manager Ken Holland said the club wasn’t willing to go as far as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ eight-year term. In an appearance on Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown and Ken Reid, Holland explained the Red Wings’ rationale. “I had offered Mike (Babcock) a four-year extension (last) June and (another) one this winter in January,” Holland said Thursday on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “When the season ended, we didn’t give him a (new) offer and he wanted permission to explore the market. “We told him our position,” said Holland. “(Mike) understood that we weren’t prepared to go any further. I was open to lesser (term)…We haven’t gone as far as we would’ve liked to (in the post-season). We had a disappointing loss to Tampa Bay and a disappointing loss to Chicago. Given we haven’t had as much playoff success, he understood what I could put on the table in terms of term, it was short in terms of what someone else could offer.” Babcock coached for 10 seasons in Detroit and developed an incredibly close relationship with Holland, but the Detroit general manager said he could only do what was best for the long-term health of the organization. “We put something that I felt was fair for the Detroit Red Wings. It’s the way I’ve done business for the last 18 years. Some people have left. Mike left in this case. (Sergei) Fedorov left…That’s my managerial style. I didn’t change. Ultimately Mike made a decision (to leave).” Holland said Detroit’s prior offers to Babcock would’ve made him the highest-paid coach in the NHL, but they were not close to Toronto in terms of overall cost. “Any time you’re trying to convince a happy employee (to leave), you got to wedge them out of there and show them that they’re important and part of that is term and salary,” he said of Toronto’s eight-year, $50-million offer to Babcock. “We felt our position, given all these things, was a position we felt good about.” As of now, Holland said Jeff Blashill, the head coach of Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids, is the leading candidate to replace Babcock. But he added that it will be tough to replace the kind of working relationship he developed with Babcock over the past decade, which included 10 playoff appearances, two gold medals for Team Canada and a Stanley Cup championship. “(Mike) got really emotional,” Holland said of their meeting on Tuesday before Babcock accepted Toronto’s offer on Wednesday. “He told me he thought there was a chance he would leave and I got emotional. I grabbed a Kleenex box on the table and we both started to laugh.”

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Ultimately, Holland understood that Babcock made a business decision and understands why Toronto, among other teams, were willing to go so far to lure one of the best coaches in the NHL. “”When he walks into a room, he’s got a presence,” said Holland. “He got a tremendous work ethic. He makes people accountable. He’s demanding. He makes people better. He’s got experience. He gathers information. He’s a tremendous net-worker. He was picking brains of those guys at the Olympics. It all adds up to a man who is tremendously prepared. He knows what the team needs to do. He knows how to get the most out of the players.” Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 05.22.2015