Abel to Yzerman
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All Uncle Mike
by IwoCPO on 06/25/09 at 11:45 AM ET
Comments (27)
He was ours first. That’s all I’m saying. Well, he was Anaheim’s first, but...you get the idea.
Canada’s got a new golden boy and his name’s Babcock. Feature stories are all over the place, and this one is better than most.
“We’re real fortunate in Detroit. We have a good family here with the Red Wings people. That’s what we’re about here. We have great people. We try to acquire great people and to me, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about integrity and trust. And if you have good people around you, you can get things done.”
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Comments
All hail Uncle Mike, you mean.
Awesome story. And the photos ... priceless.
Posted by Bella on 06/25/09 at 11:48 AM ET
“Remember when pick-up trucks used to have a bump in the middle with the gear shift on the floor? He’d stand on there and put his hands in the heat vents to hang on, with his blue snowsuit, one piece, with the hood up, tied under his chin and we’d catch the wolves on the road in the pass. He’d say, ‘Dad, get ‘em! Get ‘em!’ We’d hit the snowbank, jump out and shoot some wolves.”
YES
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 06/25/09 at 11:49 AM ET
10% of Babcock’s lexicon: “I’m a big believer in...”
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 06/25/09 at 11:59 AM ET
“The measure of me as a person isn’t going to be how many games I win in the NHL. It’s going to be what kind of family I raise, my wife and I. So to me, it’s all about family. And I’m always thinking about the 19 nieces and nephews I have back in the Hasek Club Car?.”
Posted by WingsFanInBeanLand from Earth. on 06/25/09 at 12:14 PM ET
WIFBL: It’s good to know he’s always thinking of us.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 06/25/09 at 02:58 PM ET
Great article.
“I’m a great believer in this. You don’t have the opportunity very often to be successful in your life unless your parents build a great foundation for you. And the only way you have to repay your parents for what they did for you is to do the same for your children. I’m a big believer in that.”
As a parent, I think that might be one of the most inspirational quotes I’ve ever read.
Uncle Mike is the man.
Posted by jennyquarx on 06/25/09 at 03:13 PM ET
Hey folks, long (long, long) time lurker from across The Pond
Well, if you want to be really pedantic he belonged to us here in Blighty first. I was reading the article posted here when I found this one in the sidebar about his days as a Whitley Warrior. I’m glad to see his time over here gets a mention and particularly that he remembers it so fondly. I could forgive him for erasing it from his memory entirely. It’s something that always fascinated me - what if he’d stayed over here and taken up the Head Coach position he was offered at Whitley or Solihull? Would he be just another minor coach long forgotten or would he still have found his way to the top?
P.S. The password for this comment was bri19tish. I find that remarkably coincidental.
P.P.S. Thanks for following the blog on Twitter, Chief. Hope you enjoyed our brief foray into the NHL for the Finals.
Posted by Mattski from Manchester, England on 06/25/09 at 04:48 PM ET
So me and Mike Babcock, Sr are both Mining Engineers. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.
Posted by Sullyosis from A hateful lair in Post Apocalyptic US (or Arizona) on 06/25/09 at 05:58 PM ET
Awesome character guy to be coaching the Wings.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 06/25/09 at 06:40 PM ET
Go pens!
Posted by Feelin' Fine on 06/26/09 at 10:22 AM ET
Am I the only one who’s starting to get a little jittery waiting for the next season to start? I’m surprised actually...after Gary Bettman’s Happy Ending left stains all over the NHL, I honestly thought I’d be done for awhile.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 06/26/09 at 05:01 PM ET
We need a celebration thread, Chief. Sasquatch is in Philly now.
Keep your head up, Sid!
Posted by EFWolverine from Dearborn on 06/26/09 at 06:46 PM ET
Keep your head up, Sid!
I think he should keep it down. Put your head down and skate Rosby!
Posted by monkey from Gary's World, setting fire to McCrimmon on 06/26/09 at 09:31 PM ET
And Detroit traded their 1st round pick to Tampa Bay…
Tick Tock…
Posted by mrfluffy from Cincy on 06/26/09 at 09:49 PM ET
Scotty speaks french?
He coached in Montreal for all those years. You’d think that he’d have to pick it up at some point.
Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 06/26/09 at 09:54 PM ET
Ilitch completes his snub of Gary THE ASS Bettman by trading the pick to TB for their 32nd and 78th so the Wings brass wouldn’t have to be on stage with him in the prime time TV extravaganza.
LOL
Nice move Ilitch.
THANK YOU PHILLY FOR TAKING THE MOUTH BREATHER OUT OF THE WESTERN CONFERENCE. Now they have a perfect replacement for the Mouthbreather Retiree (Hatcher).
Posted by WINGS_FAN_IN_KC on 06/26/09 at 10:01 PM ET
I LOVE this franchise. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this franchise. I say every time we play, that win or lose, we’re the goddamn greatest all around franchise. Do we have any D-bags on our team? Show boaters? Mike Greens? Patrick Roys? Crotchbys? Hell no. We’re class. We’re winners. We’re hated and my smug ass loves it. And thanks to you, I have eighteen other friends who share the same view. As though we have a Detroit hockey ambilocal cord attaching all of us. A cord that Gary often tries to cut with his softened, chalk-like teeth. But fails. Your hate is my hate. Your excitement is my excitement. Your excrement is, well, it’s Gary Bettman, Sidney Crotchby and Don Cherry all rolled into one brown lump. Jacketed with flowers. And before I get paragraphically carried away, I will put the glass of whiskey down (as Brian Burke can only hope to do) and wish you all a merry offseason. And a happy 2009 Draft.
Let’s Go Wings (Honour, even in defeat).
Vomitously,
Congratulations to all of you on being Red Wings fans.
Posted by Sullyosis from A hateful lair in Post Apocalyptic US (or Arizona) on 06/26/09 at 10:52 PM ET
Has anyone else let hockey fade away more this summer? I didn’t even know the draft was today…
Posted by Tyler from Arizona on 06/27/09 at 01:37 AM ET
Has anyone else let hockey fade away more this summer? I didn’t even know the draft was today…
Absolutely not. I’m already anxiously counting the days before we can begin our quest for number 12.
Posted by stayouttamalibu from Temporarily in Tempe, AZ on 06/27/09 at 03:22 AM ET
It will be worth the price of admission to see Prongoon behead anyone on the Penguins.
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!
Posted by Kate from Pa. on 06/27/09 at 07:19 AM ET
Feck Chrissy Pronger. Now we’ll have a chance to see the unsuspendable to perform the must-suspend six times a year.
And it looks like we’ve really got The Little Ball of Hate now (by that I mean the spawn of The Big Ball of Hate). Landon Ferraro actually looks pretty good-- if he turns out to be a more skilled version of Helm with that speed and hockey sense, I don’t think any of us will complain.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/27/09 at 11:15 AM ET
When I heard that Sasquatch was traded to the Flyers, I was kinda expecting Mrs. Sasquatch to throw a rich bitch temper tantrum for the ages. The Philly media circus is going to be overwhelming for her and pretty soon she’s going to bully Sasquatch into moving again.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 06/27/09 at 03:06 PM ET
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What a great article, total class act.
Posted by stayouttamalibu from Temporarily in Tempe, AZ on 06/25/09 at 11:13 AM ET