IMHO, Babcock is doing a darn good job.  Imagine how difficult it is to motivate millionaires to play “hard” every game in a season….
And your reference to Bowman is correct.  Does anyone think things were all roses with HIS player relationships?
Lang may well be unhappy with Babcock trying to make him move his @ss.  Ken Holland WILL remedy that at years’ end. 
Babcock is Holland’s man, and any player who fights it will be history.

Posted by w2j2 from Alpena, Michigan on 01/29/07 at 10:10 AM ET

Good luck with the DDs. 

Their response will probably be something like [paraphrased] “Thank you for writing.  I’m clueless.  Please go eff yourself.”

btw, I’m ready to blow up at Draper, myself.  He and Malts kill me inside a little bit more with every game I watch.

Posted by 58Miles2Joe from Toledo, OH on 01/29/07 at 10:31 AM ET

FYI, someone basically called Strickland to task in the comments of that post and a few minutes later, it was promptly deleted.
I read the post, no vulgar language, no name calling, just a typical action of Dwayne’s way to handle things.
I believe the poster there was called WingedWheel or something close to that.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 01/29/07 at 10:54 AM ET

This is the same kind of stuff Marty McSorley was saying on a Sharks broadcast several months ago.  He later apologized for his comments.  What?  There were no good trade rumors to report today so they had to revert to bringing up this sludge?

Posted by hockeychic on 01/29/07 at 11:10 AM ET

The players were ticked off at Babs during the Western Swing because he’d have daily meetings about the power play, regardless of whether they went 0-for-5 or scored two PPGs.  When you’re losing, that gets on your nerves, but annoyance is far from a player revolt.

If Drapes and Babs had an argument, they’re both, “It’s over and done with” guys.  GThe air’s been cleared.  Time to move on.

Langer and Babs have some friction issues because Lang’s a “tell me what to do and leave me alone” guy, but Lang’s a jokester as well, and he’s part of a winning team.

The older guys in the room tend to get a little tired of Babs’ “teaching coach” style, but it’s not like they’ll ask to be traded.  They’re used to Scotty’s “hands off” style, and they do grumble and grouse, but that’s all they do.  There’s no locker room insurgency going on. 

Babcock demands accountability, and yes, he’s repetitive at times, but he doesn’t play mind games, he lets players know where they stand, and his regimented routine gives players their own space, too. 

Chelios doesn’t plan on retiring, Schneider wants to stay in Detroit, Lang’s been given a permanent spot with Cleary and a right-shooting right winger to give him the line continuity he wants…There’s no more or less friction in the Wings’ locker room than any other healthy locker room in the NHL. 

The grumbles from the locker room have diminished greatly over the course of the season, and the guys who simply couldn’t or wouldn’t work with Babcock are already gone, or they’re going out the door at the deadline.  You’re right from the start, IWO—Babs is the man, and anybody who won’t work with him leaves. 

Manny and Shanny are already gone, and we all know that Manny’s relationship with the press provides more leaks of hearsay and grumbling than the Tocchet case.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 01/29/07 at 02:50 PM ET