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Mike Babcock coaching decision could come in next 10 days

Josh Cooper
Mike Babcock coaching decision could come in next 10 days

Mike Babcock said he was going to address that “crap” meaning his coaching contract situation at some point soon. That time was Friday.

And he was predictably non-committal about his future as the Detroit Red Wings coach. But he did acknowledge the fact that he:

1. Indeed has the option to be a coaching free agent and will talk with Detroit general manager Ken Holland in the next 10 days to discuss his situation. Why the number 10? Who knows. Because it’s a neat number? Because he’s a Pavel Bure fan?

2. Is tired of losing in the playoffs in the first or second round – code for GET ME BETTER PLAYERS KEN HOLLAND. Or in more polite terms "It's depressing" he said.

3. Doesn’t want to be a general manager – so strike down places that want to give him the Patrick Roy-like carte blanche. “I have no skill set to be a general manager. ... I'm a coach. ... I have no interest in sitting where Kenny sits at all. None." But he noted in Detroit, he has a lot of input.

4. Lastly, he said his wife’s decision rules all “Everyone thinks Ken Holland is the boss, actually my wife is the boss.” And also said, “My wife and I are going through a process and Kenny and I are going to go through a process and in 10 days we'll have a plan and go from there.”

So what do we parse from these comments? Really nothing at all, because when a coach meets with the media and flaps his gums about his job, a lot of what he says is total drivel.

Like this part, "If you want to be on the Mike Babcock day-to-day watch, you're wasting your time, because there's nothing going on day to day."

Ha, yeah right. Like we’re not going to be eagerly waiting what arguably the best coach of this current incarnation of bench bosses is going to decide with his future.

As for whether the Red Wings are willing to pay Babcock, Holland said it’s about trying to preach the progress the Red Wings have made over the last 10 years. And the price? "When it's time to step up, Mr. (Ilitch) steps up” and that money won’t be an issue.

That’s because so many people eat his disgusting, as J.R. Lind put it in our Red Wings eulogy, “pizza-like substance” because it costs $5. Gross.

Most interestingly though, he referred to Babcock as an “asset” which sounds like a player. Generally you don’t refer to coaches as this.

But Babcock is the best coach in the NHL. He talked about losing in the first or second round of the playoffs and how terrible it was for him. Did this Detroit team have enough to make it that far without him as coach? That’s questionable.

But it all comes down to what Babcock asked in the heat of the moment after his Wings lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Who will replace Pavel Datsyuk when he’s too old?

Right now, the answer for Detroit is nobody. And that’s a product of the Red Wings’ success and low draft status. Also, it’s not a destination for free agents anymore. Free agents like Babcock.

Babcock wants to win first. He’ll have his pick of places where he can build a winner with better young players like Edmonton. Or I’m sure there’s an organization that would gladly punt its current coach to add Babs if the price was right. Against his urgings, Babcock watch has begun.

(s/t Nick Cotsonika and Jennifer Hammond for the Twitter transcript help of these news conferences)

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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