Ken Holland discusses Mike Babcock’s decision to choose Toronto, what’s next for Wings

By @MichaelCaples –

DETROIT – It’s not often that members of the media are gathered in the Red Wings’ locker room a month into the offseason.

Today, however, there was a significant news item for Ken Holland to address.

The Red Wings’ GM spoke with reporters at 4 p.m. today about Mike Babcock’s decision to leave Detroit and sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Holland, who praised Babcock for his decade of service to the Red Wings’ organization, said he found out at 11:15 a.m. today that while his team was one of the frontrunners, they wouldn’t be retaining their head coach.

When asked about the decision process and if he was surprised by Babcock’s choice, Holland said that’s not a question he could answer.

“You’ll have to ask Mike that,” Holland said. “I’ll say to you that it was, I just know it was a difficult decision because I was sort of involved at the front end and then we went to Prague and we were both in Prague and he met with some people there, Brendan Shanahan came over there, he spent some time with Shanny over in Prague. Who was the frontrunner, how do you handicap the race? That’s one for Mike. I just think that again, he had been here for ten years, when you’ve been somewhere for a long time you’ve got roots, we worked hard together to build a program, a program of player development, drafting, they come up here and Mike makes them accountable and there’s some young players here where we’re trying to transition here to some younger people, we’re trying to stay competitive and we’re trying to compete to make the playoffs and to go on a playoff run.

“I think when you put your heart and soul, we’ve worked together hand-in-hand, these aren’t easy decisions. If they were easy decisions, you probably had the wrong people in the first place. When I hired Mike Babcock, he had passion, he had a work ethic, and he became a Red Wing. Ultimately, I think that he went into this process and he made the deicision that he made today. I believe it was a difficult decision for him, not only to choose to go to Toronto but to choose to leave Detroit. I know he had a couple other teams that were impressive as well. I don’t know how to handicap it, but I do know that it was a difficult decision.”

When Holland was asked about Babcock’s new contract – a reported $50 million over eight years – he smiled to the media audience.

“I’ve been in this sport a long time, and, you know, one of the things that I said to Mike, and I think I’ve said it to all of you, any time you’re an unrestricted free agent in the prime of your career, there’s going to be opportunities that probably will stagger you,” Holland said. “I use the word stagger because certainly when you look at, I’m aware of what the industry pays, but in order to get people sometimes you have to go above and beyond the industry standard to try get somebody to come to you. I’m happy for Mike. Mike gave Red Wings fans and our organization ten fabulous years. I loved working with Mike. I’m happy for him.”

Now, Holland’s focus will shift towards his next head coach. The frontrunner for that decision, of course, is Grand Rapids head coach Jeff Blashill. The Sault Ste. Marie native has served as an assistant coach under Babcock in Detroit and ever since been guiding the Wings’ AHL affiliate to great success in Grand Rapids. The coaching interview list, according to Holland, will be very short and certainly start with his minor-league head coach.

“I’ve got to meet with Blashill,” Holland said. “I know you guys would like me to announce that he’s the next head coach, but I think there’s a process we have to go through. I’ve got to meet with Blash. Up until 11:15 today, when I got the call from Mike, I hadn’t really reached out to anybody. There was a chance that Mike would come back, we talked yesterday and even at 8 o’clock this morning, it was down to the short strokes of making a decision, but he hadn’t quite made it. Between 8 o’clock, 8:15 and 11:15 today, he said Ken, I’ve made my decision. I’ve got to go spend time with Blash now.

“I want the focus of Jeff Blashill and the Grand Rapids Griffins to be on winning the next series and having those young players in our system to continue to experience playoff hockey. In some point in time, I’ll get into Grand Rapids on an off day, spend some time with Blash, and from there, is there another name or two, let me see how the first meeting goes with Jeff Blashill. Certainly with Blash, we’ve worked together. He was here for a year as an assistant coach. He worked more for Mike, I would go in the room and talk to the head coach every day. Ryan Martin’s the GM, he talks to Blash, so I want to spend some time with Blash, then I’ll decide what’s the next step after I’ve met with Jeff Blashill.”