Fansided

Mike Babcock is Team Canada’s best choice for 2016 World Cup

By Darrell Samuels

Jan 10, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock looks on from behind the bench against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock looks on from behind the bench against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Last summer, there was no better coach available than Mike Babcock. He signed a long term deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will now coach Team Canada.

The biggest coaching change that occurred during the offseason, prior to the start of the 2015-16 NHL campaign, was Mike Babcock leaving the Detroit Red Wings and heading north to Canada to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. Babcock signed a $50 million, eight year deal and while the jury is out on how Babcock repairs the hockey club in Toronto, the Canadian coach has come back to his roots.

Babcock is one of the best coaches in the NHL game. He coached the Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup championship in 2008 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and led Team Canada to two gold medals in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Hiring Babcock is the best choice available. Prior to this season in Toronto, he has coached 950 regular season games and had a record of 527-285-19 and 119 overtime losses as a coach with the Anaheim Ducks and the Red Wings. He has been successful almost everywhere he has been behind the bench. Away from Olympic hockey and the National Hockey League, he has also won five titles, including coaching the University of Lethbridge hockey team in 1994 to the CIS University Cup as well as the Canadian junior hockey team in the IIHF World Junior Championships in 1997.

There is a press conference scheduled for later this week in Toronto to make the announcement of the coaching staff official. The head coaches of the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins — Joel Quenneville and Claude Julien — will join Babcock’s staff as his assistants.

The game of hockey is watched and assessed almost like a religion by Canadian fans. The Canadian public has to be happy with Hockey Canada’s appointment of Babcock as he offers their best chance to restore glory in the land of hockey.

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