Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
When Buffalo Sabres president Ted Black sent a magazine along with invoices to season ticket holders entitled “Buffalo Sabres 2015-16: The Next Chapter,” perhaps it should actually be taken as the first chapter in a new book. After the firing of Rochester Americans head coach Chadd Cassidy yesterday, nearly everything left over from the previous regime is gone including it's identity, or what was described as it's identity.
As of this moment there are still some key personnel in the front office who are holdovers from the Darcy Regier-era like assistant GM, Mark Jakubowski and Director of Player Personnel, Kevin Devine. A number of scouts like Jon Christiano, Toby O'Brien and Yuri Khymlev are still on board. Player development coach Randy Cunneyworth is still around and the young players GM Tim Murray wants to build with at this time--including Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons, and Rasmus Ristolainen--have survived a roster purge over the course of two trade deadlines and one off season.
But the two coaches in the organization for the 2014-15 season, didn't make it through. From an historically objective standpoint, the numbers will show that Ted Nolan's 30th place Sabres team had a 23-51-8 record while the Amerks finished 27th in the AHL with a 29-41-6 record. What history won't reveal fully through those numbers is the maelstrom of the Sabres scorched-earth rebuild that was going on during this time period. Kudos to both Nolan and Cassidy for their work during this hellacious time.
Cassidy was always gracious with his time during interviews and he always gave honest, thorough answers to his questions. He was a good coach who, as mentioned here, helped many of players develop rather nicely.
All-in-all, "Cassidy knows his hockey," wrote Kevin Oklobzidja of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "he is straight-forward with his players and understands what it takes to win in pro hockey.
"Of course the Amerks didn't win this season. Maybe that's why Murray made the move.
Murray made the move because he could and with only 29 wins and a 27th place finish, the record dictated that Cassidy should have been fired even though a good case could've been made for Cassidy and his crew to stay on board for at least another season. That's the cold business aspect of hockey. There's really no one to blame, it's the cycle of hiring and firing. When a new boss comes in, change is gonna come. It took a full season, but it came. Big time.
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The Mike Babcock watch has been on since the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Wednesday nights Game-7. There are a ton of suitors who'll be offering bushels of money to the Wings bench boss, and that would include Detroit owner Mike Illitch. Where everyone stands in the whole process, including Babcock, is still an unknown.
WGR's Paul Hamilton had said time and again that he was told by insiders that Babcock would like to go where Connor McDavid goes. That was before the Edmonton Oilers won the lottery. Outside of that, there are a number of factors that become pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that is Babcock's destination. And that will include what might be the biggest piece, what his wife wants.
"I talked to my wife yesterday morning for the first time," Babcock said. "Everyone thinks [Detroit GM] Ken Holland's the boss. Actually, my wife's the boss."
And there's no reason to believe he doesn't mean that. Back in 2008 when he hoisted the Stanley Cup with Detroit, adding another notch in his championship belt, Babcock put his accomplishments into perspective, "The measure of me, in my lifetime,” said Babcock, “isn’t going to be how many games or Stanley Cups I win. It’s going to be the family I raise and the amount of integrity I (have) in my life."
Although Babcock was in no hurry to discuss his future on Friday after team photos at Joe Louis Arena, he was in a hurry that day to get to Ann Arbor for his daughter's college graduation. "My gut's telling me if I don't get to Michigan fast, my wife's going to be all over me," Babcock said. "I can't miss my daughter walking. Her last name starts with a B."
Perhaps there's a bit of an embellishment there, but those familial roots are embedded deep within him and one can't seeing him changing now especially when he has the hockey world in his hands. Yet, the professional side to his being will also have a great impact on where he lands after his contract expires on June 30th.
Ansar Khan of mlive got right to the heart of Babcock's decision, "the Red Wings coach for 10 seasons, said the opportunity to win and his family, specifically his wife, since his three kids are grown, will be the main factors in his decision."
At 52 years old, there's reason to believe that Babcock wants to win right now. He's coached superstars and future Hall of Famers which leads one to believe that he'd prefer a destination with a player or players of that caliber.
Randy Miller of NJ.com put together a piece on where Babcock has the best odds of landing. He has Pittsburgh and Boston up-top at 10-1 which is somewhat strange as the Bruins still have Claude Julien as their head coach. Next is the Philadelphia Flyers at 15-1 followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs at 20-1 and the Red Wings at 25-1. Those are the clear favorites.
Way down the line is Buffalo and here's Millers caption:
"Babcock has a good relationship with Sabres GM Tim Murray and Sabres ownership is willing to spend money, but this team figures to be bad again next season even with Jack Eichel, the probable second overall pick in the 2015 draft. Odds: 10,000/1.
Sure enough, next season is bound to be trying, but no one knows what Murray has up his sleeve this off season. He has an extra pick in the first round and he ain't afraid to use it. He's said all along that he doesn't want a long rebuild and he has the pieces in place already in Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Brian Gionta and Matt Moulson that will help guide a small but growing group of talented youngins to the next level.
One shouldn't discount Murray and owner Terry Pegula in all of this either. Murray is a strong GM and does have ties to Babcock through Anaheim. Babcock has dismissed rumors that he's looking to add GM to his title saying, "I am part of making decisions here, but I have no skill-set to be the general manager," Babcock said. "Anybody who thinks I want to go somewhere to be a general manager, they're talking to the wrong guy.
"I'm a coach, I love to coach. I love the players, I love the competition, I like being close to the ice. I love what I do."
And Pegula isn't afraid to pull out all stops to get what he wants. The lake Pegula and his wife flew to back in 2011 to meet Robyn Regehr and his wife Kristina is Emma Lake, the same place the Babcock's have summered for years. Don't think it went unnoticed. The Pegula's are intent upon building a family-oriented organization much like the one they have in Detroit with the Illitch family.
Even though the Sabres missed out on McDavid, they'll still have Jack Eichel, one of the best prospects since Sidney Crosby, and they'll place him atop the "new core" that's already a couple years into it's development. Athough the Sabres don't have the sheer up-front talent of Edmonton, they do have an impressive young defense-corps with a legitimate No.1 d-man in the making and they already boast some top-six/top-line players up-front.
The holes on the team are large in key areas, but when you have depth down the middle like the Sabres have, including a probable top-line center in Eichel, and a defense that has at least two maybe three top-four d-men in the fold already, a quick step up from the basement past respectability and into the realm playoff caliber is not that far away.
Coaching will help and great coaching will help even more.
I'm of the opinion that it's probably best to stay in that 20%-McDavid/80%-Eichel frame of mind we had for the draft lottery when approaching thoughts of Babcock behind the bench in Buffalo.
But then again, this time it's not up to pure chance, it's putting together a compelling package that touches on the many facets of Babcock including his strong family ties.
In that respect, 10,000-1 might be a little high.
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