Mike Babcock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mike Babcock (born April 29, 1963 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian hockey head coach and former player. From 2002 to 2005 he was the head coach of the NHL's Anaheim Mighty Ducks, leading the Ducks to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. In July 2005, he rejected a one-year extension offer to stay with the Ducks. On July 15, Babcock became the head coach for the Detroit Red Wings, replacing Dave Lewis.
Contents |
[edit] Coaching career
Babcock, a former captain with the McGill University Redmen, is the third McGill player to coach an NHL team (Lester Patrick guided the N.Y. Rangers; George Burnett served in Edmonton), was a two-time all-star rearguard at McGill from 1983-84 to 1986-87, where he also served as team captain and won the Bobby Bell trophy as team MVP.
He has had a distinguished coaching career and entered the 2005-06 season with a lifetime 494-414-85 regular season coaching record, including a 69-76-19 NHL mark in two seasons with Anaheim. He also guided Team Canada to gold medals at the 1997 world junior championships in Geneva and the 2004 IIHF world hockey championships in Prague.
Detroit marks the seventh coaching stint for the nomadic Babcock, a native of Saskatoon and has lived in six Canadian provinces and four US states (including his new residence in Michigan).
He has had stops at Red Deer College, the Moose Jaw Warriors, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, Spokane Chiefs, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Anaheim. He was named head coach of the Ducks on May 22, 2002 and guided Anaheim to a 40-33-9 regular season record (including six overtime losses). In the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Ducks, he posted a 15-6 record.
[edit] Playing career
Babcock graduated from McGill in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and also did some post-graduate work in sports psychology. In 146 career games with the Redmen, he tallied 22 goals and 85 assists for a total of 107 points and 301 penalty minutes, graduating as the second-highest scoring rearguard in McGill history. He moved to England in 1987 as a player-coach for Whitley Warriors (near Newcastle upon Tyne), who missed out on the league title by two points. In 49 games, he contributed 45 goals and 127 assists, accumulating 123 penalty minutes. He returned to Canada in 1988 to coach at Red Deer College in Alberta. He spent three seasons at the school, winning the provincial collegiate championship and earning coach-of-the-year honours in 1989.
Babcock moved to the Western Hockey League in 1991 where he guided the Moose Jaw Warriors for a two-year term. He then served one season as bench boss of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, earning Canada West coach-of-the-year honours in 1993-94 after guiding Lethbridge to their first-ever appearance in post-season play and a Canadian university national title with a 34-11-3 over-all mark.
In 1994, he was appointed coach of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, where he posted a regular-season record of 224-172-29 over six seasons for a .564 winning percentage. He was named twice as the West Division coach of the year (1999-20 and 1995-96).
In two American Hockey League seasons, from 2000-01 to 2001-02, Babcock guided Cincinnati to a 74-59-20-7 record, including a franchise-high 41 wins and 95 points. The team qualified for the playoffs both years.
Before his time playing days at McGill, Babcock played for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL in 1980-81 and spent a season with the Kelowna Wings in 1982-83. In between, he played a year under Dave King at the University of Saskatchewan and transferred to McGill in 1983 under coach Ken Tyler. Babcock also had a brief try-out with the Vancouver Canucks.
| Anaheim Ducks Head Coaches |
|---|
| Wilson • Pagé • Hartsburg • Charron • Murray • Babcock • Carlyle |
| Detroit Red Wings Head Coaches |
|---|
| Duncan • Adams • Ivan • Skinner • Abel • Gadsby • Harkness • Barkley • J. Wilson • Garvin • Delvecchio • L. Wilson • Kromm • Lindsay • Maxner • Dea • Polano • Neale • Park • Demers • Murray • Bowman • Lewis • Babcock |
| Preceded by Bryan Murray |
Head Coaches of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2002-2005 |
Succeeded by Randy Carlyle |
| Preceded by Dave Lewis |
Head Coaches of the Detroit Red Wings 2005-current |
Succeeded by current coach |
