Mike Babcock Shuns Sabres; Picks Toronto

By Patrick Helper |

Mike Babcock may be the best snake oil sales men in the NHL. He had the Buffalo Sabres putting his name the coaching office only to head north and pick the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres and Leafs are fairly similar, but they are also very different. It would seem like Mike Babcock had little desire to stay with the Red Wings and chased the money all the way to a Maple Leafs organization that has been lost for years. The reported contract is “$50 over eight seasons in a front-loaded agreement that also includes a possible out-clause after five years. Because of that clause, his annual compensation early in the deal could be as high as $8 million.”

It would seem too many who have followed the Mike Babcock sweepstakes that the Sabres were used, and mislead. But let me say this, who cares! This is all part of the business world and Mike Babcock just introduced the Buffalo Sabres and the rest of the NHL to the new way coaches will do business.

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The only gentleman’s game of hiring coaches has changed forever.

Sure, there are reports around Buffalo that the Sabres are “Livid” and they should be they have one of the richest owners in all of sports and yet they failed to land the big coach. Again, I say so what! There is an old saying “if it is meant to be it will be”. The Sabres still have a few solid options they can chase to coach what can easily be called the worst team in modern NHL history.

There are many bright sides to taking a job with the Sabres but Mike Babcock chased money and a chance to become a Canadian legend. One positive for Sabres fans is Babcock may be cashing a check his team will never live up to. If the reported contract is correct Babcock has five-years to prove he is as good as coaching the Red Wings made him look.

Moving to Toronto is putting Babcock’s and his family in the pressure cooker and falling short could turn him from a possible legend to the goat of Toronto. He has little star power and is taking over a team that is nearing salary cap jail. Heading up another Original Six franchise is not going to be an easy thing to do, and who knows Babcock may be packing up his white and blue sooner than we think.

If you are a Sabres fan this may seem harsh, and maybe it is… Stop complaining, stop the poor us talk, and please just relax. This is how real business goes. It’s not always pretty and people will do anything within the rules and maybe a little outside the normal moral compass to achieve what they want. Welcome to the way big boys play.

Just because the Sabres didn’t get Mike Babcock doesn’t really mean anything.

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