Babcock or Carlyle

Given Babcock's success in Detroit this season and Carlyle's in Anaheim, who would most Duck fans have preferred as head coach this season? I realize that this is hindsight, but knowing Babcock's game plan & character and now knowing Carlyle's, factor in the current roster, who do most feel would be the better coach of the team? Both seem to be good coaches, I guess I'm just curious as to the thoughts of the board. Babcock seemed to get the short end of the stick when Burke was brought in. However, that was somewhat expected as most GM's prefer to bring in their own people and put their own imprint on a franchise. :dunno:

Wasn't happy about Babs being let go. That being said, I think Carlyle's done a better job in '05-06 than Babs did in '03-04. But of course, that '03 run to the Finals is worth a lot of bonus points.

I'm pretty pleased to see that despite his preference for offensive hockey, Carlyle wasn't afraid to adapt and play a more defensive system when he saw it wasn't working; some coaches have this thing about, "we have to play my way, and no other way." And the way he kept the team focused after the Edmonton meltdown, I think is pretty damn impressive.

In the end, it works out great for everyone ... I'm glad to see Babcock's good run in Anaheim led him to a plum NHL job, and I'm also glad to see a guy like Carlyle get a well-deserved crack at an NHL job with a team that seems to finally have a clear long-term direction. Burke got, "his guy" in, Anaheim doesn't seem to be any worse off, Detroit got themselves a solid coach. Everyone seems happy with where they are and what they've got, so everyone wins.

Babcock has a great record as a coach going back to his WHL days. No one was shocked he was let go with the new GM coming in but look what he did in the short time he was with the Ducks. I'm not a Ducks fan but you can't argue that Carlyle has done a better job. All of the Ducks great very young players came under Babcocks tenure.

Babcock had one good year and one bad year.

so far Carlyle is having a good year. I am sure Babcock could have done a good job with this team, but Carlyle pushes the right buttons. After a bad came he could choose to bag skate, what does he do? Practice on the Ottawa Canal or bike through Vancouver. He played in the NHL for a long time, I don't think Babcock did, so he may be more in tune of what NHL players need at different times. Whereas Babcock is a great strategist who can adapt to his players, which many coaches can't do.

Babcock had one good year and one bad year.

so far Carlyle is having a good year. I am sure Babcock could have done a good job with this team, but Carlyle pushes the right buttons. After a bad came he could choose to bag skate, what does he do? Practice on the Ottawa Canal or bike through Vancouver. He played in the NHL for a long time, I don't think Babcock did, so he may be more in tune of what NHL players need at different times. Whereas Babcock is a great strategist who can adapt to his players, which many coaches can't do.
Your right RallyKiller, Babcock played 2 years in the WHL and 1 year after that for the Whitley Warriors. But he has an eye for talent and how to use it.
PS lets hope Carlyle doesn't take them down Hastings Street in Vancouver or he'll give them a heart attack trying to get outta there.

Your right RallyKiller, Babcock played 2 years in the WHL and 1 year after that for the Whitley Warriors. But he has an eye for talent and how to use it.
PS lets hope Carlyle doesn't take them down Hastings Street in Vancouver or he'll give them a heart attack trying to get outta there.
I agree Babcock has a great eye for talent, during the lockout he was telling people that the team at that time wasn't going to win because of poor work ethic players, Brian Burke eventually agreed and tore apart the roster. The one problem was his constant line juggling and players never really developed chemistry.

Babcock wouldn't do well with the Ducks team we have right now. We have alot of kids playing key roles and I don't think Babcock is comfortable letting the kids go through their growing pains. I look at Vish and he is doing so much better without Babcock on the bench. We have kids like Perry and Getzlaf, Lupul and Kunitz, etc etc. Those kids may struggle here and there but Carlyle is keeping them playing hard every night. Babcock would have bench those kids for guys like Moen already.

I agree Babcock has a great eye for talent, during the lockout he was telling people that the team at that time wasn't going to win because of poor work ethic players, Brian Burke eventually agreed and tore apart the roster. The one problem was his constant line juggling and players never really developed chemistry.
I agree. I don't think that Burke's through "pulling apart" the current team. In my view, it looks like the moves he made at the trade deadline were to free up $$ for offseason movement. One thing about Burke, he's alway been full of surprises. I look for more of the same before the 06/07 season gets underway.

I like the way things have turned out. Carlyle and Burke should give the organization the stability it needs.

Babcock wouldn't do well with the Ducks team we have right now. We have alot of kids playing key roles and I don't think Babcock is comfortable letting the kids go through their growing pains. I look at Vish and he is doing so much better without Babcock on the bench. We have kids like Perry and Getzlaf, Lupul and Kunitz, etc etc. Those kids may struggle here and there but Carlyle is keeping them playing hard every night. Babcock would have bench those kids for guys like Moen already.
Kurt Sauer, Stanislav Chistov, Samuel Pahlsson, Jason Krog come to mind from the 2003 team.

That season, Pahlsson was 26, Krog was 28. Not exactly young ages.

Sauer and Chistov weren't exactly playing huge, key roles for the team either.

Sauer and Chistov weren't exactly playing huge, key roles for the team either.

Sauer was paired with Carney if I remember right and logged a lot of minutes in the 03 playoffs, Kurt played awesome those playoffs. Chistov may not have had a huge role, but he was very effective on the 3rd line with Steve Thomas and the center of that line (I think it was Pahlsson, but I'm not sure).

I'm not sure how this team would do with Babcock at the helm. He has been a very good coach for Detroit and they look to be the best team in the league to me. They've always done well in the regular season, but have seemed to struggle in the last two playoffs with Lewis. The Wings in the playoffs will be Babcock's biggest test. Carlyle has done a good job here. Rough start to the season, but he made the right adjustments to the special teams and the system of play to get this team winning games. His best job was after the Edmonton meltdown and quickly getting the team refocused to play one of it's best games the next night. I thought the season was over after that game, but the team has played awesome since that game. With the current talent, I don't think the Ducks would be significantly better with Babcock.

That season, Pahlsson was 26, Krog was 28. Not exactly young ages.

Sauer and Chistov weren't exactly playing huge, key roles for the team either.
Who cares about their ages? experiance wise they were rookies and many of the inexperianced players were heavily relied upon. Sauer was playing first pairing minutes with Carney matching up against the opponents top line, Chistov during the regular season was a key contributer and had a couple of huge playoff goals. As a team there was plenty of younger, inexperianced guys.

I think Babs is one of the best coaches out there. I'm eating crow on Carlyle, who I was badmouthing earlier in the season. All in all, he's done a solid job with the team. Both coaches have to show that they can sustain success.