from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- The poor Babcock sentiment is really laughable. He deserved to be fired. He lost the team, somehow. They stopped performing. Sure, the roster is imperfect, but who has a perfect roster? This was his first time he was fired as an NHL coach, and really, first time it should have happened … Knowing Babcock, I can’t see him coaching an expansion team like Seattle. He’s too consumed with winning. I could see him ending up in San Jose, Nashville or Tampa Bay, if those teams don’t get going. Assuming he wants to return this quickly.

- How much does management and coaching mean in hockey? Well, put it this way. After losing the Stanley Cup in 1984, the New York Islanders went 30 years without hitting the 100-point mark again in a regular season. Since Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz came in, the Isles finished with 103 points last year and are on pace for a crazy 135 this season … Same topic, different team: In the 25 seasons of the Florida Panthers, the club has averaged 81 points per season. In Joel Quenneville’s first season they’re on pace for a 100-point year and that’s after a difficult start.

- You don’t necessarily have to be a good person to be a good coach. The number of Leaf employees or former Leaf employees or people who worked alongside Babcock in Detroit who have little use for the man is significant. And yet there he is, with 700 career wins, 418 losses, that’s 16 seasons of success before this one. You don’t do that accidentally.

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