You may take this Tweet from 97.1 the Ticket’s Jeff Riger for what you will:
Babcock on Det bad attendance “the thing about being good as long as we were is u sacrifice part of your future-but thats what the fans want at the time don’t ever kid yourself, somebody has to stand there & take the bullets while u rebuild it & thats what they’re doing right now
— Jeff Riger (@riger1984) October 11, 2018
The coach was part of the group agreeing to sacrifice part of his future, and then he left.
Update: Now, with video…
Babcock on Red Wings’ small crowds after mortgaging future to chase Cups: “Thats what the fans want at the time, don’t ever kid yourself…” pic.twitter.com/P3yj3e2WLI
— Will Burchfield (@burchie_kid) October 11, 2018
Mike Babcock commented on the Red Wings rebuild today.
“Someone’s gotta stay, stand there, and take the bullets while you rebuild it.” pic.twitter.com/OZBibAt8z8
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 11, 2018
“Someone’s gotta stay, stand there, and take the bullets while you rebuild it. Just not me. Haha, suck it! David Legwand FTW!”
But, sure, it was the fans demanding future-sacrificing trades just for two or three more home playoff games.
And even if we, as the short-sighted, just give us four playoff games at any cost, rah-rah fans we really clamoring for that – even after it was evident the Wings had little chance of “just getting in and going on a run”…isn’t it the job of the big boys among the coaches and front office and ownership to make the smarter call?
Of course Babs isn’t going to throw his friend Ken Holland under the bus, let alone the late Mr. I who is a legend among player and fan-friendly owners for good reason. I actually credit our old coach for his loyalty to both of the above. And this is the quickest passable answer about his old team he can rattle off before moving on. He wants to talk about his current team. Fair enough.
Did most of us really want to throw picks and prospects at guys like Legwand and Cole and drop a few more picks as a result? Did we really want to the GM and owner to subordinate their necessarily better judgement even if we did?