2005-06 McGill Athletics Press Release #4

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Ex-McGill defenceman Mike Babcock agrees to terms as head coach of NHL¹s Detroit Red Wings

MONTREAL ­ Mike Babcock has agreed to terms as head coach of the National Hockey League¹s Detroit Red Wings, according to a report by Associated Press. The former coach of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks is slated to be introduced at a news conference Friday morning. He replaces Dave Lewis, whose contract was not renewed.

Babcock, 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 owns 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 42-year-old native of Saskatoon, Sask., who was born in Manitouwadge, Ont., and has lived in six Canadian provinces and four 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.

Babcock graduated from McGill in 1987 with a bachelor¹s 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 then went on to England as a player-coach before returning 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 WHL¹s 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.

Mike and his wife Maureen have three children, Alexandra (12), Michael (10), and Taylor (8).

Mike Babcock¹s Career Coaching Record

Year Team League Reg.Season Record Playoff record
GP W L T PCT GP W L
1988-89 Red Deer College CCAA 24 18 4 2 .792 - - -
1989-90 Red Deer College CCAA 24 11 12 1 .479 - - -
1990-91 Red Deer College CCAA 25 19 6 0 .760 - - -
1991-92 Moose Jaw WHL 72 33 36 3 .465 4 0 4
1992-93 Moose Jaw WHL 72 27 42 3 .396 0 0 0
1993-94* Lethbridge CIAU 28 19 7 2 .714 9 7 2
1994-95 Spokane WHL 72 32 36 4 .486 11 6 5
1995-96 Spokane WHL 72 50 18 4 .722 9 3 6
1996-97 Spokane WHL 65 31 30 4 .508 9 4 5
1997-98 Spokane WHL 72 45 23 4 .653 18 10 8
1998-99 Spokane WHL 72 19 44 9 .326 0 0 0
1999-00 Spokane WHL 72 47 21 4 .681 20 15 5
2000-01 Cincinnati AHL 80 41 26 13 .594 4 1 3
2001-02 Cincinnati AHL 80 33 33 14 .500 3 1 2
2002-02 Anaheim NHL 82 40 33 9 .579 21 15 6
2003-04 Anaheim NHL 82 29 43 10 .402 - - -
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TOTALS: 994 494 414 86 .540 108 62 46
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*won CIAU national championship