MONTREAL – Mike Babcock, head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, is bidding
to become the second McGill University graduate and the third coach in hockey
history to win both the NHL’s Stanley Cup and the University Cup –
the championship trophy of Canadian Interuniversity Sport; the Canadian equivalent
of the NCAA.
The Red Wings are scheduled to open the best-of-seven final against the Pittsburgh
Penguins at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Saturday
Babcock can follow in the footsteps of the legendary Lester Patrick, a former
McGill hockey player, who later coached the New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup
title in both 1928 and 1933.
Babcock, currently a nominee for the Jack Adams trophy as NHL coach of the year,
coached the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns to the 1994 CIS national championship
at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. If the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup this
season, Babcock will join Jean Perron and Mike Keenan as coaches who have won
both the University Cup and the Stanley Cup.
Perron was the first coach to accomplish the feat, winning the University Cup
as head coach of the University of Moncton in 1980-81 and 1981-82. Perron later
captured the Stanley Cup in his first NHL season as coach of the Montreal Canadiens
in 1985-86.
Keenan won the 1984 CIS title with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at
Trois-Rivieres, Que. The year previous, Keenan won the AHL championship, guiding
Rochester to the Calder Trophy title. After his back-to-back titles, Keenan
joined the NHL coaching ranks with Philadelphia in 1984-85 and later won the
Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994.
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 graduated from McGill in 1987
with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and also did some post-graduate
work in sports psychology. He played 146 career games with the McGill Redmen
and tallied 107 points with 301 penalty minutes, graduating as the second-highest
scoring rearguard in McGill history.
Babcock has had a distinguished coaching career and entered the 2008 Stanley
Cup playoffs with a lifetime 656-470-114 regular season coaching record, including
a 231-132-47 NHL mark in five seasons. 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 45-year-old
native of Saskatoon, Sask., who was born in Manitouwadge, Ont., and has lived
in six Canadian provinces and four U.S. states (including his most recent residence
in Michigan).
He began his coaching career in England in 1987 as a player-coach for Whitley
Warriors, them moved on to coaching stints with Red Deer College (1988-91),
the Moose Jaw Warriors (1991-93), University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (1993-94),
Spokane Chiefs (1994-2000), Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (2000-02) and the Anaheim
Mighty Ducks (2002-05) before joining the Red Wings.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Dept. of Athletics
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue W.,
Montreal, QC H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca
