Carlyle, Babcock share 'amazing' parallels
Ducks-Red Wings preview from the Orange County Register: The Ducks coach and his Red Wings counterpart will be forever entwined.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and Detroit Red Wings counterpart Mike Babcock go back.
It isn't that Carlyle and Babcock, whose clubs open a second-round Stanley Cup playoff series Friday night at Joe Louis Arena, have a long history. They don't even know each other all that well, with most of their interaction having taken place at NHL drafts and coaching clinics.
"It's not like we haven't talked, but we've never been fishing," Babcock said.
Still, their careers will forever be intertwined because it was Babcock's decision to leave the Ducks and join the Red Wings in 2005 that opened the door for Carlyle's first NHL head-coaching job. The two have formed the class of the league's coaching ranks since, each winning a Stanley Cup championship, each making another appearance in the Western Conference finals and each winning seven of nine playoff series.
Babcock owns a 32-18, postseason record since going to Detroit. Carlyle is 31-18 with the Ducks.
"It's amazing, the parallels that have been drawn," Carlyle said. "It was a good situation for both of us. I was getting an opportunity, and he was getting an opportunity that he felt was a dream job, to coach the Detroit Red Wings. It's worked out well for him, and hopefully people feel it's worked out well for me, 'cause I do."
Babcock, who took the Ducks to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the New Jersey Devils in his first NHL season, 2002-03, left after Brian Burke took over as Ducks general manager following the 2004-05 lockout. Having never worked together, Burke offered Babcock only a one-year contract, and Babcock, seeking better job security, found it in Detroit.
Burke moved quickly to hire Carlyle, who led the Ducks to the 2007 Stanley Cup championship, beating the Red Wings in the Western Conference finals. Babcock and Detroit succeeded the Ducks as champions in 2008, and now the survivor of this series might loom as the 2009 favorite.
"I think things happen for a reason," Babcock said. "I don't know many programs that have done more winning since the lockout than their program and our program. Year after year, if you knock on the door, it doesn't guarantee success, but it gives you a chance.
"We've both been fortunate in that we've had people acquiring good players, so we have good people to coach. That can never be understated. What's exciting about this series is we have two veteran teams that know how hard it is and what it takes to be successful. It should be fun."
Carlyle and Babcock share other common ground. After settling in Anaheim Hills, where Babcock and his family had lived, Carlyle and his family just happened to join the same church. And before leaving town, Babcock set up Carlyle with an automobile arrangement at a local dealership.
"He did me a huge favor," Carlyle said. "California has been great to me and my family, and Michigan and the situation here has been great for Mike Babcock and his family."
Only two Ducks, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and right wing Rob Niedermayer, remain from the Babcock era.
While "Randy is definitely more vocal than Babs," Giguere said, the similarities are striking.
"You're not going to catch either of them off guard," Giguere said. "They know their opponents. They've done their homework. They are both pretty good at X's and O's, knowing the game and explaining the game to guys."
The means might not always be popular, but the end certainly is.
"They really know how to get everyone prepared and playing at their best," Niedermayer said. "That's an easy thing to say, but it's a hard thing to do. As players, you might not like it, but when you have success, it's hard to really argue."
And while nothing is ever guaranteed in the coaching business, the resumes owned by Carlyle and Babcock would suggest this might not be the last time they meet in the playoffs.
"It's no different than a player," Babcock said. "You have to establish yourself in the league, and then you get to stay around for a while. Ideally for Randy and I, we get to do that."
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KEYS TO THE SERIES
1. NET EFFECT: Just as was the case in 2003, when Jean-Sebastien Giguere badly outplayed Detroit?s Curtis Joseph in a stunning first-round sweep, the Ducks will need a big advantage in goal in order to win. There is no reason to think Jonas Hiller will not continue his sparkling play for the Ducks, but there are plenty of questions about Red Wings veteran Chris Osgood, who has been both a playoff hero and goat during his long career.
2. MONEY MEN: Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne scored arguably the two biggest goals in Ducks franchise history to produce a critical Game 5 victory at Detroit in the 2007 Western Conference finals. Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf were tremendous in the opening-round series against San Jose, while Selanne broke a goal drought with the winner in Game 6. The Ducks will need Niedermayer, Pronger, Getzlaf and Selanne to outplay Red Wings stars Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa.
3. JOE WHO? Just 3-24-3 all-time in regular-season play at Joe Louis Arena, the Ducks have won four of their past five playoff games at the venerable building on the banks of the Detroit River. A combined 24-16-4 on the road during the regular season and playoffs, the Ducks historically start well on foreign ice in the playoffs, just as they did in sweeping the opening two games in San Jose during the first round.
