On the Wings

The Associated Press reports that Dave Lewis will no longer be the Red Wings’ coach after two seasons plus a lockout year. GM Ken Holland announced this at a press conference today. Holland gave insight into their reason for not renewing Lewis’ contract.

“I worry that Dave has made the transition as much as he could from assistant to head coach,” Holland said. “Of course, how could Dave grab their attention? He’s been here forever. I think he did an unbelievable job of making the transition, but you can only go so far.”

This will be the first season Lewis hasn’t been on the Wings’ staff since 1987. Holland told Lewis the news yesterday. “He was obviously very disappointed, but I also think he understood,” Holland said.

Like rumored, this event will surely allow Mike Babcock to find his way to Hockeytown. However, Holland denies that anything has been final and he has other coaches he’d like to consider aside from Babcock. “I have had conversations with Mike Babcock and his adviser over the past week,” Holland said. “He is not hired. I expect to have further conversations with him and/or his adviser. I have other people in mind that I have not talked to.”

Unfortunately, the press conference was not broadcasted here in Detroit at 11am when the conference was held. Fox Sports Net (Detroit) is promising that the press conference will be shown once this beach volleyball game is finished (at least I like the sport and it’s featuring Misty May and Keri Walsh, who I enjoyed watching during the Olympics). While I don’t feel that Lewis was working well with the Wings because they needed a fresh coach. But I do feel sad that he’s been with the organization for 18 years (I’ve only been alive for that length of time) and now he has to move on from a city he’s lived in for so long.

Update: After watching the press conference, Holland offered great praise for Lewis and said that it was a hard transition from assistant coach (traditional mother) to head coach (traditional father) of the same team and that he would make for a great coach in a different organization. It was hard for the players and Lewis to work in a different relationship as head coach than an assistant coach. Holland did mention that he offered Lewis a job in the organization as some sort of scout because he has a great eye for hockey. Once a new coach is in place, Barry Smith and Joe Kocur will be given strong consideration. However, the new coach will have great input with the people he will be working with.

Another reason for the coaching change is that Holland wanted a continuity for the team after winning the cup in 2002. With the same core group of players and with a continuity in coaches, Holland didn’t want to interfere with a winning team. But with the lockout break and a new CBA, the continuity will have been broken. Holland didn’t want the team to be “same old, same old.”

Holland talked with Steve Yzerman on Thursday and will continue to do so in an effort to keep Yzerman on the team. He also believe Nick Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the world and wants to have him remain in the squad. He wants a coach on the bench who can take the team as far as it can go.

I’ll update later tonight if there is anymore Wings’ news!

UPDATE (Matt): Anaheim’s new GM, Brian Burke, never a huge fan of the Wings, apparently has not heard from Detroit on the subject of Mike Babcock. He said yesterday that, if the Wings do in fact sign Babcock (without talking to Burke first), it would be a “shocking breach of etiquette.” This in spite of the fact that Babcock is technically no longer a part of the Ducks organization since his contract expired on the 30th. Sorry Brian but he’s not yours any more. What would the Wings have to say to you? Maybe if you’d offered the guy more than a one-year contract, he’d have stuck around. Tough luck.

Also, Carole Lee Sussman points out that Babcock will have a very task ahead of him: getting the Wings to function without their long-time leader Steve Yzerman. If not this coming season, then the one, it’s going to happen and it won’t be pretty unless Babcock can pull it off. Fortunately, he does have experience with a situation like that. He had to do it last season with the Ducks after Paul Kariya signed with Colorado. Not that he was overly successful…

Of course, he hasn’t been hired yet and so all of this may not matter anyway but it looks like it’s very likely he will be.