When you sit with people you love, if you say something stupid, they call you on it - because they're honest with you and they're making you better. That's what we're as couches going to have here with our players. We're going to have an honest respect for one another, to make everyone maximize the potential they have. I expect the players to listen to me, and I'm going to listen to them. We've got to make each other better, and it's the way to create safety, because the players know you've got their backs. When you tell a player what you want, he will try to please you.
Mike BabcockWhen I come to the rink each day, in my heart and my mind, I'm going to expect to win, because that's the way I think. It's going to be way different than it has in the past for me, in some ways, coming here.
Mike BabcockThere is something about Game 7 that there's a memory there for you for sure. You want to be a coach or a manager or a player or a goaltender that gets it done, because to me, that's all part of sports. That's what you dream about when you're a little kid - scoring the winning goal.
Mike BabcockWhen you don't make people accountable, it leads to a superstar mentality where not everyone on the team is important.
Mike BabcockYou know what happens to guys? There's what I call the individual time of their career, and the team time of their career. This is the team time. You don't care about all the other stuff. You just want to live in one place, and watch your kids grow up and go to the same school. You say, 'Hey, maybe I'd better play well and be a good enough guy that they keep me.'
Mike Babcock