The old saying is that the worst thing your parents can say to you is, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just disappointed in you." The Red Wings are dealing with the same treatment from their coach.
"Frustrated is a waste of energy; I'm disappointed," Mike Babcock said Thursday morning after making his team skate for 30 minutes. The bench boss wishes he could have forced them to skate longer, but with the Bruins on the schedule Friday night, he held back.
"We earned the right to skate for a long, long time, and we had a good little brisk skate," he said. "I think everybody got the message. … If we don't compete at the highest level, then we'll have to look after it each and every day, because that's unacceptable here."
The Wings lost 4-1 to Nashville on Wednesday night, the latest in a stretch of poor performances.
"I didn't think [Wednesday] night that we were good at any particular time in the game," Babcock said.
It's probably a safe bet to expect a certain level of focus when the Red Wings arrive at the TD Garden, and with the Bruins coming off an emotional, fight-filled win over the Canadiens, Friday night could be another classic.
Check out the rest of what Babcock had to say, including his praise of the Bruins and Tim Thomas, in the video below.
