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Below is Mike Babcock’s media address ahead of the game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.


How do you measure the challenge here for your club tonight?

Mike Babcock: Obviously, Chicago has been a real good team for a long period of time. Good, good players. To be honest with you, I hoping we’re a lot like Chicago was. I think we played them in the Western Conference Final in maybe 2007, or something like that, and they were just starting to pick up speed. They’ve had a real good run here. We’d like to have a good run. We’ve got lots of kids and we’re trying to learn how to play, just like they were.

Do you see some parallels between your team and that Chicago team?

Babcock: For sure. The only thing about it is everybody wants to be the next Lidstrom, but there’s only one Lidstrom. There’s only one Chicago, so now you’ve got to create your own path. We’re starting to have a stable full of kids. You need skill, and then you’ve got to learn how to play. You’ve got to develop a culture of accepting nothing less than winning here.

[Jonthan Toews] here is, to me, the drive train for this team. He’s as determined as anybody I’ve been around. He’s been the moral fibre of the team. He does it right all the time. He ‘s set a high bar here.

On that subject, Paul Maurice was saying Patrik Laine needed to take some advice from players, as well as himself. He didn’t want to be the only one giving him advice. Comparing that to Auston, do you hope some of your players make a good influence on him?

Babcock: Absolutely. We’ve been very conscious of the people we keep around. He’s a smart guy, too, though. He’s going to be surrounded by lots of people in his lifetime. He’s got to make good decisions on who those people are. There will be lots of people that want to get their own, but you’ve got to decide who you are going to let into your immediate circle. Those people end up having an influence on you. Those are the people that give you a tightening when you step out of line. I think it’s real important for him that he makes good choices there.

What has stood out to you most about Auston so far?

Babcock: Well, he’s a talented kid. Mitch Marner, Nylander, Hyman and Brown, Carrick and Zaitsev… I don’t know if I’ve missed anybody there, but they’ve all been excellent. They work real hard. They’re real determined. You guys talk about Matthews lots, but we talk about the group and go from there.

That group of role players for the Hawks keeps changing year after year. One of the guys is Panik. He’s got five goals, two assists right now…

Babcock: He was a Leaf. Yeah, it’s hard to believe that he… anyway, whatever.

I was going to ask – what about him… it probably doesn’t surprise you, I’d think?

Babcock: The first time I saw Panik play was in the Calder Cup Finals. He was playing the year Grand Rapids won the Calder Cup. Tampa’s team, Syracuse, I think had won it the year before. In the two games I went to, Panik was the best player. For whatever reason, it took him some time. He didn’t make our team at the start last year, but he was in the minors, and they made a minor-league deal for him. Obviously, we didn’t have the same value for him as the Hawks do. He’s proving them right. Sometimes it takes two or three stops for a young man to figure out what he is, but he’s playing with a real good player in Toews. He’s around the net, he’s a big body; he can shoot the puck. Good for him.

Was it more of a consistency thing for him? That’s what [Joel Quenneville] was always saying.

Babcock: He’s Q’s player. Ask Q.

Same defence tonight as in Minnesota, or is Marty ready to come back?

Babcock: Marty is ready to come back. It’s the same defence.

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