MONTREAL - Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock could have played it safe last summer as he sought two new assistant coaches.

Babcock needed to replace seasoned veterans and friends in Paul MacLean, who was headed to Ottawa as the new bench boss of the Senators, and Brad McCrimmon, who left for Russia to head the Kontinental league’s Lokomotiv squad then tragically would die in the September air crash that killed the entire team.

There was a deep pool in which Babcock could cast his line, no shortage of experienced coaches surely willing to join one of the National Hockey League’s most successful clubs.

But the 48-year-old considered what he’d absorbed from an inspirational book and chose a less predictable path, finally giving Bill Peters and Jeff Blashill their first NHL jobs as his wingmen.

As they prepare to take on the Canadiens Wednesday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 990), the Red Wings are the league’s best club and one of the early favourites to challenge for the Stanley Cup.

Babcock has joked that he’s strong on R&D; in his case, that is rob and do. Even today, with his remarkable pedigree, he admits he’s a shameless thief.

“I’m borrowing all the time,” Babcock said Tuesday. “We’re in constant change. It was on purpose that I hired guys who hadn’t been in the NHL before.”

It’s this kind of progressive, outside-the-box thinking that has made Babcock one of hockey’s elite coaches, arguably its best, and the only winner of the game’s trifecta: the Stanley Cup, Olympic Games and world championship.

As he began his search for new assistants, Babcock pored over Geoff Colvin’s bestselling Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else.

“The book talked about all the young, enthusiastic people who were outdoing the old veterans,” he said. “So I asked myself, ‘Why wouldn’t I do that?’ I found guys who won at the levels they were at with new ideas, and tried to get ideas that way.

“(Detroit general manager) Ken Holland and I were discussing the direction we were going and we wanted to change our approach. I was going to be in my seventh year with Detroit. You get to be like Charlie Brown’s teacher after awhile.

“Every time I’m out, I’m looking to learn something from everyone. You can learn from people in any walk of life to make you better at what you do. If you’re doing tomorrow what you’ve been doing for the past few years, the chance of you winning and being successful is very, very slim. To me, success is a moving target. You always have to be better.”

The thirst for knowledge is in Babcock’s DNA, a driving force in his life since even before he captained the McGill Redmen in the mid-1980s. He wore his McGill tie Tuesday night at a Montreal cocktail reception of the university’s alumni association, at which he spoke, and he’ll wear one behind the bench against the Canadiens. Famously, a McGill tie was knotted around Babcock’s neck when he led Team Canada to a stirring triumph in the gold-medal game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

McGill revels in his success, and that of five other alumni making a living in the NHL, coincidentally all former Redmen captains:

Mathieu Darche plays for the Canadiens; Babcock is joined in the coaching ranks by Tampa Bay’s Guy Boucher and Martin Raymond and Jamie Kompon in Los Angeles; and Ken Morin is the Canadiens’ coordinator of hockey operations, under GM Pierre Gauthier.

Babcock arrived in town Tuesday to learn his alma mater had moved atop university hockey’s national ranking.

It’s been a milestone month for the Red Wings coach, who on Jan. 12 earned his 400th NHL victory and one game later coached his 700th league match. He became the third-fastest NHL coach to reach the 400 milestone; only Scotty Bowman, in 690 games, and Glen Sather, in 694, got there quicker, with now fourth-fastest Toe Blake in 724.

“It wasn’t the number, but who I got there with,” the Saskatoon native said of his illustrious company. “I love being part of a great organization like Detroit. We’re fortunate to have a real good team and, as you can see in the NHL, it’s very hard to have a good team from year to year. We’ve been a model of consistency for a long time.”

As hockey has evolved during his days behind the bench, so, too, has Babcock embraced change.

“All experiences in life change you. You’re in constant evolution,” he said. “The coach I was three years ago, two years ago, is different than the coach I am now.

“One of the things that Scotty Bowman did as well as anybody is embrace lifelong learning. He had energy and was always pursuing knowledge. I like to think I’m much the same, trying to get better all the time. My philosophy and thoughts about the game are probably more deep-rooted. But in saying all that, I’m open to anything.”

Babcock joined the Red Wings following the 2004-05 lockout. He had coached in Anaheim for two seasons and brought the Mighty Ducks to within one win of Stanley Cup victory in 2002-03, his rookie year.

Wednesday will be his 1,761st game coached at all levels, his career having begun with community college Red Deer in 1988-89. Babcock has 705 regular-season NHL games on his resumé, winning 63.4 per cent of them.

His work with the Ducks is among his career highlights, he says, as was winning the 1994 Canadian collegiate championship with Lethbridge, the world juniors three years later and the 2004 world championship.

“Of course, there’s the (2008) Stanley Cup,” Babcock said. “And it’s hard to get better than winning Olympic gold in your own country, the way we did. Whichever one I was living at the time was the biggest moment by far.

“You have to live in the present to be successful. That’s my focus. In Detroit this year, it looks like we might have an opportunity.

“It’s fun to look back at pictures and say we did this well, but the reality is, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ We haven’t won a Cup since 2008 and the Olympics were two years ago.”

Not exactly a drought compared to the dry spell of the Canadiens, who won their last title 19 years ago.

The Red Wings arrive here riding a seven-game win streak and a stunning 17-game run on home ice, the latter trailing by three the NHL record of the 1930 Boston Bruins and 1976 Philadelphia Flyers.

Babcock is aware of the delicate situation Canadiens head coach Randy Cunneyworth finds himself in here, but wisely says: “I don’t think it does me any good to have an opinion on that.”

A visit to Montreal is always a delight, he says, recalling Dick Irvin’s gentle McGill recruitment phone calls and early 1980s Forum tickets Irvin provided for Babcock and his father.

“I was a big fan of the Canadiens,” he said. “I remember coaching in the (2009 NHL) All-Star Game when they kept introducing Montreal legends, who came out into the stands at the top of the arena. All those Stanley Cups. The guys on the bench were laughing.

“The history is absolutely phenomenal. Scotty coached there eight years and won five Cups, I’ve talked to him lots about that. To me, they’re a marvellous franchise that have done real well. The people of Quebec are so proud of them and that’s what makes a visit to the city so special.”

Babcock’s wife, Maureen, will fly in Wednesday for the game, then the couple will relax in town through Saturday. But before they kick back, there’s work to do – no matter how high the coach has his Red Wings flying.

“We’re in the day-to-day winning business, don’t kid yourself,” Babcock said. “If you don’t win enough, it doesn’t matter how many moral victories you have, they’re not very happy with you. In Detroit, we focus on doing good things and good things will happen. If we do those things, it all looks after itself.”

dstubbs@montrealgazette.com

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