Pretty cool milestone for Mike Babcock on Thursday night, when the Leafs’ 2-1 overtime win against the Golden Knights marked the 700th win in his NHL career.
That makes him just the eighth coach in NHL history to hit the 700-mark, and just one of four active coaches to do so — Jets bench boss Paul Maurice also hit the milestone in October.
Ahead of Babcock on the all-time leaderboard are Scotty Bowman (with his ridiculous 1,244 career wins), Joel Quenneville (897), Ken Hitchcock (849), Barry Trotz (821), Al Arbour (782), Lindy Ruff (736) and Maurice (703).
Most of Babs’ wins have come from his decorated stint in Detroit, with the remainder from the Maple Leafs as well as his initial NHL head coaching gig in Anaheim. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but you can’t say that Babock isn’t accomplished.
