The Red Wings will almost certainly not make the postseason this spring, ending the franchise's 25-year playoff streak.
Mike Babcock spoke about the end of that run, before his Maple Leafs faced the Red Wings on Tuesday night.
"Just think about what they've been able to do. What happens is, right away, you want to go right from that to a bunch of young kids and get it going again. It doesn't happen like that. That's the problem," he said.
Babcock credited Ken Holland, Mike Ilitch, and the Red Wings organization for "maximizing out the resources they had."
He recalled his entry into Detroit, too.
"I went there in '05, and at that time they were supposed to be going into the tank. And then the next 10 years, they proceeded to make the playoffs every year," he said.
"But there's points in our time that it catches up to you."
