- Jun 15, 2004
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Breaking news Mike Babcock fired!
- Thread starter Toronto Passions
- Start date
Philip. You are too fast.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nh...coach-mike-babcock/ar-BBX3X0M?ocid=spartanntp
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nh...coach-mike-babcock/ar-BBX3X0M?ocid=spartanntp
- Jun 15, 2004
- 8,127
- 1,178
- 113
I was actually in our PM, and I get the notifications because I’ve got 20 million apps telling me this lol. Same sort of thing happened when Don Cherry was let go.
Philip
A coaching change will give the team a slight spark, but I am really convinced it’s a Dubas issue and since Lamoriello left, he has painted himself into a corner. The Nylander contract was a mistake, not just because he underperforms. This kid has one skill set and if he can’t score or pass, there is nothing else he can do. However, signing him made Dubas look weak, and the player agents took advantage. Now there zero cap room to fix mistakes, or get a decent backup goaltender. Also, members who say the team lacks grit are kinda right, what they lack is the skill set needed to compete when the team is under duress. One can argue Dubas built a one dimensional scoring team. Babcock (or any coach) is not going to convince Nylander to aggressively check if he doesn’t have the puck.
I thought we had a dream team running the organization when we had Hunter for drafting, Dubas for analytics, Lamoriello for contracts and trades, Babcock for coaching and Shanahan overseeing everything. That’s the makeup for a championship organization. Things were looking up and I never had been more optimistic about the Leafs’ chances.
So what went wrong ? Was it all on Babcock ?
Shanahan is doubling down on his faith on Dubas, and I suspect he’s trying to copy the Raptors’ formula for success. If Nurse could guide the Raptors to a championship as a rookie, maybe Keefe can do the same. The question I have is, do we have a player equivalent to a Kawhi Leonard on the Leafs lineup ?
So what went wrong ? Was it all on Babcock ?
Shanahan is doubling down on his faith on Dubas, and I suspect he’s trying to copy the Raptors’ formula for success. If Nurse could guide the Raptors to a championship as a rookie, maybe Keefe can do the same. The question I have is, do we have a player equivalent to a Kawhi Leonard on the Leafs lineup ?
Nick Nurse is brilliant, he is the master at at changing his defence and offence mid game to effectively compete. Masi, also a genius, he can see talent where others don’t.
I liked the Leafs dream team, now gone, are we left with another lost decade?
I liked the Leafs dream team, now gone, are we left with another lost decade?
And where's Lou Lamoriello now.......with the New York Islanders. A team punching way above the belt. Just like his teams in Jersey. Now if it were my call I would have promoted Mark Hunter to GM over Dubas. The last time we let a rookie run the show we got JFJ and we all know how well that turned out. That being said I think Dubas has made some good moves - bringing in Tavares and trading for Muzzin and Barrie/Kerfoot. Where he has failed is in letting McElhinney leave and not bringing in enough grit to balance out the lineup.
It was obvious the last few games that the players had quit on Babcock. His stubbornness in not making in game adjustments was part of his undoing - but he was also saddled with a roster of mainly under performing players and a huge turnover in players (and injuries to key players did not help).
Time for the Leaf's players to step up and show some professionalism and pride and play hard.
Time for the Leaf's players to step up and show some professionalism and pride and play hard.
The sour relationship Babcock had with Matthews might have something to do with his “losing the room”. Matthews and Marner are very tight and I wouldn’t be surprised if they sided with Dubas on the power struggle between Dubas and Babcock (which was speculated in the summer). After all, Dubas was the one who handed them the fat contracts.
Babcock lost the dressing room no question. He also wasn't happy about losing his two assistant coaches and two of his favorite players in Connor Brown and Ron Hainsey. That led to the friction with Dubas and management. But where Babcock lost my support was opening night when he sat Spezza. I don't think that went over well with many of the Leafs players either.
That's two skill sets.
And, he's been one of Toronto's best players this season, with an A.A.V. contract of less than $7,000,000.
William Nylander is not the problem.
Nylander and Matthews need a Hyman type player to get them the puck in the corners.
