Speculation: Babcock Turning Matthews Into A Checker & The Leafs Into Boring Chumps

[Suntouchable13]

I think he is going to adjust eventually (i.e. stop giving Komarov so much ice time) it just takes him a long time.

 

[ShaneFalco]

This team made to 20 wins 3 fastest then ever and people here still lose their crap.

And that means what now? Or is it as long as they're winning, even if it means the goalie stands on their head, they get out-played and out-shot and look disinterested for periods of time, but as long as they get a win noone should be concerned at all?

 

[stickty111]

Defense first often wins playoff series.

Clearly the Penguins didnt get the memo.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Clearly the Penguins didnt get the memo.

Are they the only team to win the cup ?

 

[Mess]

Clearly the Penguins didnt get the memo.

Playoff Stats Leaders

Goals Against Average
#1 Matt Murray 1.70 GAA

Save Percentage
#1 Matt Murray .937 sv%

NHL Hockey Statistics and League Leaders - National Hockey League - ESPN

Clearly they didn't as Pens goalie lead the playoffs in sv% and goals against average.

Round #1 Pitts wins 4 games vs Columbus 1 .............. 13 GA /5 games = 2.6 GAA
Round #2 Pitts wins 4 games vs Washington 3 ....... 18 GA /7 games = 2.57 GAA
Round #3 Pitts wins 4 games vs Ottawa 3 .................. 13 GA/7 games = 1.86 GAA
Round #4 Pitts wins 4 games vs Nashville 2 .............. 13 GA/6 games = 2.16 GAA

"Defense wins Championships"

 

[SprDaVE]

I think he is going to adjust eventually (i.e. stop giving Komarov so much ice time) it just takes him a long time.

He won't. He'll bet that he and some of the other veterans will snap out of it and keep the younger players sheltered, no matter the performance.

 

[hockeyes]

I said it earlier in the season, shortly after the "pond hockey" phase, that it looked like he was over coaching the team. At the start of the year, all Babcock did was shit on the team post-game for having some fun and winning a few high scoring games while Andersen was struggling and couldn't stop anything anyway "It's stupid" etc. Nobody will pretend they didn't need to tighten up from their start but he's got them so tight now they have absolutely zero creativity and no chemistry at all.

It really seems like Babcock is trying to earn his money rather than taking a step back and being critical about his thought process. Teams play their best when they are loose and having fun while also buying into a system, the coaches job is to find a balance between the two extremes. When Marners offensive creativity degrades into continually trying a slap-pass deflection from the top of the circle every shift, you've gone too far.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Then we have the 2014 Canadian Olympic and 2016 World Cup Teams, two of the most expensive rosters ever assembled, and yet it looked like they were programmed to win by scores of 2-1. Heavy, puck possession team where every star player seemed to turn into a high end grinder, whole operation built around elite goaltending.

That's not a fair description of those teams at all. They completed dominated every aspect of the game and played nearly perfect hockey by basically running all four lines through 40-second shifts rather than chasing matchups. Yes, they won a lot of close games score-wise but they pretty much always had a big lead in possession and scoring chances and were never just dumping it in or trying to clog up the neutral zone to hang on to a slim lead in the third period.

 

[Menzinger]

Holy **** that’s deep.

Our goal is to score many points while at the same time limiting our opponent to fewer points.

I understand that I was poking fun at folks who keep bringing up “defense wins championships” line

 

[Menzinger]

I don't understand this post. We've been a highly mediocre team that rode unsustainable goaltending for a while, and we should be much better than that. That's why there are complaints. People don't expect Leafs to dominate. We expect them to play like a solid team, which they absolutely should be, and have been.

Yep.

To me, what’s been frustrating is that I think the Leafs can be a really, really good team this year. They just haven’t been playing very well for a while though.

 

[Anthrax442]

And that means what now? Or is it as long as they're winning, even if it means the goalie stands on their head, they get out-played and out-shot and look disinterested for periods of time, but as long as they get a win noone should be concerned at all?

No, is that we can be in a much worse position, and there is no reason to freak out. Any team gets lazy sometimes and has a stretch of games that stink. These guys are young and they are still learning how to play in nhl, freaking out about it is silly. Especially since none of us can influence anything going on with the team.

 

[Semantics]

This was a team with three first lines, and Babcock turned them into a team with three third lines. It's impressive in a twisted way.

 

[Willy Styles]

Man, Babcock has completely ruined my enthusiasm and excitement for this team . Its difficult to even sit through these games.

I can just imagine what the players are going through. Nylander played with better line mates in the AHL, and Marner had better line mates in the OHL. Only to reach the NHL and be paired with plugs.

 

[Slyfox]

I get wanting to tighten up defensively but why did we switch to a dump and chase system. All the best teams in the league play a puck possession style game. Look at how the Pens have short passes and transition into the ozone. I don't see Malkin, Kessel and Crosby dumping the puck. Makes no sense.

 

[Ulysses31]

wonder timetable on matthews injury? Think he will be shut down till after Xmas?

 

[Blanche Blanche]

I get wanting to tighten up defensively but why did we switch to a dump and chase system. All the best teams in the league play a puck possession style game. Look at how the Pens have short passes and transition into the ozone. I don't see Malkin, Kessel and Crosby dumping the puck. Makes no sense.

I feel the same... even the basement teams like Arizona, heck MTL 2 weeks ago, Ottawa, they all have this structure and it leads to odd man rushes, but the leafs seem to hail mary pass every time, and hey it was working 1/3 of the season when were were 2nd in the East.

Lets see what happens in the next stretch, maybe babcock will wake up

 

[frizzer1]

After the Montreal game when Babcock apparently had a brain cramp and took Hyman off Matthews' line (and the offense exploded) , he remarked that the goals by Matthews from Marner ( and Martin) came in a 6 goal game and didn't mean anything...
Here was a coach who apparently was embarrassed at how well his potluck lines performed and had to state that it meant nothing.....
It would have been an insult to him that his thought out line combos and practices and strategies were outperformed by a mishmas of lines that he just threw out there..

I've never seen a coach try to downplay what was an impressive performance..
That's where Babcock lost me for good.........it looked like his ego took over...

Also it was interesting to me that he used the same lines in practice the next day and everyone thought they would start the game that way...and then ..and then....Hyman was back on the line to start and has been ever since..

 

[david999]

looks like a lot more people are finally realizing that the Emperor has no clothes.

 

[MJ65]

It's not about turning some one in to a checker - it's more about playing a complete 2 way game

 

[Leafidelity]

looks like a lot more people are finally realizing that the Emperor has no clothes.

The Leafs will always have bandwagoners. Even apparently with a (projected) 100 point team. They bang off a couple wins in a row and we'll see a lot of different tunes sung.

Remember when Babcock "turned Rielly into a checker" last year? I do.

 

[darrylsittler27]

All I know is it ain't working so it won't last. Is it time to part with the Burke tanker remnants yet? No cup this year ,great but let's have some fun and score again.

 

[therealkoho]

LeaFlanders in full whine

relax people, it's called a learning curve, I like 7-5 wins, but what I like a lot more is 2-1 wins in the playoffs....the kids need to learn that game, they need to notch up the intensity of the forecheck and most of all, get on their collective horses and back check like mad mother *******

 

[Tak7]

I'll play Devil's Advocate here, even though I hate the way the Leafs are playing, but....

... the team hasn't been very good defensively. Babcock is trying to teach them to play a better 2-way game. Is it really reasonable to expect the team to learn after just 5-8 games? Systemic changes like this can often take, what, 10-15 games? 20? More than that?

I agree that it's not working, but I sense that Babcock feels we haven't gone through enough of this experiment yet, which could be problematic from a fan-viewing experience.

I do generally believe the team will be better off because of this.

 

[Leafs87]

I think he is going to adjust eventually (i.e. stop giving Komarov so much ice time) it just takes him a long time.

I hope so. Komorov is actually horrible and Hymand on the top line was once a joke but now is actually pissing me off and making me think he’s destroying the teams potential. No reason Leivo, Kapanen should be sitting in favour of Hyman and Komorov.

Also Marincin call up over Dermott is not a smart choice either whoever made that one

 

[Nithoniniel]

The reports that they are basically using their cushion as an opportunity to teach is encouraging in that it means there's method to the madness. Nothing would worry me more than a management team that wants the team to play like this. But if it's done to instill certain values with a focus on certain things, cost what it may cost in terms of performance, then it might do long-term good and, most importantly, have an expiration date.