Anybody that believes the changes in the lineup that occurred prior to the Chicago game was all part of some master plan Babcock
had, are giving him way too much credit. The team for half the season played a slow dump and chase game because of the way Babcock constructed his lines with the personnel he wanted playing. The only reason the Leafs were close in many of those games was because of the goaltending. Despite what was obvious to many fans and hockey observers, Babcock wanted to continue playing his old school hockey system with a team that could not be as successful as one that plays with speed and skill. Babcock keeps telling the fans and media that he wants to win every game, and I believe he believes the slower, dump and chase game was the way to go. However, it is being born out that maybe some of the fans and media (former coaches and players) know a little something as well.
But the lines he constructed during that period weren't any different from the lines he used all last year, and to start this year (minus the new additions), and we had some success (though we also had some weaknesses, and teams were starting to adapt to our style of play). This is the biggest mid-season line adjustment we've seen from him since this core first got together last year, so that can't be the reason
why we were playing that specific style during that stretch. I believe it's less because Babcock likes a more defensive style of hockey (he's actually explicitly stated the opposite - "I’m a big believer that you don’t want to play defence. Having the puck is way more fun, playing in the offensive zone is way more fun. So let’s build a structure and habits so that we can do that. If you don’t work, if you don’t execute quick in the [defensive] zone, if you don’t slow people down through the neutral zone, you can’t be on offence. I call our end the work zone, neutral ice, the speed zone, and their end the fun zone. Let’s figure out a way to get in it." -
Mike Babcock: 23 men, 23 ways to coach - Macleans.ca) and more because we needed to try and find other ways to break into the offensive zone once teams realized they could neuter us with The Trap, and needed to get better at holding teams off in the neutral zone.
What people are suggesting Babcock wanted goes against what he's always spoken about, and what he'd shown us he wanted throughout the entirety of his tenure here thus far. We were all about skill and speed and killing teams with offense all the way up until it became apparent that that couldn't be the only way to win. This winning streak has been built on a combination of unleashing that speed and skill and applying the lessons we've been working on. There's still been some dump-and-chase elements incorporated in our game when necessary, and we stymied the attacks of both New York teams on back-to-back nights, making them look like they couldn't get a single thing going offensively.
And while Babcock does love to win every game, this is what he said prior to his first season as the Leafs coach - "This is going to be a long process; it's going to take time. This is going to be a massive, massive challenge. ... I love to win. I have a burning desire to win. But I also want to win in the end. I don't just want to get in the playoffs; I want to win. I want to be here with these guys and build a team off the ice and on the ice that the fans of the
Toronto Maple Leafs can be proud of." -
Babcock intends to change culture of Maple Leafs
So again, I don't think he felt that he needed to implement a specific style that he stubbornly believed was the right way to win, tried it for 2-3 months, realized it was no good and scrapped it after finally listening to the reason of the masses. I think he understands that teams need to be able to do lots of things well in order to create and sustain excellence. Speed and skill alone was never gonna cut it moving forward.
