Would the Leafs be doing better right now if Babcock wasn’t the coach?
- Thread starter OppositeLocK
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hatterson
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NextYear67
Averaging over a like per post
What ?
They would play more games against the top contenders in their "new" division.
They would play the same number of games against the top contenders of two of the other three divisions.
What does that have to do with your initial post I was responding to ?
Don't move the goal posts.
FerrisRox
"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
The Maple Leafs should replace their management team not their coach.
It was the General Manager's office that looked at that roster and thought the only thing that needed to be added to shore up the glaring weakness on the roster was Ron Hainsey.
What is Babcock supposed to do with that defense core? It's not his fault.
FerrisRox
"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
You don't have much knowledge about hockey if you think the Maple Leafs aren't playing a system.
His system is good but sometimes he is really stubborn and has a love affair with slow vets, and rarely changes lines until the last minute.
Leafs problem for the last couple of years has been defense. They need better D men. Only one I trust is Reilly and maybe Zietsev.
Leafs problem for the last couple of years has been defense. They need better D men. Only one I trust is Reilly and maybe Zietsev.
Yeah the management group is so bad, They've gone from last overall to 105 points in 2 years.
OppositeLocK
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Their fans are more stubborn (i.e. in denial) than Babcock.
Look at their D core. It's atrocious. Other than Reilly and Dermott, the rest should go. They have no business being top 6 on the blue line. Andersen gets 40+ shots consistently and when they win, it's usually due to him standing on his head. Sometimes, the Leafs hold the other team to 25-ish chances but usually, enough are quality scoring chances against and it's usually due to poor defensive play by the team (and d core again - awful coverage). Is that a coaching problem? I think the personnel is a bigger problem than the coaching but some of the line combinations have been eye openers and questionable but really, what do you do with it?
They made some questionable personnel decisions regarding forwards (too) but that is on management, also.
Look at their D core. It's atrocious. Other than Reilly and Dermott, the rest should go. They have no business being top 6 on the blue line. Andersen gets 40+ shots consistently and when they win, it's usually due to him standing on his head. Sometimes, the Leafs hold the other team to 25-ish chances but usually, enough are quality scoring chances against and it's usually due to poor defensive play by the team (and d core again - awful coverage). Is that a coaching problem? I think the personnel is a bigger problem than the coaching but some of the line combinations have been eye openers and questionable but really, what do you do with it?
They made some questionable personnel decisions regarding forwards (too) but that is on management, also.
OppositeLocK
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D is fine. The system you employ can either amplify your players’ strengths or weaknesses.
Pens did fine last year with a very shit d.
Pens did fine last year with a very shit d.
Georgetown Al
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TimThomas24
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Crease Master
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It's not that you are not allowed to negatively criticize Babcock on the Leafs board, it's just that when you do you sound like an idiot. Apparently the days of waffles being tossed on the ice are too far behind for your ant like memory to remember, but the Leafs were hot wet garbage without him and they are in the playoffs for the second straight year with him despite playing in a killer division. You can complain about having the 4th line on the ice at the wrong time costing a goal, you can complain about the presence of a grinder on a scoring line, but at the end of the day whatever decisions he's made got the team where it is now. Somehow I doubt Peter Horacheck or Randy Carlyle are capable of the same, let alone whatever other coaching options out there you feel are better than Babs. I mean it's pretty easy for Cassidy to look like a genius with the best line in hockey and the leftovers of a cup championship team to play with. That's a bit different than turning around a last place team. Out of curiosity, have you ever spent any time as the Edmonton Oiler's stick boy?
A little over the top here. Teams will lineup to add a Jake Gardiner if he's moved in the offseason. A 50+ point puck-moving Dman who's in his prime at 4 million next season?
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They played at an 85-ish point pace against playoff teams. And a 124-ish pace against non playoff teams. The biggest disparity amongst any playoff team.
Compared to what? Any other coach on planet Earth?
It is hard to say given how vague and broad the thread title is. Of the options available when the Leafs got him, I think he was clearly the best, and the team has achieved well above exceptions during his tenure; heck, we fans are b*tching about being down 3-2 in a playoff series, while two years ago we had the worst team in the NHL. Turning a collection of rookies and young guys into a Cup Contender is unfortunately neither an easy or linear process. Has Babacock made some tactical screw ups with line choices this year? Definitely. But he has very successfully developed the raw young talent on this team and managed to actually turn it towards team success (which is really the toughest part of a rebuild; look at Buffalo or the pre-McDavid Oilers as examples of a teams that never got beyon being a collection of individual talents and became an actual playoff team).
Babcock has overall done well.
It is hard to say given how vague and broad the thread title is. Of the options available when the Leafs got him, I think he was clearly the best, and the team has achieved well above exceptions during his tenure; heck, we fans are b*tching about being down 3-2 in a playoff series, while two years ago we had the worst team in the NHL. Turning a collection of rookies and young guys into a Cup Contender is unfortunately neither an easy or linear process. Has Babacock made some tactical screw ups with line choices this year? Definitely. But he has very successfully developed the raw young talent on this team and managed to actually turn it towards team success (which is really the toughest part of a rebuild; look at Buffalo or the pre-McDavid Oilers as examples of a teams that never got beyon being a collection of individual talents and became an actual playoff team).
Babcock has overall done well.
Good to hear. Every other year it's the opposite. They need to start doing that more.
I find Babcock's in game coaching poor at times with his infatuation with line changes. Maybe he should be banned from attending Leaf games. Promote Keefe game day.
FerrisRox
"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
First of all, I'm not saying the management group is bad, I'm saying they are who should be looked at before the (silly) criticisms of Mike Babcock
The defense is an absolute joke. If you disagree, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but the amount of times this team has given up 40+ shots in a game is alarming and the fact that your management group felt the answer to this problem was Ron Hainsey and Roman Polak and then didn't even bother adding any defenders at the deadline is a failure to support a group of young players that worked their asses off for this team.
As a Leaf fan you should be appalled that with a one goal lead in an elimination game, Roman Polak was sent over the boards. This guy shouldn't be in the NHL, let alone on the roster of a playoff team, let alone on the ice with a minute remaining in an elimination game.
These young players, and Leaf fans, deserve a much defense and thus far management has simply sat on their hands and shed 2nd round draft picks for Brian Boyle and Tomas Plekanec, goes that have done nothing to address the biggest need the team has and has had for several years now.
