How Confident Are You In Babcock?

[thewave]

Not sure about the PP, not sure about Smith. Babcock seems ok, I think but I would like to know whats going on in the room. I think the Leivo thing was strange to say the least seeing how he has had 5 pts in his past couple games and is doing really well. So, I don't know yet but there are concerns for sure but I can't say it's all Babs right now.

 

[Hockey Crazy]

I would say not overly confident. Us being a good team was expected and there are certainly some alarming things about Babs and the coaching staff. The powerplay should not be anywhere in the same stratosphere it is now with the roster we have, and we should not be having such a difficult time breaking out of our zone. I also DESPISE his usage of certain players.

There was a pretty heated conversation between babcock and Hiller tonight. Probably about how the PP is working... wonder what was said...

 

[Maplebeasts]

There was a pretty heated conversation between babcock and Hiller tonight. Probably about how the PP is working... wonder what was said...

To be a fly on the wall there would have been nice.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

I found it pretty amazing that we were in the top 5 for goals against with Hainsey on the top pairing, Oz being Oz and Gardiner and Zaitsev being a train wreck night after night.

But of course because this is HFBoards one of the best coaches in the league gets such a ridiculous poll result.

Without Babs being Babs we'd have given up 5 goals a game.

Yeah! It's like we don't have a goalie putting up vezina caliber stats!

 

[Havoc]

Yeah! It's like we don't have a goalie putting up vezina caliber stats!

You can't be serious.

Take in how horrible our D core was while maintaining top 5 goals against.

Andersen is elite this season yes but Babs knew how to use his gud pros to make up for the deficiencies in the D.

Without guys like Hyman, Kapanen and Brown back checking the way they do, we'd probably be in a wild card spot instead of fourth in the league.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

You can't be serious.

Take in how horrible our D core was while maintaining top 5 goals against.

Andersen is elite this season yes but Babs knew how to use his gud pros to make up for the deficiencies in the D.

Without guys like Hyman, Kapanen and Brown back checking the way they do, we'd probably be in a wild card spot instead of fourth in the league.

We allow too many scoring chances thanks to our passive zone coverage....down near the basement with bad teams like Ottawa, NYR, Detroit, and Vancouver. Our shitty breakouts got exposed by a fast, relentless team tonight

 

[Jozay]

He continues to put the best LW'er on the team on the 4th line RW...

 

[PromisedLand]

Too bad we couldn’t see how he would look in our top 9 here.

If he’s playing with Pettersson and Boeser I’m sure he could’ve played with 34 and 29. And I agree that we could’ve used him and gotten a better pick in a trade for him.

the argument was that he could not play against top competition; but Boeser and Pettersson face top competition every night and Leivo is scoring so that argument goes down the drain.

Leivo must have rubbed Babcock the wrong way; otherwise I don't see the reason of pressboxing Leivo at all

 

[PromisedLand]

There was a pretty heated conversation between babcock and Hiller tonight. Probably about how the PP is working... wonder what was said...

Babcock: hey we need to change our approach to the PP; we ain't scoring enough is enough

Hiller: Hey I am the PP guy; I know that approach is right - they are not executing

Babcock: It doesn't seem like it has anything to do with execution and more to do with the plays on PP

Hiller: You questioning my methods? I don't think there is anything wrong with the plays they are fine

Babcock: Yea; we'll see about that

Hiller: Remember the pictures I have of you

Babcock: ....

 

[Nithoniniel]

He continues to put the best LW'er on the team on the 4th line RW...

Very hard to understand that one. And then you have Leivo continuing to produce and having an impact every time he's put on a scoring line over in Vancouver. I love Hyman and he's been great lately, but that's two guys who should have been part of our top nine who are on the fourth line or off the team due to Babcock's decision.

I've defended Babcock in this thread, but you can't deny that he does things sometimes that should be criticized.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

Bringing up leivo lol. Hes nothing special. Almost every forward we have on the top 3 lines are out producing him.

 

[TheShape]

Leivo must have rubbed Babcock the wrong way; otherwise I don't see the reason of pressboxing Leivo at all

Babcock always had something against Leivo as a hockey player. Once Babcock’s mind is made up, good luck.

That trade annoyed me cause we basically gave away Leivo for nothing when it was clear he could play on any of our lines and produce. Not to mention his needed size and great board play

 

[WilliamNylander]

Bringing up leivo lol. Hes nothing special. Almost every forward we have on the top 3 lines are out producing him.

Lol what? He's out producing Hyman, Brown, Marleau all while playing top comp. and brings a physical edge that our team sorely lacks.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

Lol what? He's out producing Hyman, Brown, Marleau all while playing top comp. and brings a physical edge that our team sorely lacks.

Uh what? Hes not outproducing Hyman. Barely outproducing Marleau. Hes not outproducing Johnson playing 4th line minutes.

 

[WilliamNylander]

Uh what? Hes not outproducing Hyman. Barely outproducing Marleau. Hes not outproducing Johnson playing 4th line minutes.

Since being traded to Vancouver he's been outproducing them. Even moreso when you compare goals and points/60 mins.

Johnsson is way better than Leivo but he's comparable to the other three (and probably better than Brown).

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Since being traded to Vancouver he's been outproducing them. Even moreso when you compare goals and points/60 mins.

Johnsson is way better than Leivo but he's comparable to the other three (and probably better than Brown).

I think PK time gave Brown the edge. Leivo needs lots of OZ starts and needs to be sheltered to produce. With the amount of offensive depth the Leafs have, we needed players to eat up the lions share of the DZ starts. Just look at how he's used in Vancouver, that's who he is: depth offense, not someone you want to end up in the DZ after an icing.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

Since being traded to Vancouver he's been outproducing them. Even moreso when you compare goals and points/60 mins.

Johnsson is way better than Leivo but he's comparable to the other three (and probably better than Brown).

Yeah? He also gets 64% ozf. So if he does play against better comp. He gets a 200 ft head start. Stop acting like leivo is the missing piece.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Taveras, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, Rielly and Muzzin is a stacked lineup. I give you that. But Pasta, McAvoy, Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, and DeBrusk is darn good too. And Hedman, McDonough, Stralman, Stamkos, Johnson, Point, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky might be the best roster in the league.

Point being the Leafs aren't the only stacked team in their division. And if you fire Babs (Which shouldn't happen) who replaces him?

 

[DarkKnight]

If someone asked me what stupidity meant.... I'd link to this thread.

 

[Babcocks Marner]

Hate AJ on the 4th line, just can't understand it.

AJ 2.65 p/60
PM 1.48/60

That's pretty significant. Nylander is already at 1.77/p60 with the crappy start he had.

 

[DarkKnight]

Hate AJ on the 4th line, just can't understand it.

AJ 2.65 p/60
PM 1.48/60

That's pretty significant. Nylander is already at 1.77/p60 with the crappy start he had.

Remember when he wasn't on the fourth line, then got a concussion? Okay, then remember how Kadri Nylander and Brown actually looked good together? So then AJ is cleared to come back, and you're thinking where will he play? First line. Madness. Matthews? Marleau never goes to 4th line. Third line? As stated earlier, playing well, don't break it up. That leaves the 4th, for NOW. Hope the mind blowing inability to possibly understand has eased.

Oh, and the fourth line is actually pretty good now. Go figure.

 

[IPS]

Hate AJ on the 4th line, just can't understand it.

AJ 2.65 p/60
PM 1.48/60

That's pretty significant. Nylander is already at 1.77/p60 with the crappy start he had.

I despise the use of miniscule sample sizes but Nylander does have 7 points in his lat 7 games and is finally looking like he's up to speed both mentally and physically. Honestly looks like he's gearing up for a hot-streak, there's no better time to get him back with Matthews.

 

[Not My Tempo]

I really wanted to see Leivo with Matthews and Nylander. But I’m happy we traded him. The way this organization treated him by not playing him, not waiving him, AND not trading him during his time with us rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t blame Babcock, because Babs cares about winning and it’s not like he was intentionally trying not to win lol, he probably honestly didn’t like was Leivo brought, but Lou basically robbed him of his prime development years and potentially even costed him millions of dollars by not doing something. I’m glad he’s doing well in Vancouver now.

 

[Babcocks Marner]

Remember when he wasn't on the fourth line, then got a concussion? Okay, then remember how Kadri Nylander and Brown actually looked good together? So then AJ is cleared to come back, and you're thinking where will he play? First line. Madness. Matthews? Marleau never goes to 4th line. Third line? As stated earlier, playing well, don't break it up. That leaves the 4th, for NOW. Hope the mind blowing inability to possibly understand has eased.

Oh, and the fourth line is actually pretty good now. Go figure.

Kadri and Nylander haven't looked good together in a while.
Just because Marleau never goes to the 4th line doesn't mean he shouldn't.

AJ is by far producing better than any LW we ice. Hyman does other things making him valuable. Matthews line has been struggling for a while now, why wouldn't you try AJ for a while?

Also, why is the first line madness? Our 1st line winger is Hyman. It's not too crazy, honestly.

I despise the use of miniscule sample sizes but Nylander does have 7 points in his lat 7 games and is finally looking like he's up to speed both mentally and physically. Honestly looks like he's gearing up for a hot-streak, there's no better time to get him back with Matthews.

Just tossed him in as an example. I get the sample size is small. The point was Marleau is not producing much at all.

 

[LeafsFan89]

Taveras, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, Rielly and Muzzin is a stacked lineup. I give you that. But Pasta, McAvoy, Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, and DeBrusk is darn good too. And Hedman, McDonough, Stralman, Stamkos, Johnson, Point, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky might be the best roster in the league.

Point being the Leafs aren't the only stacked team in their division. And if you fire Babs (Which shouldn't happen) who replaces him?

I hear Carlyle is available.