How Confident Are You In Babcock?

[Macallan18]

Well I hate to break it to you but Shanahan is fully aware that Babcock has far more experience than Dubas not only in winning, but in the entire sport of hockey. His job is to work the phones and do the day to day stuff. Giving weak wingers $7 million a year.

You may as well get used to it. Babcock earns more than Dubas. If anyone loses their job first it's Dubas and he's getting put back at the kids table and an actual hockey person back in charge.

Do you honestly believe that Shanny hasn't pre-approved every deal that Dubas has made? Including the Nylander signing?
The leafs got Muzzin to take a run this year and next.
If Babs doesn't produce this year with this team, he will be on a very short leash and may be gone early next year, and Shanny will support that.

 

[sittler rules!!!]

It's funny how just a year ago, Leaf fans were up in arms about Hyman and his lack of offense. Now this year he is great because he plays a heavy game. A grinder, a mucker. We actually need more of this. Hyman, Brown, and is it Brooks who was up a short time ago. Worker bees who play a physical, grinder game. Boston is loaded with them. Caps won the cup with them. Pens surround 87, 81 and 71 with them. We have a core with 91, 34, 43 and 16. Willie should have been shipped out. Is it a coincidence that they have been poor to mediocre since he came back.

 

[Joedoggy]

It's funny how just a year ago, Leaf fans were up in arms about Hyman and his lack of offense. Now this year he is great because he plays a heavy game. A grinder, a mucker. We actually need more of this. Hyman, Brown, and is it Brooks who was up a short time ago. Worker bees who play a physical, grinder game. Boston is loaded with them. Caps won the cup with them. Pens surround 87, 81 and 71 with them. We have a core with 91, 34, 43 and 16. Willie should have been shipped out. Is it a coincidence that they have been poor to mediocre since he came back.

Hyman does not play a heavy game..Hyman is a puck hound period.

 

[gtforepro]

Last night was the first time I really wondered what the f*** Babcock was doing. Just quit screwing around and let the guys play. Leave the lines alone.

 

[DarkKnight]

Lol the poll results.

 

[ToneDog]

Lol the poll results.

No surprise after a loss. Votes might be different after a win.

 

[613Leafer]

I heard a description of Bill Bellichuk and the Patriots in the NFL. Apparently they spend the first ~2/3s of the season just experimenting with their lineup, try different strategies, and try players at different positions.

Sometimes it leads to a slow start to the season, but in the playoffs, it means their players are comfortable with a bunch of different combinations / strategies, and the team can adapt well to any opponent (thus contributing to their playoff success).

Babcock seems to be the exact opposite, very set with his lines, and doesn't like to try these types of combinations. I don't know how well that NFL strategy Bellichuk does would transfer to the NHL, but maybe that could be part of the reason Babcock excels in the regular season, but struggles in the playoffs. Doesn't try enough combinations or strategies that allow his players to be comfortable with adapting to other teams in the playoffs.

In saying that, I'm glad to see Rielly playing on the right side, and Matthews playing with Marner at the moment. These are the types of things I think we need to try more. Another would be something like a Gardiner-Dermott 2nd pairing. That might be a fantastic D pairing, but we don't know, we've never really tried it.

 

[Nineteen67]

The main thing to keep in mind, is that being a good fan means questioning this coach’s fitness after each loss and reversing the need for that same question after each win.

And the most important part of that exercise is consistency. It demonstrates loyalty, open-mindedness and an appropriate familiarity with the game that any fan base should be envious of.

I for one am sick of the season over season improvement, the record setting rookies, talk of other individual awards and still, no Cups.

I think if we’re not in the Finals this season, that management needs to take a hard look at blowing it up again, but this time TRULY blowing it up and finding the right coach to fit the club we would be building. Preferably one without a Stanley Cup from the last...five years? And definitely no international or junior success.

What we need to do is poach a coach like Trotz. Pay the fine, incur the penalty, whatever. Most importantly, we’ll have the guy that just won the Cup!

And then...We’ll win the Cup!

If they’re not in the Cup Final you’d blow it up?

 

[Anthrax442]

He is sucking the life out of them

 

[Al14]

I was thrilled when Babcock came on board as our new head coach. Now, I have some severe doubts that he is the right coach for all the talent we have on this team.

 

[-DeMo-]

My only issue is that we don’t work in the 21-23 players on our roster very much but besides that we’re fine. We’re in 2nd in our division right where I expected to be at the start of the year so no surprise there

 

[justafan22]

I'm in the middle of the 2nd and 3rd options.

They're not hiring anyone better right now, but his issues have become worse this year.

 

[saltming]

How confident are you that Babcock is the right coach for this team and that he will be able to turn this recent slide around?

I am not advocating either way but I think we're at a fragile point with this group.

I think this question would be better asked in the offseason. Asking after a loss will sway the poll imho

 

[Beanzy]

I don't think Babcock is a bad coach. I am a little bothered by his stubbornness and OCD tendencies, especially when it comes to managing Andersen on back-to-backs.

It might be just me, but it bothers me to no end that Babs ALWAYS starts Andersen the first night of a back-to-back and Sparks the following, regardless of the opponents. He's been doing this since he came here. We could have a much weaker opponent the first night and a division rival the following, yet he goes with his starter against the lesser team, just because that's how he's always done it.

Maybe if we had a backup I was more confident in, it wouldn't bother me as much. But, our division is so tight this year, I think he should start making the calls based on opponents or even letting Andersen play a couple of back-to-backs. I know we need him fresh for the playoffs, but many other goalies play 2 in a row with no issue.

 

[56 Years No Cup]

I was thrilled when Babcock came on board as our new head coach. Now, I have some severe doubts that he is the right coach for all the talent we have on this team.

Same here. To me, a good coach is a guy who gets more out of the team than the talent at hand, a guy that gets a team to be more than the sum of its' parts.

Can anyone actually say this team is outperforming their talent level?

 

[Nineteen67]

Looked like Zaitsev was ready to go, but the guy skated away.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ....my belly hurts.

 

[LeafFever]

Babcock gets 8 million to do very little. Seriously, what is this guy doing that a first year coach can't right now?

 

[frog]

Babcock is the only coach that I can see that consistently out-coaches the other teams on a regular basis. Consistently either the best or close to the best coaches each year. Will go down in history close to Scotty Bowman

 

[RLF]

I think he is a good coach. My concern is more that he and Dubas may not be on the same page on how to build a team and style of play. We are built small and quick which would more support a rush style, but Babcock wants to play a chip it in heavy cycle game. Not sure we have the personnel to play that way.

 

[Egghead1999]

Well I hate to break it to you but Shanahan is fully aware that Babcock has far more experience than Dubas not only in winning, but in the entire sport of hockey. His job is to work the phones and do the day to day stuff. Giving weak wingers $7 million a year.

You may as well get used to it. Babcock earns more than Dubas. If anyone loses their job first it's Dubas and he's getting put back at the kids table and an actual hockey person back in charge.

Ya, winning a lot of hockey games but only has one cup and 2 finals. I am not saying Bab is not a good coach, just he is not a correct coach for this team.

 

[LeafFever]

I think he is a good coach. My concern is more that he and Dubas may not be on the same page on how to build a team and style of play. We are built small and quick which would more support a rush style, but Babcock wants to play a chip it in heavy cycle game. Not sure we have the personnel to play that way.

Yeah, Babcock can be a very good coach, but still not a fit. He's coaching the wrong style for this team.

 

[LeafFever]

Babcock is the only coach that I can see that consistently out-coaches the other teams on a regular basis. Consistently either the best or close to the best coaches each year. Will go down in history close to Scotty Bowman

You are seriously seeing that this year?

 

[RLF]

Yeah, Babcock can be a very good coach, but still not a fit. He's coaching the wrong style for this team.

The guys we have just don't seem to have that physical desire. Even when they have tried, we still seem to get out-battled. That said, even if we go to a more unit based breakout and hit the neutral zone with speed, I am not sure if we can win in the playoffs unless we can be more physical than this team seems to want to play. The goals last night came off of strong physical plays. We just don't do it often enough.

 

[LeafFever]

The guys we have just don't seem to have that physical desire. Even when they have tried, we still seem to get out-battled. That said, even if we go to a more unit based breakout and hit the neutral zone with speed, I am not sure if we can win in the playoffs unless we can be more physical than this team seems to want to play. The goals last night came off of strong physical plays. We just don't do it often enough.

It is a shame, because the Leafs are a very talented team and no one should feel bad for Babcock having this roster. He is not putting out the best lineup ever, and there's simply no way teams with the talent of the Islanders and Habs should be passing us. We have Matthews/Tavares/Kadri as our top 3 Cs (Best in the NHL) and the Habs can Max freaking Domi as their #1 C.

All I hear is negatives about this team. It has a ton of talent and should be better.

 

[frog]

You are seriously seeing that this year?

Yes, leafs are going through a slump right now. But watch the games prior to the slump. He has an uncanny ability to recognize when moment swings in our way the second we gain some momentum Marner/Tavares or Mathews goes out and the other coach cant put their best players on because they usually have played half the shift against the leafs kadri line or even the 4th line and surprisingly lost momentum.

For a stretch of games Babcock mastered the sequence of having 3 leaf lines consistently carrying the momentum and the opposing coach couldnt handle it. He lost that for a bit hence why Marner and Mathews are together, grass is always greener on the other side. I see so many dumb mistakes and flustered moves from the other coaches panicking trying to alter and scramble their lines mid-game due to Babcocks line matching then people comment after the game on how they outcoached babcock yet leafs still won lol.. When I watch both coaches and the linematching, tactics, line usage I see Babcock has them fooled more games than not.