I’m surprised nobody made a thread about Babcock having to go to Arizona to talk to Mathews. Yikes.

[biotk]

Someone posted this in another....so now there is one with that thread title.

During the 1st intermission of the Pens/Caps game Elliotte Friedman says Mike Babcock has traveled to Arizona to meet with Auston Matthews and "iron things out."

Seems to confirm previous rumours.

Click to read more...

 

[DontPanik]

Someone posted this in another....so now there is one with that thread title.

During the 1st intermission of the Pens/Caps game Elliotte Friedman says Mike Babcock will travel to Arizona to meet with Auston Matthews and "iron things out."

Seems to confirm previous rumours.

He was upset about his ice time in the playoffs. I don’t think he deserved to be handed loads of ice time after his poor performance. You’ve gotta earn ice time, and he didn’t earn it.

 

[pengdeng12]

Not saying I believe this source but.. I wouldn't be surprised

Imagine if you think you think you are a great player and want to make your name in the league and be remembered in the future for something. How does getting 17 mins/game give you the best chance at doing so when all other stars get 20+? Also how does not getting 1st unit PP time (this is partially on him + marner killing it). Finally, how can you do it if you are playing with a winger that does not optimize you point production because honestly when people look at history, they don't consider the context.. they just look at their points.

I am all about the team but if I had to potential do great things than I would also want that meaning getting high ice time + pp time.

 

[AuraSphere]

Wow.. kind of news if this is true. I just don't think many people heard this. Elliot Friedman is pretty legit

 

[hamzarocks]

Doubt this is actually true and an issue moving forward. However, I would side with Babcock on this one. Matthews was given ice time, different linemates, and Babcock matched him away from Bergeron line. He had a disappointing performance where the primary person to blame is himself. He will use this series as a means to fuel himself and have a monster season and playoffs in 18/19. Matthews and Babcock wasn't an issue in this series and definitely, won't be moving forward.

 

[IPS]

Doubt this is actually true and an issue moving forward. However, I would side with Babcock on this one. Matthews was given ice time, different linemates, and Babcock matched him away from Bergeron line. He had a disappointing performance where the primary person to blame is himself. He will use this series as a means to fuel himself and have a monster season and playoffs in 18/19. Matthews and Babcock wasn't an issue in this series and definitely, won't be moving forward.

17 minutes of ice-time with 2nd PP unit and Brown/Hyman.

I'm not trying to absolve Matthews of his poor performance in any way but that's not helping him in any way. Bare minimum I think Matthews could have atleast been tried on PP1, Boston had it figured out right from the get-go and I was really confused why something new was never tried.

 

[pengdeng12]

Doubt this is actually true and an issue moving forward. However, I would side with Babcock on this one. Matthews was given ice time, different linemates, and Babcock matched him away from Bergeron line. He had a disappointing performance where the primary person to blame is himself. He will use this series as a means to fuel himself and have a monster season and playoffs in 18/19. Matthews and Babcock wasn't an issue in this series and definitely, won't be moving forward.

why? I'd have a problem if I was matthews. Why the hell not. Imagine yourself as matthews and it's easy to see.

Imagine if you think you think you are a great player and want to make your name in the league and be remembered in the future for something. How does getting 17 mins/game give you the best chance at doing so when all other stars get 20+? Also how does not getting 1st unit PP time (this is partially on him + marner killing it). Finally, how can you do it if you are playing with a winger that does not optimize you point production because honestly when people look at history, they don't consider the context.. they just look at their points.

I am all about the team but if I had to potential do great things than I would also want that meaning getting high ice time + pp time.

 

[garce]

There’s a reason why Friedman and Kypreos feature the Leafs every Saturday night.

 

[Pi]

Well it was obvious to anyone besides blind Babcock fans that Matthews and him had things to work out.

Let’s face it. Matthews should not play with guys like Hyman and Brown. If the other 30 teams can stack their lines, we can sure play Matthews and Marner together.

We lost because outside of Marner and Marleau, no one showed up consistently.

Would it have hurt us to try Matthews with Marleau and Marner? We all thought Marleau was going to play with Matthews but that never happened.

Ice time is a big issue. He needs to play more. PP time needs to be more with better players as well. They never got it going on the PP but they also had stiffs like Brown and Komarov on their PP.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I don't really trust Friedman tbh, but I would be shocked if Matthews wasn't frustrated

 

[IPS]

Well it was obvious to anyone besides blind Babcock fans that Matthews and him had things to work out.

Let’s face it. Matthews should not play with guys like Hyman and Brown. If the other 30 teams can stack their lines, we can sure play Matthews and Marner together.

We lost because outside of Marner and Marleau, no one showed up consistently.

Would it have hurt us to try Matthews with Marleau and Marner? We all thought Marleau was going to play with Matthews but that never happened.

Ice time is a big issue. He needs to play more. PP time needs to be more with better players as well. They never got it going on the PP but they also had stiffs like Brown and Komarov on their PP.

Gonna be hilarious if Nylander gets moved to center next year and Matthews gets Brown/Hyman as full time linemates.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Doubt this is actually true and an issue moving forward. However, I would side with Babcock on this one. Matthews was given ice time, different linemates, and Babcock matched him away from Bergeron line. He had a disappointing performance where the primary person to blame is himself. He will use this series as a means to fuel himself and have a monster season and playoffs in 18/19. Matthews and Babcock wasn't an issue in this series and definitely, won't be moving forward.

1) okay? he should be getting ice time. he's not going to be a healthy scratch
2) the only linemate change was William out for Brown, which is arguably a downgrade
3) that's not exactly revolutionary, and it's mainly because Cassidy didn't really care who Bergeron was matched up against. It's also a sign that he didn't have confidence in Matthews, which isn't great
4) he also publicly called Matthews out

Matthews had a very poor series relative to his standards and that's on him, but Babcock didn't really do anything to get him going. He also got badly outcoached himself

 

[JadedLeaf]

why? I'd have a problem if I was matthews. Why the hell not. Imagine yourself as matthews and it's easy to see.

Imagine if you think you think you are a great player and want to make your name in the league and be remembered in the future for something. How does getting 17 mins/game give you the best chance at doing so when all other stars get 20+? Also how does not getting 1st unit PP time (this is partially on him + marner killing it). Finally, how can you do it if you are playing with a winger that does not optimize you point production because honestly when people look at history, they don't consider the context.. they just look at their points.

I am all about the team but if I had to potential do great things than I would also want that meaning getting high ice time + pp time.

How does playing poorly in those 17 minutes help that? Matthews wasn't playing like a player that deserved to be on the ice for 22+ minutes.

Now, choice of line mates? Yeah there's a point to be made there for sure.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Babcock wasted a year of our lives by overplaying our mvp all season in meaningless games. Andersen was tired for the playoffs.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Babcock wasted a year of our lives by overplaying our mvp all season in meaningless games. Andersen was tired for the playoffs.

Andersen wasn't the MVP. he also a pretty easy schedule rolling into the playoffs. Also, he sucks after a lengthy rest too. he's just an inconsistent goalie

 

[kindalaidback]

Dude had three injuries; his back was bothering him all season— no way a coach should play his player more than necessary.
Also, you earn your ice time, you’re not getting it gifted by being talented (and no, he didn’t deserve more ice time in the playoffs).

People are overreacting. But this is why everyone hates the Toronto media because they’re constantly trying to find something that isn’t there. And I knew they wouldn’t stop talking about this.

4) he also publicly called Matthews out

And? He is the coach. If he wants to call out his “star player”, he is allowed to do so.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

And? He is the coach. If he wants to call out his “star player”, he is allowed to do so.

I don't remember saying it was illegal, so i'm not sure why you have to specify that he's allowed

 

[Guy Boucher]

I read it as Babcock going above and beyond to keep the relationship strong. Babcock knows that Matthews is the only guy who can get him fired.

 

[Keon1963]

Both Marner and Nylander have been demoted to the fourth line at times. Babcock demands accountability. Matthews ice time and linemates are for the betterment of the team and not necessarily for Matthews benefit. Babcock likes to play 4 lines and Matthews was #1 TOI for forwards. Matthews also has struggled to produce on the PP. I believe that your best player should be on the #1 PP, but Matthews is a paradox; he may not be the best PP Performer. You do have to keep your top player happy.

 

[MikeBabchuk]

Babcock wasted a year of our lives by overplaying our mvp all season in meaningless games. Andersen was tired for the playoffs.

Why do the Andersen kool-aid guzzlers always throw in an out-of-place rub on the back for Andersen? This thread is about AM34 and Babs.

I don't see how Andersen is the MVP when our backup played out of his bloody mind and we made the playoffs easily.

I have to say, I've lost respect for Matthews recently. However, I also think Babs is stubborn and makes some personnel decisions that are hard to understand (love affair with Polak, playing Koma with Matthews that game, his hate for Joshy Leivo who gets scratched even though he plays well).

 

[Pyromaniac]

Crosby has played with scrubs on his wing for nearly half his career. He still went out there and did his thing.

 

[Halla]

Gonna be hilarious if Nylander gets moved to center next year and Matthews gets Brown/Hyman as full time linemates.

thats ok as long as he gets on the 1st unit PP
he had 50ESpts in 62 games, thats 66 over a season
give him somewhere between JVR and marners PPP (20-27) and hes a 40g/90pt player

 

[TheDoldrums]

Crosby has played with scrubs on his wing for nearly half his career. He still went out there and did his thing.

So we've established Matthews is not Crosby. Very helpful.

 

[cookie]

Like many elite players before him, Matthews was neutered by Bergeron, Chara, and company. Whether he may want to believe it or not, his style of play was very different in the playoffs than it was this regular season. In the offensive zone, he was routinely stripped of the puck, a step slower in engaging, and was flubbing some great Nylander passes. His bread and butter just wasn't there (recovering from the injury perhaps?). Cassidy also correctly identified Marner, not Matthews or Nylander, as the Leafs' primary scoring threat.

With all that being said, Matthews only played, on average, half a minute less than he did all of this season. Truth be told, though I'm a bit annoyed by this alleged coach-player rift, this is pretty tame in comparison to what goes on behind the scenes with other star players and in the end, further exemplifies Matthews's competitive nature.

 

[thewave]

Matthews should be pissed at Babcock, he coached that series terribly. I would be curious at the way he had them playing. It was not a very good job by the coaching staff.