Mike “Strech Pass” Babcock

[SHANNYPLAN]

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[LeafFever]

He's a complete moron who thinks he's a genius

 

[Stephen]

I think the stretch pass is horrible and doesn't work, but there doesn't seem to be a lot you can do when your team half asses and expects to turn on the Harlem Globetrotters switch and win with a half period effort.

Other than that, from a distance it looks like his old school demeanor and button pushing ways are not jiving well with our millennial core. I don't blame him for this, as I think those kids need to toughen up and be seasoned before they can win. But it does seem to be a painful setback from their high flying days in the past.

 

[Liminality]

Do you guys think the statistic department has a say in stretch pass strategies too? They're looked at as a good risk from what I remember.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

I'm sure he is a good coach.....but perhaps not for this team.

 

[wingman75]

I was extremely high on this hire. And I think in the first 2 seasons he did a great job... but the team is different now and needs to be coached differently imo.

A great coach puts his plays in a position to succeed, and formulates a game plan that takes advantage of the skills they posses. I am not seeing any of that.

Yes, they need to work harder... but what are they doing out there? I mean they look like an effing joke. Three weeks now this shit has been going on. ENOUGH!

 

[ECanuck]

He's a complete moron who thinks he's a genius

Stop describing me!

 

[Bomber0104]

I'm sure he is a good coach.....but perhaps not for this team.

Then change the team.

They're 3 years removed from last place...

This team should still have lots more player acquisition to do without people freaking out about average results...

 

[Gallagbi]

Do you guys think the statistic department has a say in stretch pass strategies too? They're looked at as a good risk from what I remember.

Seems like we're taking some theories from the Canes when they won their cup with a putrid D.

 

[GoldenGOOSE]

Stetch passes in today's NHL? Nothing more needs to be said, I don't think Toronto will ever win a Stanley Cup in this century.
]
Babcock is a mulit multi millionaire. But as a coach? Lmfao Guy never had a shift in even the AHl.

Totally pretend guys, totally pretend.

 

[WickedPegJets]

He's a complete moron who thinks he's a genius

One Stanley Cup ring, two Stanley Cup Final losses and two Olympic Gold Medals.

 

[82Ninety42011]

He's a coach that realizes defense wins in the playoffs so he tries to get team playing tighter defense during season. It might be boring to watch but he's doing his job trying to teach defense now to be ready for playoffs.

 

[Gabriel426]

Didn’t we have a period last season where the Leafs was just awful and then all of a sudden they were amazing. Did it happened around this time too?

 

[Willy Styles]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Babs is a good coach. He excels at discipline, developing players and growing as a team.

What he is terrible at is adjustments, in game, between games, post games, you name it. He just has no gameplan for beating teams.

Every time I watch a crappy team like Arizona dummy the leafs they have a strict game plan to play against the leafs, and it works. Not only does Babcock not counter the gameplans made against his team, HE HAS ABSOLUTELY NO GAMEPLAN AGAINST INDIVIDUAL TEAMS THEY PLAY THE EXACT SAME LACK LUSTRE WAY EVERY GAME FOR ****s SAKE

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Do you guys think the statistic department has a say in stretch pass strategies too? They're looked at as a good risk from what I remember.

I don't like the strategy at all. But it feeds into what the Leafs management are looking for.

They want the D to be quick/mobile, great-passing D with good hockey IQ. They're not looking for a high-scoring D or a stud defensive D. Drafting guys like Dermott, Lilijegren, Sandin, Durzki, Hollowell proves that. But until those guys make an impact on the team, the strategy isn't great. We've improved from last year with the departure of Polak but we still have Hainsey and Zaitsev who suck at those components and yet play significant minutes. Once those guys are gone, the stretch-pass would work nicely imo (Not against some teams though).

Ignoring cap:
Rielly - Dermott*
Sandin - Lilijegren
Gardiner - Durzki/Hollowell/Ozhiganov/Rosen

 

[Sniper99]

One Stanley Cup ring, two Stanley Cup Final losses and two Olympic Gold Medals.

here come the "but but those rosters were stacked with NHLers" excuses.

 

[stickty111]

One Stanley Cup ring, two Stanley Cup Final losses and two Olympic Gold Medals.

Stacked roster, stacked roster/great coaching, and stacked roster

 

[stickty111]

here come the "but but those rosters were stacked with NHLers" excuses.

Well it is true except for the Ducks one which he deserves credit for.

 

[Sniper99]

Well it is true except for the Ducks one which he deserves credit for.

so what, and you'd be dumping on him too if he didnt win with a stacked roster.

 

[LaPlante94]

It's almost like we're still trying to develop a young core here. How many years was the Shannyplan said to take by the man himself and Babcock? Oh yeah, about 5 years. We're in year 3 of that Shannyplan and by time we get to the 5th year it'll be perfect. Some contracts we need off the books will be gone, the expansion draft will take place so we won't have to worry about that and Dubas will finally have the team he wants and use the cap however he wants to do so.

 

[DarkKnight]

Finally a place to complain about coaching. What next a Nylander thread?

 

[93LEAFS]

We rely heavily on the stretch pass because teams sit back on us, and our team struggles to win puck battles off dump-ins, which is the other option when teams play this approach against you. I agree, it is insanely frustrating to watch, but it is just as much if not more personnel issue.

 

[DarkKnight]

At least Babcock can spell.

 

[supermann_98]

here come the "but but those rosters were stacked with NHLers" excuses.

So team Canada is not stacked is what you’re saying? You or I could have coached that goal to a gold medal.

 

[93LEAFS]

Well it is true except for the Ducks one which he deserves credit for.

Which coach has won a cup without a stacked roster or an insanely hot goalie? Do people forget what Dave Lewis did with an even more stacked Red Wings team? You can attack any successful coaches record on "but it was a stacked roster." I mean, Scotty Bowman only won the cup when he had either the dynasty Habs, Mario Lemieux (inheriting a team that won the cup), and a team with a core of Yzerman, Fedorov, and Lidstrom.

The only semi-recent cup win you can't really attack on that merit is Carolina, who were the first team to figure out how to exploit the removal of the red-line and had a good veteran roster when many of the elite teams were broken up by the implementation of the cap.

Is Babcock perfect? Absolutely not. He has clear flaws. But, he has produced quality results wherever he has been and is probably the only coach who has been with two or more organizations that hasn't been fired (left both times due to the contract expiring with both organizations making an attempt to keep him).

Now, if we continue down this path, I'm fine with firing Babs. But, its easy to blame the coaching than look at some of the hard truths about this team. It has obvious flaws too. Does that eliminate us from competing this year for a cup? No. Very few teams are perfect in a cap world. But, these issues aren't just Babs, Willy, Gardiner, and a struggling Matthews. Hopefully, we turn it around soon and play like we know this team can.