Who gets fired/shipped first?

[TmlHockeyFan]

Fire DJ Smith and hire Guy Boucher.

EDIT: Maybe not Guy Boucher

Guy Boucher’s Special Teams Have Been Abysmal

 

[jaric1862]

I think DJ smith goes first

Trade wise i think that Marleau and Brown will be the ones to go. Brown going first, Marleau second

 

[ToneDog]

Not sure if this was mentioned already but for those who voted Babs, Bob McCowan asked a person in the know, who he would not name, whether Babs might be fired if Leafs lose in round #1. The person laughed and said no chance.

 

[KIWILEAFFAN]

I don't understand why people could want Babs gone.
Maybe I don't know coaching as well as some or maybe I am just older and wiser

He has been here 3 years. The team and individuals have improved measurably since he got here. He said from day one there will be pain. He has made it clear he hasn't got all his pieces.
Emotions and time aside he has done more than could be expected imo. Losing in the first round to a team that is better than you is not a reason to throw your toys out of the cot no matter how it happens.
The 1st round has not started yet but most have the Leafs getting hammered. Heard the same crap last year.
Shouldnt be a surprise then.

The All Black's the greatest sports team in history (look it up) won one World Cup (Rugby's Stanley Cup), the first one 1987. Despite having the best team and being favorites at every event since, they failed for 24 yrs to win another. They were plundered out of the 2007 event during the quarter finals. Worst result and embarrassing for the caliber of that team.
The coaching staff was no doubt going to be fired.

They were not and against all better judgement and outcry from fans they were retained.
That coaching staff were hated and dragged over the coals prior and up to the time they won in 2011.
They have won the 2 WC events since and have a 93 or 94 win percentage with pretty much the same coaching staff to this day. They can do no wrong now.
Just about everyone on here seems to think this Leafs team is not complete yet. I agree.
How is he supposed to win without a well rounded team?
If ever that team is assembled and they fail to win a few rounds then yeah he needs to be replaced but not until then.
I think there is a very good chance despite recent play that this team as it is, will blow egg on a few people faces come the post season. If not I will be patient for another season or 2

 

[rimshot]

Do people remember when people on this board begged for a full tear down and rebuild? Someone would inevitably claim that Leaf fans did not have the patience for the full burn down/build up process to play out and it would therefore be pointless at best and counter-productive at worst. Those in favour would vehemently argue that since Leaf fans,being sophisticated fans of hockey, would exhibit more than enough patience to see it through as long as we had a stable management group, a credible coach and a young team that was improving every year. Good times!

 

[i1]

Is Zaitsev worth a second?

 

[Erndog]

Is Zaitsev worth a second?

To who?

He is absolutely worth us ADDING a 2nd to him to get rid of his contract.

Zaitsev + 2nd to WHOEVER for a 7th rounder is a good deal for us, agreed.

 

[ShaneFalco]

How is he supposed to win without a well rounded team?

Seriously?
Look at this roster
No roster is perfect, but teams that don't have half the roster we do find ways to win

 

[Gary Nylund]

I don't understand why people could want Babs gone.
Maybe I don't know coaching as well as some or maybe I am just older and wiser

He has been here 3 years. The team and individuals have improved measurably since he got here. He said from day one there will be pain. He has made it clear he hasn't got all his pieces.
Emotions and time aside he has done more than could be expected imo.

I would think there wouldn't be a single coach in the world who would complain about the "pieces" the Leafs roster is blessed with. But then there's Babcock.

The team hasn't done more than expected this season, not even close. If we fail miserably in the playoffs and you want to keep him, you're entitled to that point of view but I suggest you stop with the "he's done more than expected" narrative, you're not fooling me one bit.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Do people remember when people on this board begged for a full tear down and rebuild? Someone would inevitably claim that Leaf fans did not have the patience for the full burn down/build up process to play out and it would therefore be pointless at best and counter-productive at worst. Those in favour would vehemently argue that since Leaf fans,being sophisticated fans of hockey, would exhibit more than enough patience to see it through as long as we had a stable management group, a credible coach and a young team that was improving every year. Good times!

Thing is though, the coach has exhibited stubbornness and either an inability or an unwillingness to adapt. You say he's credible, OK fair enough I guess. Isn't any coach who's been in the NHL for a number of credible? Does that mean that every team is better off keeping their "credible" guy instead of making a change when the team is spinning it's wheels?

Trading futures for veteran players (perhaps the kind of veteran players Babcock seems to love and is complaining about not having), now that would indeed be impatient, pointless and counter-productive. Keeping our youth and finding a coach who can get the most out of our wealth of talent instead of complaining that he doesn't have "the right pieces", now that seems like a move worthy of serious consideration.

Stability to me means making goals, charting a course to reach those goals and adapting that course as circumstances change, it does NOT mean never making any changes.

Wasn't it Shanahan who said "5 year plan that changes every day"?

 

[djdev]

I would think there wouldn't be a single coach in the world who would complain about the "pieces" the Leafs roster is blessed with. But then there's Babcock.

The team hasn't done more than expected this season, not even close. If we fail miserably in the playoffs and you want to keep him, you're entitled to that point of view but I suggest you stop with the "he's done more than expected" narrative, you're not fooling me one bit.

if we go out in the first round, unless we some some terrible decision making, which is highly subjective anyways, im gonna blame this stupid playoff format.
we are playing what is, right now the 2nd best team(tied with cgy) in the whole league. Boston isn't some scrub team we should be mopping the floor with, this was always gonna be a war..lets just hope we win this time.

 

[Gary Nylund]

if we go out in the first round, unless we some some terrible decision making, which is highly subjective anyways, im gonna blame this stupid playoff format.
we are playing what is, right now the 2nd best team(tied with cgy) in the whole league. Boston isn't some scrub team we should be mopping the floor with, this was always gonna be a war..lets just hope we win this time.

I agree, the playoff format is really bad and I've been shouting for change for some time now. I'm not willing to go so far as to say OK that's our excuse, if we lose, no problem though, I need to see how things play out first. If we're without Gardiner and Dermott, Boston is perfectly healthy, we lose but put up a good fight (playing much better than we have the last few months) and we can honestly say that against a team just a bit less strong we would have won then I might not be completely miserable (though I'll still say we under-achieved this season). If however say Dermott is back, Gardiner is out but Boston has comparable injuries so that's a wash and we continue playing the way we've been playing since Christmas and get crushed then hell no, I won't be blaming the playoff system.

Boston may well be the second best team in the league but IMHO, the question is - why aren't we the second best team in the league instead of Boston? We added Tavares and then Muzzin and until recently we've been among the healthiest teams in the NHL, why aren't we considered the second best team in the NHL and on pace to finish clear 2nd?

I thought we'd be better, I really did. I thought we'd be battling TB for first overall, OK not complaining about that as they've been better than expected but being on pace to finish with less points than last season, getting progressively worse as the season goes on and having our coach complaining about our roster, yeah that's not acceptable to me. There will be plenty of blame to go around and the coach is probably the first person I'll be pointing the finger at. If Babcock coaches better, we beat Boston and look impressive doing so, I'll reconsider how I feel about Babs, that's not looking very likely at this point though.

 

[supermann_98]

Voted DJ Smith because I can see the team getting swept in the 1st round and Babs tying the can around his assistants neck instead of falling on his sword and resigning as he should

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

I don't understand why people could want Babs gone.
Maybe I don't know coaching as well as some or maybe I am just older and wiser

He has been here 3 years. The team and individuals have improved measurably since he got here. He said from day one there will be pain. He has made it clear he hasn't got all his pieces.
Emotions and time aside he has done more than could be expected imo. Losing in the first round to a team that is better than you is not a reason to throw your toys out of the cot no matter how it happens.
The 1st round has not started yet but most have the Leafs getting hammered. Heard the same crap last year.
Shouldnt be a surprise then.

The All Black's the greatest sports team in history (look it up) won one World Cup (Rugby's Stanley Cup), the first one 1987. Despite having the best team and being favorites at every event since, they failed for 24 yrs to win another. They were plundered out of the 2007 event during the quarter finals. Worst result and embarrassing for the caliber of that team.
The coaching staff was no doubt going to be fired.

They were not and against all better judgement and outcry from fans they were retained.
That coaching staff were hated and dragged over the coals prior and up to the time they won in 2011.
They have won the 2 WC events since and have a 93 or 94 win percentage with pretty much the same coaching staff to this day. They can do no wrong now.
Just about everyone on here seems to think this Leafs team is not complete yet. I agree.
How is he supposed to win without a well rounded team?
If ever that team is assembled and they fail to win a few rounds then yeah he needs to be replaced but not until then.
I think there is a very good chance despite recent play that this team as it is, will blow egg on a few people faces come the post season. If not I will be patient for another season or 2

I don't know much about rugby...but can you tell us if the coaches adapted in any way? I think most fans here have a problem with seeing Babs do the same stuff over and over and seeing little success with the system. If he at least tries to change up the break out and stops the stupid stretch pass to no mans land...I think people would at least have some hope. This is the same guy who has been booted 7/8 times in the first round!! And some of those Detroit teams were really good regular season teams. That is what scares people here...some guys make it sound like he is a 5x winner of the cup..he isn't. He won just 1x with a pretty darn good team with a lot of hall of fame players. We all make fun of Carlyle when he won because of his hall of fame defense...well...same applies to Babs..he won with one as well.

 

[HEAVY DUTY]

babcock.

not the right coach for the team.

 

[The Podium]

Nylander has been playing great? He’s not worth his contract. Kadri has been crap since he’s got married. Both should be gone

 

[56 Years No Cup]

Seriously?
Look at this roster
No roster is perfect, but teams that don't have half the roster we do find ways to win

 

[56 Years No Cup]

I would think there wouldn't be a single coach in the world who would complain about the "pieces" the Leafs roster is blessed with. But then there's Babcock.

The team hasn't done more than expected this season, not even close. If we fail miserably in the playoffs and you want to keep him, you're entitled to that point of view but I suggest you stop with the "he's done more than expected" narrative, you're not fooling me one bit.

Great post!

 

[56 Years No Cup]

I agree, the playoff format is really bad and I've been shouting for change for some time now. I'm not willing to go so far as to say OK that's our excuse, if we lose, no problem though, I need to see how things play out first. If we're without Gardiner and Dermott, Boston is perfectly healthy, we lose but put up a good fight (playing much better than we have the last few months) and we can honestly say that against a team just a bit less strong we would have won then I might not be completely miserable (though I'll still say we under-achieved this season). If however say Dermott is back, Gardiner is out but Boston has comparable injuries so that's a wash and we continue playing the way we've been playing since Christmas and get crushed then hell no, I won't be blaming the playoff system.

Boston may well be the second best team in the league but IMHO, the question is - why aren't we the second best team in the league instead of Boston? We added Tavares and then Muzzin and until recently we've been among the healthiest teams in the NHL, why aren't we considered the second best team in the NHL and on pace to finish clear 2nd?

I thought we'd be better, I really did. I thought we'd be battling TB for first overall, OK not complaining about that as they've been better than expected but being on pace to finish with less points than last season, getting progressively worse as the season goes on and having our coach complaining about our roster, yeah that's not acceptable to me. There will be plenty of blame to go around and the coach is probably the first person I'll be pointing the finger at. If Babcock coaches better, we beat Boston and look impressive doing so, I'll reconsider how I feel about Babs, that's not looking very likely at this point though.

You Sir, are on a roll!

 

[IPS]

Look at the usage he's been doing it with too. It's pretty f***ing impressive but the kid still gets no respect.

 

[hoglund]

babcock.

not the right coach for the team.

That's what Raptors fans said about Dwayne Casey, which was a bad move in my opinion. Babcock isn't the problem, I don't know what is, but I know it's not him.

 

[Fatass]

That's what Raptors fans said about Dwayne Casey, which was a bad move in my opinion. Babcock isn't the problem, I don't know what is, but I know it's not him.

If you guys foolishly replace Babcock, can we have him here in Vancouver?
Your team is set up to win the Cup this season. Why change the coach?

 

[56 Years No Cup]

If you guys foolishly replace Babcock, can we have him here in Vancouver?
Your team is set up to win the Cup this season. Why change the coach?

Woefully uninformed. Do you actually watch Leaf games?

 

[zeke]

It's inevitable that at least one of the management team is gone in the offseason, based on the bad play of the Leafs and what media and fans have been predicting.

Ironic, given that Leafs are still on an over 100pt pace season again.

Whos most likely gone?

#5 points percentage
#3 regulation wins
#3 goal differential

they're probably all staying put.

 

[Beaumaris]

That's what Raptors fans said about Dwayne Casey, which was a bad move in my opinion. Babcock isn't the problem, I don't know what is, but I know it's not him.

It's him.