Hey, Leafs management are trying to improve their team. Can’t fault them.
Treliving has done nothing to improve this team in 16 months. It’s his job to deliver results. He has done a lot of good work, and I’m in no way saying get rid of him, nor am I close to saying that - I think he’s a good GM, but he has to get to it and start delivering some direction and a path forward. His roster has holes, and what is in place has work ethic issues.
It’s usually a case of topping up. So if Babcock gets a deal paying him $5M, it’s likely Toronto stays on the hook for that $1.25M difference.
Factually incorrect.
He had deals in place to acquire Zucker, Kadri and Brown . Both deals got nixed due to conditions out pf his control. Minnesota's ineptness and a player not wanting to leave Toronto as he didn't know he was being shopped and this was just a 1 time request.
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to combustiblefuel For This Useful Post:
Factually incorrect.
He had deals in place to acquire Zucker, Kadri and Brown . Both deals got nixed due to conditions out pf his control. Minnesota's ineptness and a player not wanting to leave Toronto as he didn't know he was being shopped and this was just a 1 time request.
...doesn’t make it factually incorrect. You don’t get points for “trying”. You don’t win championships because you had an aspiration of winning the championship. You have to deliver.
I’m not slamming the GM, however I am being critical of him. I think it would be hard to argue that he has improved this team from July 1st 2018 onwards. July 2nd 2018 was the day he signed James Neal.
The Following 14 Users Say Thank You to ComixZone For This Useful Post:
The Leafs are about to get a lot more run-and-gun and unconventional.
Sheldon Keefe will leave no stone unturned in the quest for tactical advantages supported by both numbers and the eye test, and couldn't care less what the norm or "the way it's always been done" says. That isn't to say he's all smartest guy in the room when clearly not, like Jay Feaster and John Weisbrod were, but there is no doing things without a defined plan or purpose.
I am really looking forward to this experiment as I've been a huge Keefe admirer for some time based on his work in junior and now the A, but am curious if it translates to the best league in the world - and wow what a city/team to go this route. Whether success or failure it's going to be a spectacle.
You can expect some or all of the below:
Dump-and-change will be strictly frowned upon.
Dump-and-chase won't be outlawed, but will be considered a secondary option and all dumps will be purposeful into pre-defined areas.
Point shots will be the last resort, especially on the power-play, and will be more of the rebound-generating variety rather than trying to pick corners.
Punting out of defensive zone will be heavily discouraged in favor of playing out of defence, as will blind unforced rims around the boards.
The goalie will be pulled early and possibly in some unconventional situations (e.g., down 2 goals but on a powerplay with 15 minutes remaining in the game).
Player usage will be drastically slanted to pre-defined roles based on situation, and top-end player rest will be a very large consideration in one-sided games.
The forecheck will be relentless and high-pressure, supported by pinching defencemen looking to divide the ice into smaller lateral channels.
__________________ "I think the eye test is still good, but analytics can sure give you confirmation: what you see...is that what you really believe?" Scotty Bowman, 0 NHL games played
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to united For This Useful Post:
Babcock had completely neutered this team. They were getting nothing offensively but still getting outchanced. Players all seemed unhappy and the games were a chore to watch. Excited to see where the team goes with Keefe.
Well ####, that's exactly what we're going through here.
The Following User Says Thank You to djsFlames For This Useful Post:
His agent was also David Frost who was at the centre of the whole Mike Danton weirdness
Keefe was part of Frost’s crew in Brampton
There is a little bit of weirdness in his history
TSN republished the excerpt from Mckenzie's book, diving deep into Keefe's relationship with Frost and their times jumping from team to team as Frost moved his guys around like chess pieces.
Fascinating stuff actually on that whole saga... but it's a long comprehensive read.
It was a bit weird. Weird how obvious it’s becoming in the last day or so that this group of players absolutely tanked their own performance to get rid of Babcock. There’s been leak after leak about how the locker room felt about it, with rumblings that players were upset on Jason Spezza’s behalf after Babcock gave him the run-around earlier this season, and then Tyson Barrie’s fall off a cliff offensively that clearly the others knew was eating at him. No one wanted to play this style anymore. I knew it wasn’t good, but didn’t think it could be this bad, because…well, Babcock was still employed.
Matthews:
“I just think a little bit more freedom. We weren’t really just giving up the puck. I thought if something wasn’t there, we’d just kind of come back and hang on to it and we’d all come up and support each other and we didn’t have guys all over the place.
So I think that’s something that kind of opens up stuff for us because we’ve got a lot of guys that can skate and that are skilled with the puck and can skate through the neutral zone…
He wants us to utilize our skillsets, he wants us to play free. Not that it’s just a free-for-all for everybody, but he wants us to compete and utilize the God-given talents that we have. And we go out there and compete and hang on to the puck.”
Tyson Barrie:
“That style that we played tonight, you’ll see a lot more of it. You know what, we’re going to make some mistakes and we’re going to look silly sometimes, but we’re going to be rewarded for it a lot more than I think we won’t be.”
Anyone who thinks [Commodore] needs to lay off Babs just doesn’t understand how much hate players have for him. It’s beyond him scratching [Commodore] or saying he was out of shape. NHL players are a very very small population of athletes and people. We share stories throughout the years with each other and for those outside the locker rooms, you will never truly understand some of the terrible undeserving things Babs has done to his some of his players. You don’t have to like all your coaches, but he is one who 95% of his players can’t say a good thing about. With the ability to end players careers, he’s chosen to do so to long serving vets that have resulted in all his players turning against him. He’s used his power to turn teammates against each other, and choose to continuously lie to his players. [Commodore] may have strong public opinions of Babs, but in our fraternity of NHL and former NHL players, he’s speaking for the masses. He’s speaking for countless players who have personally told me their terrible stories of Babs just being a bad guy. He’s speaking for all the #MapleLeafs who wouldn’t dare speak the truth right now, but damn sure want to. [Commodore] has so many players respect. If only the outsiders in the hockey world knew the truth.
The Following 16 Users Say Thank You to cam_wmh For This Useful Post:
It’s like Burke said on the Radio Thursday. Babcock has a touch of Keenan in him.
He’s a chicken hawk who psychologically manipulates players as a means to his own ends.
Commodore is only one example.
He’s done this for over 25 years.
He coached my cousin in Moose Jaw then at a game in Prince Albert he called on my other cousin, his own players brother, who played for the Raiders, to fight after the game. It was just to mess with my cousin’s head, who was only a teenager at the time.
Then after riling him to the point where my cousin looked like a loon outside the dressing room after the game, Babcock acted like nothing happened.
This was a 30 year old man calling on teenagers to fight then acting like he didn’t do anything.
Horrible human being.
The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to Boreal For This Useful Post:
It’s like Burke said on the Radio Thursday. Babcock has a touch of Keenan in him.
He’s a chicken hawk who psychologically manipulates players as a means to his own ends.
Commodore is only one example.
He’s done this for over 25 years.
He coached my cousin in Moose Jaw then at a game in Prince Albert he called on my other cousin, his own players brother, who played for the Raiders, to fight after the game. It was just to mess with my cousin’s head, who was only a teenager at the time.
Then after riling him to the point where my cousin looked like a loon outside the dressing room after the game, Babcock acted like nothing happened.
This was a 30 year old man calling on teenagers to fight then acting like he didn’t do anything.
Horrible human being.
This. There’s so many more stories but most players tow the line and won’t ruffle feathers.
