WordsOfWisdom

So you're in favour of the Leafs doing a "mini rebuild" type of thing? What do we get back? Draft picks or active players? I think the forwards are the best part about this team. No doubt about it. We have some explosive scorers. The trouble is, how do you build around that in a salary cap league? Even if we had the #1, #2, and #3 best forwards in the NHL, and all paid accordingly, is that a winning team?

Overall I think he's been a decent pickup. I was more just frustrated at the circus that was the Leafs recent slump.

It's the new: "Our organization is moving in a different direction."

YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!

It's that time of year (and that position in the standings) where Leafs management, fans, and media need to stop dreaming about this season and start thinking about what needs to be changed on this team for it to return to the playoffs next season. If you were the Leafs GM Dubas (put on a pair of frames with no glass to pretend), what moves would you make to improve this Leafs team? Trade a few of Toronto's big name forwards for 1st round draft picks? (Mini-rebuild) Player for player trade to upgrade the defence? (Would mean giving up a player like Matthews, Tavares, Marner, or Nylander.) Stay the course and run the Leafs into 9th place in the East and the worst possible draft position? The issue I have is that even if the Leafs made the playoffs this season (by some fluke / weak Atlantic division / whatever) they're not a Stanley Cup team anyway. This is a broken team. First round fodder for one of the other teams to quickly dispatch. So what's the point of getting there just to be trounced in the opening round? Isn't the goal to win the Cup? I think if you're going to lose, you might as well get something out of it. The Leafs could dump a few forwards for draft picks, finish near the bottom, collect another good draft pick in the lottery, and then bounce back very quickly next season with the beginnings of a new core group.

Maybe he figured it would take the Av's longer to score on a breakaway than it would on the Leafs "penalty kill".

I think it was just the optics of it more than anything. It looked as though he dodged out of the way of the Av's player to allow him to go by lol. Sometimes you just need to run a little interference, especially if it means preventing a breakaway.

This might be some of the worse defence I've ever seen. Check out the video at 6:41: Spezza actually twirls out of the way of the Av's forward and costs the Leafs this game.

My issue with Babcock is that he put Marner (a rookie at the time, but it doesn't matter) in a no-win situation. He basically created an environment where one player was being asked to turn on his own teammates like a rat. So, in this instance, I agree 100% that Babcock was in the wrong. That's just terrible coaching. Playing mind games and trying to screw over your own players (the Mike Modano 1499 games played thing being another example) is something that should get him exiled from the league. However, what I'm talking about is just basic yelling at the players. ie: "Move your ass", "That was f'n terrible", etc..... That needs to be okay given the nature of sports in my opinion.

Is he "the" Ron Jeremy? (I didn't want to ask him in case it annoyed him or anything.) The only celebrity I've ever met or talked to was David Hasselhoff at the grand opening of Toys R Us when I was like 6 years old and he was there signing autographs.

What kind of abortion was that at the finish? The Leafs had so many chances to bury the Flyers in the first period and it was a close game right up until the end. Flyers set an NHL record for most goals scored AFTER an empty net goal. (Or so I'm guessing.)

Agreed. When I had to listen to an NHL analyst during the intermission talk about "creating a safe work environment" for players (by not having coaches yell at them) I knew the league had gone full on puss mode lol. I mean, can you imagine a coach not being able to yell at the players because it might hurt their feelings? OMG.

I don't miss the trap, but I do miss the hitting. Don Cherry was right when he said that the league was going to legislate hitting out of the game. I thought he was nuts and just being a neanderthal about the league clamping down on fighting, but he was right: hitting is all but gone from the league now. It's a completely different game than it was just 20 years ago. The league will tell you the players are faster and more exciting, but they're basically "soccer" players now. It's a no-touch game. Anyone can skate fast if there are no repercussions to doing so. Nobody checking you and nobody hitting you. I'm surprised the league hasn't passed a rule that the defencemen must spread apart and allow forwards a clean breakaway to the net lol. When I remember those playoff games from the early 2000's, I remember a tough, physical game where you still had the skill, but you also had the big hits and the intensity. I just don't see that any more. The players today are soft.

I can remember when a Leafs vs Flyers game usually meant a bench clearing brawl, crazy amounts of hitting, etc... I remember Domi spraying the fan who fell into the penalty box, etc... Good times.

A much needed rebound because the team was under-performing with Babcock. Now they're playing more like what they are... which is a playoff bubble team that may/may not make the playoffs. If they do make the playoffs, it will no doubt be thanks to the incredibly weak Atlantic division, and I don't envision anyone from the Atlantic division (other than the Bruins) making any noise next spring. The Flyers and Leafs are equally matched I think.