The best hockey coach extant wasn’t Maple Leafs-proof. And the “pain” Mike Babcock warned about his first day on the job has been extracted from his own flesh. The crucial question, post-Babcock: How real is this mess of a Leafs team, mired in a six-game losing skid. Babcock wanted them to grind and cycle, they wanted to gild the offence and fly. Maybe Babcock, who brought respect back to the Leafs ahead of schedule, ended up being the weak link instead.

Source: thestar November 21, 2019 02:03 UTC