yes he is
- Lucas.Neilson

People still harping on why Shanahan/Dubas didn't fire Babcock last year after the season was over. I think they really wanted too but as always the decision comes down to one thing.....$$$$. At that point Babs was only half way through his 8 year deal. That's a lot of convincing for corporate to buy off on that! Yes the Leafs are loaded but that's still hard to convince upper management to cut ties with your coach when you still owe him millions of dollars. I think that's why they wanted to at least give him another chance this season before pulling the trigger, but deep down everyone knew it wasn't working.

I always get the family size, just in case.
- Garnie

Eating a poutine that big is pretty tough...

I'd just cut out the middle man (ie. stomach) and drink a bottle of canola oil

The best poutine is at a place called greenspot at the corner of greene and notre-dame in st-henri

Perfectly blanched/fried fries
Nice dark salty beef gravy
Fresh cheese curds delivered in the morning


- TheMussel

Blanched french fries, shouldn't you cook them? and gotta love canned gravy.

People still harping on why Shanahan/Dubas didn't fire Babcock last year after the season was over. I think they really wanted too but as always the decision comes down to one thing.....$$$$. At that point Babs was only half way through his 8 year deal. That's a lot of convincing for corporate to buy off on that! Yes the Leafs are loaded but that's still hard to convince upper management to cut ties with your coach when you still owe him millions of dollars. I think that's why they wanted to at least give him another chance this season before pulling the trigger, but deep down everyone knew it wasn't working.
- NewfieStud

good post

my sources *yes I do have 1 magically* said that the Leafs brass were going back n fourth (firing babcock) at end of season. They really liked the Leafs game 5 Playoff game vs boston and thought Babcock may have it figured out here...they really liked the Leafs performance that game...that apparently gave babcock a bit more time.

take it with a grain of salt but that's the explanation I got as to why Babcock wasn't let go at the end of last season.

good post

my sources *yes I do have 1 magically* said that the Leafs brass were going back n fourth (firing babcock) at end of season. They really liked the Leafs game 5 Playoff game vs boston and thought Babcock may have it figured out here...they really liked the Leafs performance that game...that apparently gave babcock a bit more time.

take it with a grain of salt but that's the explanation I got as to why Babcock wasn't let go at the end of last season.
- Lucas.Neilson

Interesting.. Is your source Chris Johnston from SportsNet? If so, mine too.

Blanched french fries, shouldn't you cook them? and gotta love canned gravy.
- bobbyisno1

You blanch them in the fry oil until soft but not fully cooked and then let them sit and get back down to room temp. Right before serving, you throw them back into the fryer for the final fry and fry them until the fries are dark-ish brown with crisp edges but the blanching before ensure that they're still soft, not rigid. Also, you don't want the fries to be so hot that the cheese curds melt into a soup with the gravy, but warm enough that it's pleasant to eat.

https://www.tsn.ca/video/...-trend-you-ll-see~1839077


I was right all along. That's all this team needs. "Grit" is not the issue at all. It was coaching.

Why would you not play your best players like other coaches do? And if giving "Load management", why the hell do you also underplay them in the playoffs?

Interesting.. Is your source Chris Johnston from SportsNet? If so, mine too.
- PatC80

no sir

did he break this down already ?

no sir

did he break this down already ?
- Lucas.Neilson

Haha yes.. During the Saturday night game against the Avalanche.. Said the same thing

Haha yes.. During the Saturday night game against the Avalanche.. Said the same thing
- PatC80

haha well there ya have it.

this is information I knew last Monday before the release of Babcock. I just didn't know it was discussed on Saturday night...I watch my games on NHL.com (NHL game center) so I don't get intermission

and usually I'm flipping between games during Leafs intermission!

haha well there ya have it.

this is information I knew last Monday before the release of Babcock. I just didn't know it was discussed on Saturday night...I watch my games on NHL.com (NHL game center) so I don't get intermission

and usually I'm flipping between games during Leafs intermission!
- Lucas.Neilson

Wait, that means that I exposed my source.. I'm doomed..

Wait, that means that I exposed my source.. I'm doomed..
- PatC80

well at least it confirmed mine was bang on

I think it's nothing more than what they said. A 19 year old who has had his way with his peers and faced little adversity in terms of people stopping him wasn't putting in the effort he needed to. He was called out for it - privately, and used other vets as a way to show what he needed to do better and who he needed to be more like.

It was poor judgement by Babs to continue to use that as a way to try and motivate Kadri and Bozak.

Or was it? Since it seemed to get the team more together, they rallied behind the 19 year old rookie and the message he was trying to send was still clearly sent to the players he wanted to receive it.

It was a Richard move, but it did exactly what he wanted.
- Monkeypunk

I agree with this. Why do coaches have to be nice. Scotty Bowman was the biggest wiener around. Get rid of Babcock but not because he was mean.

haha well there ya have it.

this is information I knew last Monday before the release of Babcock. I just didn't know it was discussed on Saturday night...I watch my games on NHL.com (NHL game center) so I don't get intermission

and usually I'm flipping between games during Leafs intermission!
- Lucas.Neilson

What I found funny about all of that was, did Leafs management forget that Game 6 and Game 7 happened? Game 5 was great, they won in Boston, but they were not prepared for Boston's push back in game 6, or ready at all for Game 7..

well at least it confirmed mine was bang on
- Lucas.Neilson

https://www.tsn.ca/video/...-trend-you-ll-see~1839077


I was right all along. That's all this team needs. "Grit" is not the issue at all. It was coaching.

Why would you not play your best players like other coaches do? And if giving "Load management", why the hell do you also underplay them in the playoffs?
- RogerRoeper

We do need to give the Keefe Leefs a good sample size before we can really make conclusions.

But for some its always the same thing, not enough grit or heart, with a pinch of missing leadership.

I can buy into the missing Leadership part this time, since it looks like the missing leader was the coach.. he alienated the players.

We do need to give the Keefe Leefs a good sample size before we can really make conclusions.

But for some its always the same thing, not enough grit or heart, with a pinch of missing leadership.

I can buy into the missing Leadership part this time, since it looks like the missing leader was the coach.. he alienated the players.
- senstroll

Play the best players more. Stack the lines. put Tyson Barrie on 1st unit PP. Play the backup against the weaker competition on back to backs, don't play 4th line whenever a goal is scored, don't obsessively line-match, play the 1st unit PP more than 40 seconds.

Keefe just does the obvious and he gets better results. Babcocks coaching made ZERO sense.

Matthews/Marner/Nylander will destroy the competition. Put them on 1 line

new blog everyone

Guys on overdrive speculated putting hutch in tonight vs the wings. Then start Freddy back to back against Buffalo. Freddy would have about 6 days off.

I actually don’t mind that plan.
- bryant

I said the same thing the other night on here. Would've liked to see that but Freddy is already confirmed for tonight.

Let's spank em!

Play the best players more. Stack the lines. put Tyson Barrie on 1st unit PP. Play the backup against the weaker competition on back to backs, don't play 4th line whenever a goal is scored, don't obsessively line-match, play the 1st unit PP more than 40 seconds.

Keefe just does the obvious and he gets better results. Babcocks coaching made ZERO sense.
- RogerRoeper

Keefe did say that they will lean heavily on Matthews and Tavares.. I expect them to play a lot in close games.

new blog everyone
- mikeinbuffalo

Thread killer

I said the same thing the other night on here. Would've liked to see that but Freddy is already confirmed for tonight.

Let's spank em!
- LeafGuy89

Sports science team won't give the ok on it it seems.

We do need to give the Keefe Leefs a good sample size before we can really make conclusions.

But for some its always the same thing, not enough grit or heart, with a pinch of missing leadership.

I can buy into the missing Leadership part this time, since it looks like the missing leader was the coach.. he alienated the players.
- senstroll

I agree completely. Two games just isn't enough. They haven't even deployed a defensive system under Keefe. It's not like Colorado didn't have huge parts of that game where they had their way with the Leafs. We'll have to see how it progresses.

I do think the team, since they lack toughness, will have to play through it. They have shown a tendency to retreat when faced with physical adversity in the past, so the question is - will they push through it for Keefe & co. ?

The most important thing to me right now is getting Rielly back on his game. If we have Rielly and Barrie driving the play from the blue line, along with a focused attack, they will be good. I know he's not a good defender, but he'll have to do it less if he's turning the puck over less and playing more offense.

Every team has their flaws, and we know ours. The question is can they succeed despite their flaws, or do they need to be addressed first?