• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

The ****ing 2017-18 Season

come on. babs is awesome. this team is on pace for 105 points - that would have won the division in 1617 and 1516.

look at the way he's got matthews and marner going. they've totally changed their games since the start of last year. dangling way less. playing in traffic more. and of late they've probably been (old man marleau aside) our two best defensive forwards. that's incredible stuff from two guys as gifted offensively as those two. both guys deserve full credit, but part of that is for being willing subjects.

rielly's another one. he's become a legit top pair guy under babs. babs challenged him, and he clearly responded to it (Gudpro).

just awesome.

also, auston looks a lot more like mats out there these days, eh?



babs aside, sheldon keefe's giong to get some serious consideration for an nhl job sooner rather than later. what he's done in such a short coaching career is crazy - his teams . keefe coached teams have 700+ winning percentages in 3 of the past 4 years (3 with the marlies, the fourth with soo). and whatever he's done with all these kids (kapanen stole a spot and johnsson's pretty close to it, dermott, holl when they called him up) is working.
 
I'm hoping they can throw a big pile of money at Keefe to keep him where he is for now. Unlikely but would be nice.
 
In terms of giving Babcock credit for Marner and Matthews, not so sure.

He saddled Marner with Bozak/JVR for a year and a half. He looked and was defensively suspect for that entire time. The line was a feeding ground for opponents' forechecking. It wasn't until he freed him from that line that Marner started to really catch fire (at both ends of the ice). Looks more like Marner persevered despite Babcock.
 
I half hate Babcock for sure. Guy stumbled into a flukey amount of talent. I dont think he is accustomed to it. He did grind Nylander almost into dust, for sure. Lets see how that turns out at the bargaining table.

The only reason we see any AHL talent up here, Kapanen, Dermott et al is because he was forced into it. All I am going to say.

Like Glendenning would be in the lineup if this goof didn't have an override button.
 
BeLeafer said:
In terms of giving Babcock credit for Marner and Matthews, not so sure.

He saddled Marner with Bozak/JVR for a year and a half. He looked and was defensively suspect for that entire time. The line was a feeding ground for opponents' forechecking. It wasn't until he freed him from that line that Marner started to really catch fire (at both ends of the ice). Looks more like Marner persevered despite Babcock.
Click to expand...

you can't be serious.
 
Babcock immediately had a crappy team go to game 7 of the cup finals that was ranked 16th during the regular season at the start of his NHL coaching career. He's a great coach.
Joel Quennville you can argue that much more. Fired twice and did not do much until Denis Savard was unfairly canned in Chicago and got to coach a stacked team.
 
JackBurton said:
I am not buying Marner learned anything from that time buried with stiffs. Babcock is stubborn.
Click to expand...

he has totally changed how he plays the game. where he takes the puck and what he tries to do with it.

far less reliant on speed and dangles.

same with matthews.

it's all coaching.
 
mbow30. You speak a lot of truth. Coaching is huge. We might have the greatest coach in Toronto history. All i can say, is he has the royal consent(Shanahan and Tanenbaum) so all is good, its just painful to watch at times

But great point, you must be a lawyer or somethin.

The team has used this regular season to season the team, no doubt. Zaitsev seems to be back. The kids are playing incredible hockey. JVR? Should probably send a rent cheque every month to the same address that Kadri sends to.

The NHL is incredibly tough, without Babcock? Yeah we could be out of contention, even with this amount of talent.

Another frustrating guy? Coach of Tampa, looks like a senior model, barely says shit, but he makes a great team, don't he? The smarmiest guy I have seen ever, in the NHL.

He looks like Ron Wilson's much better looking younger brother. Both, incredibly smarmy and arrogant.

Life is about results I guess, Imlach and Babcock? Useless hockey players who are the best in the world at mind control. I sorta wanted a Cup with a Peter Debeors or Larry Robinson behind the bench. No, we gotta have another Mind Controler I guess.

The Saskatchewan Sasquatch, is so far, earning the big bucks.

No question though, I don't like what he does to people, to get his results. Not worth it, imo.

Just another Punch Imlach imo.

Makes me love my old buddy Doug Wilson, even more.
 
Last edited:
Imlach was a nut.

Babs was a grad student in sports psychology at a world class school. This guys all science.
 
Babcock is awesome. He's managed to coach the team to a great record even while sacrificing the short term for the long term in some instances. I also appreciate his balanced assessment of the players, as opposed to the Polak terrible, Nylander awesome sorts of takes that are all too frequent even around here.
 
What I really like about Babs too are his interviews. I look forward to them and watch most - can't say those things about any other sports coach in my lifetime. He's always got a few words of wisdom you can apply to your own life.Things like: bring your best everyday, be a good and positive person, be patient and put your work before your skill.
 
Coach Babcock on Dermott status “ Xrays showed nothing but he’ll get scans on Sunday”. So nothing definite on that. Coach did say McElhinney plays against Buffalo on Monday and Andersen will get the last 2. #tmltalk
 
CTheBigPicture said:
Coach Babcock on Dermott status “ Xrays showed nothing but he’ll get scans on Sunday”. So nothing definite on that. Coach did say McElhinney plays against Buffalo on Monday and Andersen will get the last 2. #tmltalk
Click to expand...

The right move, IMO. Good to see Mac is no worse for the wear after the head shot he took yesterday.
 
CTheBigPicture said:
Coach Babcock on Dermott status “ Xrays showed nothing but he’ll get scans on Sunday”. So nothing definite on that. Coach did say McElhinney plays against Buffalo on Monday and Andersen will get the last 2. #tmltalk
Click to expand...
Yes, very concerned about Dermott especially the way he left the ice. Looks like he fractured his ankle there but it's a first relief x-ray comes back negative. Let's see what happens in the next few days.

Dermott only plays 3rd unit min thus far but i can see him getting more icetime in the playoff, esp in a series vs the Bolts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top