leafman101
Well-known member
I would guess its because of Mitch's massive jump in game score this year. I'm sure his model takes into count pass seasons performance.
interesting. I don't see Tavares or Marner dropping off though. why would they?
I'd love for someone to ask him eventually what he thinks of the fact that his 4th line was a strength all year, and then suddenly unplayable as soon as leivo was dropped.
I'd love for someone to ask him eventually what he thinks of the fact that his 4th line was a strength all year, and then suddenly unplayable as soon as leivo was dropped.
What really, really gets me though is that the minute Leivo was gone, he ratcheted up the defensive zone usage against top competition for the 4th ****ing line.
I get not liking a player for whatever reason, I get ****ing up the evaluation of a player because he doesn't fit whatever gud pro criteria you have. I think they're massive blindspots, but I get how it's possible. What I don't get was how you can so poorly evaluate everything else on that line (including Lindholm) into believing that Leivo was the problem with that line and all you needed was him gone before you could give it more responsibility.
What scares me is that it appears to be just another link in a chain of bad lineup decisions Babcock has made over the last few years. Matt Martin over real hockey players, Leo (while performing like the worst offensive forward in hockey) dragging down the 3rd line for 40+ games without even trying anything different, Connor Brown getting reps with Matthews before trying more offensively talented players, Willy/Mitch to the 4th line every time they dogged it on a back check, etc, etc, etc.
I don't know if this old dog even thinks he's potentially wrong. It's more likely that he just thinks Dubas isn't giving him enough gud pros to make it work the way he wants.
Nothing is good enough.
I want to build my own coach with the latest cyborg technology where I can upload all my line combos and he has to execute on them.
I've been worried for a while that the Babcock hiring might come to haunt us. All the respect in the world for what he has accomplished in his career, but the league has changed a ton in the last 10 years, and from what I've seen I'm not sure he's adapting well.
It kind of reminds me of the Burke hiring actually. He was a guy that had some great success, but the league had begun its transformation by the time he got to Toronto and he just refused to change. Actually, the league changing around him seemed to amplify his commitment to his "brand" of team building (pugnacity etc etc), like the changing style was an attack on him personally.
You see some of the same traits in Babcock. The refusal to stack a line. The comments on analytics. The security blanket favourites on each line. How many times this year has he told us that the Caps were the biggest team in hockey and you have to play a heavy game to win in the playoffs? Completely ignoring the Pens going back-to-back the previous 2 years, of course.
I don't know, this team is stacked and is going to win games regardless, but I'm a bit concerned Dubas is chained to Babs with no way out.
I'd love for someone to ask him eventually what he thinks of the fact that his 4th line was a strength all year, and then suddenly unplayable as soon as leivo was dropped.