ChristopherReevesLegs

If I was Shanahan I wouldn't have traded players or fired Babs. I would have pulled Marner and Matthews into my office and said: "Do you wanna score 90 pts a season? Or do you wanna score 70 pts a season and win cups? "Cups" "Good, then STFU and do as Babs says." Leafs are a young team with a lot of growing and evolving to do yet. Personally I think Babs is a great person to do that sculpting. He's a tough coach. But Shanahan folded and canned the man he personally selected to do that sculpting after push-back from players and probably Dubas as well. Personally I think canning the coach because a buncha 22/23 old players won't buy into his system is rather ludicrous and sets a bad precedent. What happens when these snot nose brats start complaining about Keefe's system too? Ya gonna just keep firing guys until you can find the guy who will wipe their asses the way they like? I would probably feel different about this if these players were older and hadn't just taken the team for a ransom sum of money at a young age. I think the Leafs think this year is their year already, and I would wholly disagree. They're a team that's gonna get smashed in the playoffs again the way they play. There's a lot of growing and maturing that needs to happen there yet. But if they must GO ALL IN this year! Then yes firing Babs makes good sense. He's not gonna fit that roster unless those players REALLY buy in and believe in it. I always thought Dubas was the one screwing up that team, not Babs. Tavares = First big mistake, they just couldn't keep their hand out of the cookie jar and that set the market high on all their young players contracts Everything sort of snowballs from there Next Nylander holds out for big money (should've Drouin'ed him) and they caved Then Marner holds out for big money and they literally moved mountains around to cave for him Now they're young players are whining about their coach and blaming him for their poor performances and so they cave to that They seem to be building a team culture of entitled young players, and I'm almost certain it will come back to bite them in the future. No role-players = first round exit

No, I think ONLY having skilled players is a bad thing. Dabs made this point on HF Boards, and I tend to agree with him. They're gonna soon miss role-players like Kadri. #2 shutdown centers are like a gift from god in the playoffs. And Kadris presence took a lot of pressure off of Matthews and Tavares. The massive firepower they have is a great thing, but there's a lot of other elements to hockey. I see a team that can score, but doesn't do anything else particularly well. And I wonder if Dubas has any sort of actual vision for the identity of that team, other than re-signing the guys who show up on the stat sheet the most.

"Hi Steve, it's Ken" "Hey Ken" "Look I will take that Nielsen contract off your hands, all I need is your 1st rounder and I'll send you back a 7th" A. Yes B. No C. Counter-offer

It's driving me insane that Tag Bertuzzi is not signed by us yet. He had a terrible year his draft year and I think labored through injuries. But he's still 18 and is now nearly a point per game in the OHL. YZERBOY PLZ

Not to be short, but you're getting way into the nitty gritty for what I was going for. My point was simply you're not going to trade a burden like Nielsen without accepting another burden, so it's sort of a wash. 1/4 of the way to de la Rose!

I think everyone agrees Babcock lost the room. Question is, who is to blame for that? Is the coach just crappy, or are the players a buncha prima-donnas? On the one hand, Dubas is building an offensive-minded talent-laced team. It makes good sense to can Mike Babcock because of that. Babs is a shutdown coach and will never fit that style. On the other hand, I think back to Zberg and Dats. Wings players always hated Babs, but they still bought into his system. And Zberg and Dats evolved and grew into two of the two best defensive forwards to ever play the game under this man. I think Dats and Zberg would have been EVEN higher scorers under a different coach... but then they would have never become the truly complete players they did become under Babs. So yeah Babs didn't adapt, and that killed him. But I also think his players didn't adapt (buy in) and that's gonna kill them all in the long-run. They play like individuals. They don't win board battles. But they sure can score. I foresee a lot of nice regular seasons, but very few cups coming from that formula.

Yeah I was reading something that said Lam and Babs were really close and shared a vision for the team, but that was the complete opposite with Dubas and Babs. They didn't see eye to eye on team construction and weren't close as colleagues. So Dubas got his way, and now has HIS coach. Buys him a little time now to get his team together. My question for Dubas would be WTF is your vision for that team? It seems to me he's just gonna overload with offensively gifted players and try to score other teams to death. I think that kid is in way over his head.

I hate u and miss smith, 91, kip, and bups Sorry not sorry

I have a few beers in me and its late but i think theres more than a few of us who are dedicated to addressing this in some way or another. More to come

No you are 100% right. It began with Nylander. They folded and gave him max dollar... that led to folding and giving marner max dollar... meanwhile loyal depth players are getting traded off. You cant do that and then not cater to those players demands... aka firing Babs. Yzerman would have told Nylander to figuratively f*** himself and he would've been traded for a reliable Dman. Then Marner wouldn't have the balls to ask for a bajillion dollars and the culture would be in check. It's classic management v labor and Dubas has the foresight of an 18 year old community college student. Should be fun to watch lol

I don't think he would come back for any reason. But I would take him in the rare circumstance he would. Will be interesting to see where he goes. 4 years ago we literally had BAB WATCH. I don't think he gets that level of hype now, but honestly I want him here in Seattle with my new superior Sockeyes team.

It amazes me that Laffs fans don't see this. Their players score 5 goals then refuse to grind, forecheck, backcheck, or win board battles. Do you honestly see that working come playoff time? The one guy who can probably fix that is babs, and instead they say "he lost the room". Noooo... management allowed players to walk OVER the coaching staff. They celebrate the firing of Babs now, but just wait. That cesspool will be freaking out in a few years time when their team is soft and players dont work hard. Typical Tronna. I give Chief Keefe under 5 years. Dubas will be fired in 3 or less. Biggest mistake Shanahan ever made was replacing Lam with Doobs

I think long term they should have stuck it out with Babs and forced their players to conform and grow But they cater to every whim of their snowflake players so ur probs right, this is the best course for the next few years of success. doubt this leads to them winning s*** thou

As Howards biggest fan I'm content to ride the season out with him and let him go Holtby and Markstrom may both be available and we have the money. The real shame is Bernier has 1 year left and I'd rather have Howard as our back up next year than stupid Bernier

Don't talk about him like that or you'll anger "the family"

I would never treat Zadina this way if he wasn't a 6th overall. But I can prolly say the same for Seider. Both are in the AHL, Seider is a year younger and a year less experienced, and I would easily say Seider is already the better AHLer. He's also a Dman which are supposed to develop later. So either Zadina sucks and Seider is ok, or Zadina is ok and Seider is god.

Unfortunately the "Howard is still decent" window seems to be rapidly closing. Big job for Stevie goaltending is gonna be. Much else won't matter if the net-minding is in the gutter. I get the feeling Zadina will be a late bloomer in the NHL if he blooms, just like how the AHL has gone for him Seider has been ready since draft day

I will admit... Zadina has REALLY heated up as of late And his hot streak has coincided with me missing Griffins games, so IDK what this streak looks like for him, but I really hope I'm being proved wrong. Would be amazing to add a legit elite goal scorer soon. And if I am indeed 100% wrong plz rub my face in it, bc I would have done the same to any of you lol. Seider has a norris in his future

That entire Glendog breakaway goal sequence I was saying "HA that's not gonna be a goal" But then it was. Hronek played 27 min tonight BEAST

Yeah but Blash woulda been fired after two loses in a row in Toronto. Two dif situations.

I tell ya this team ALWAYS fugs up in situations when they SHOULD score, then scores when ur in the kitchen and didnt expect it Hey good to be back. I'm sure we'll see the regular crew tmrw morning. I have plenty to berate them about. Going strong into the weekend.

I want to have a daughter soley so I can breed her with a bertuzzi one day #JustFatherThings Erne is due for a point here Why is Mantha the only RW with a white stick? Is he lowkey the biggest BAMF on the team?

Shortest GDT in LGW history? Howard on the bench...

Did Nielsen get a point? Yes So STFU Wow f*** this game

It was literally a ghost goal too. Goose waived his stick to curse us and it magically changed direction and went right in. f***