Mike Babcock is Good… Really Good
I’m not sure if a lot were questioning the legitimacy that Mike Babcock was the greatest hockey coach, not only in the NHL but in the whole world before this past season.
If you were, you definitely shouldn’t be anymore.
Babcock came to a losing team and turned them into winners. Yes, the players obviously impacted the team in a positive way. But, without the hands molding the clay, the clay would be formless.
Before he got his hands on this team, the idea coming into a game was that the Leafs were going to lose.
Now, it’s the total opposite as each player fully expects to win every night.
That’s spectacular.
Do you want some proof?
The Leafs finished dead last in 2015-16. One year later they gave the best team in the league of two years a run for their money in the first round of the playoffs.
And I know what you’re thinking because I thought about it too.
Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitchell Marner.
Again, without the proper guidance, these kids would have been kids.
I know there’s more to this team than just those three, but leave it be for the illustration.
And lastly, Babcock is one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams award in 2016-17.
There’s your proof.