Toronto Maple Leafs: Time to Fire Mike Babcock

The time has come for the Toronto Maple Leafs to fire coach Mike Babcock.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not playing well, and in my opinion, all of their problems stem from terrible decisions made by Mike Babcock, which I will list shortly.

The precedent for firing coaches late in the season was set by Kyle Dubas mentor and previous Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello fired head coach Claude Julien with three games left in the season, while on a winning streak, and leading their division.

Claude Julien remains one of the most respected coaches in the NHL.  Sometimes it’s just not working.

Kyle Dubas would be smart to take a piece out of the Lou Lamoriello playbook and can Mike Babcock because this is a joke.

Fire the Coach

Up until recently, I thought this was a ridiculous idea.  I wasn’t even going to write about it once I started thinking it was a good idea.  It seemed too far fetched.  But then I heard Babcock talk on consecutive days and I thought  “this guy is trying to get fired.”

It’s clear that Babcock and Dubas have different philosophies.  I would think a professional on the level of Mike Babcock wouldn’t complain about the GM to the media, but there you have it.

Mike Babcock clearly belongs to the portion of the fan base who thinks the Leafs need more grit. That’s his opinion, but his boss clearly thinks differently.  The Leafs GM has had an incredible first season as an NHL GM (Tavares, Muzzin, Nylander, Matthews, Petan etc) but clearly Mike Babcock disagrees.

But it’s not the Leafs roster that is the problem.  It’s the way it’s deployed.

Let’s break it down:

• Ron Hainsey on the first pairing
• Zaitsev on the second pairing
• Playing Zaitsev and Hainsey more than Muzzin for weeks.
• The frustrating, predictable breakouts.
• The frustrating predictable power-play
• The unnecessary and hurtful line matching
• Overplaying Connor Brown and Patrick Marleau
• Complaining to the media about having to play a skilled, small 4th line
• Complaining to the media about his roster
• Refusing to play Auston Matthews an appropriate amount of minutes
• the idiotically stacked power play that for some reason splits time with one that includes fourth liners.
• Auston Matthews’ ice time is worth mentioning twice.
• A complete failure to experiment with strategy or line combos
• A team that constantly fails to “start on time”
• A team that doesn’t play to its strengths
• That ###### ###### stretch pass.
• The puck off the glass plays
• The fact that he had to fly to Phoenix to meet with Matthews in the offseason
• Kadri not getting enough ice time

The biggest Babcock failure is that his team allows a Randy Carlyle-esque amount of shots against.  With a team this fast, deep at centre and with such a mobile defense, there is no excuse not to be a top 1-3 possession team.  The fact that the Leafs are middle of the pack in possession and are the third worst team in the NHL at shots allowed per minute is the biggest reason to fire Mike Babcock.

I could go on, but I won’t.  Mike Babcock wasn’t hired by Dubas and it’s clear that they don’t agree on how a team should play hockey in 2019.  Dubas should give the job to someone who is on the same page as him, someone who shares his philosophy and who is (one assumes) more open to new ideas. (Stats from naturalstattrick.com)

I think deep down we all knew from the start that this was never going to work.  Now it seems untenable.   Sure, injuries are playing a part, but a team with the deepest centres, right wingers and left side defenseman in the NHL, who also has a top five goalie, should be doing better.

Everyone knows Sheldon Keefe is the next coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, so why not make it happen today instead of this summer?  Mike Babock has a great roster and he’s blowing it.  Time to fire him Lamoriello style and bring in someone who can do the job.