As we all know, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock.
The announcement came somewhat out of the blue following the Leafs’ practice in Arizona on Wednesday.
The tweet was met with joy and celebration by the vocal majority of Leafs nation, a feeling a lacked when I first laid eyes upon the Leafs PR tweet.
Mike Babcock’s journey to the Leafs was shrouded in mystery and anticipation. Every step the Canadian coach made seemed to travel miles. After what seemed like an eternity, Babcock replaced head coach Peter Horachek as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 20th 2015.
Toronto Maple Leafs President and Alternate Governor Brendan Shanahan announced today that Mike Babcock has been relieved of his coaching duties and Sheldon Keefe has been named the Club’s new head coach. #LeafsForever
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 20, 2019
Babcock’s commitment to the Leafs at this point in time was one of the first clear steps towards contending. Babcock was-and is-an excellent coach who introduced respect, dignity, and confidence as core values for an organization that had severely lacked all three for the better part of a decade.
Thanks Babcock
His tight systems and focus on play-style would make the 2015-16 Leafs one of the best last-place teams in NHL history (although that’s really just semantics at this point).
His funny anecdotes would charm Toronto media and his commitment to ‘calendar quote’ mantras would endear himself to Leafs fans as Toronto made the playoffs in 2017 with the most hope in nearly two decades.
The next season, Babs would help the Leafs tie their all-time points record and enter the playoffs against a bitter rival in the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins would demolish the Leafs in games one and two and then in game seven. That summer, the Leafs would beef up significantly. Anchor Roman Polak would leave for Dallas, tough-guy Matt Martin would be dealt back to the Islanders and the leafs would add star centre John Tavares in free agency.
The team started strong and looked like real contenders until January, when the team acquired a legitimate top-four defenseman in Jake Muzzin, whom Babcock trashed a bit for being left-handed. The Toronto Maple Leafs would whimper into the playoffs before playing their best games in several months.
Despite strong play, the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to seize their two opportunities to advance to the second round. The heat was on for Babcock, who’s game seven reliance on veterans Patrick Marleau (stud btw), Ron Hainsey, and Jake Gardiner essentially cost them the game-and series.
This season, as we all know, the Leafs sit below .500, with a record of 9-10-4. Despite adding dynamic offensive defender Tyson Barrie, skilled veteran Jason Spezza, pesky centre Alex Kerfoot and surprise winger Ilya “Souperman” Mikheyev, the Leafs struggled. This team looked exhausted and bored every night.
Like old Babs was taking them jean shopping at the mall for three hours on a Sunday afternoon. However, lost in the mess of this season, Babcock reached the 700 win plateau. No bad coach can reach 700 wins. Mike Babcock is a Hall of Fame coach without a doubt and we have to give him credit for that. That being said, it was time.
I would just like to personally thank Mike Babcock for his four (and a quarter) seasons in Toronto.
Mike, your decisions were mind boggling at times, and the passive aggressive comments thrown at Dubas were uncalled for, but you are a damn good coach and am very happy that you gave Toronto a chance when no one else would. Your tenure here did not end anywhere near how we had hoped, but I will (almost) always look back on your time here with fondness.