Mike Babcock is not likely to sleep soundly on this road trip unless the Maple Leafs can win a couple of games.
The drum beat to dump him began Saturday night after losses to a couple of teams in the same injury-plagued situation, Boston and Pittsburgh, a skid now five-games long. A team-wide collapse in Pittsburgh raised more alarm bells.
The Leafs have a 9-9-4 record and this was what general manager Kyle Dubas told the Sun at training camp when the question of an early-season points quota on Babcock was broached: “I don’t look at it that the team has to win ‘X’ amount of games,” Dubas said. “Mike’s proven himself elite a long time. What we’ll be watching for at the beginning of the season and at the end is how the team is playing.
“There have been stretches in the past where we haven’t played well and won and played very well and been losing. The key will be, are we incorporating the changes we want to make? It’s a long year, and to say we have to win ‘X’ amount the first month or first two months is not really the way I’ve ever approached hockey. The major focus will be on the process of how we’re playing versus points.”
Before their recent struggles, the Leafs had been looking at this trip, especially the first games in Vegas, Colorado and Arizona, as their first real chance to bond.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
