I want to Be Leaf

Marner and his crew

If Mike Babcock said it once, he said it a thousand times.

“Play fast.”

During Babcock’s four-plus seasons as Maple Leafs coach it was one of the foundational mantras of the organization. And as much as it made sense to some outsiders — this was a team built on speed and skill, after all, so playing “fast” only seemed to follow — to many of the speediest and most skilled denizens of Toronto’s dressing room Babcock’s urgings to “play fast” were always met with misgivings. To those players, it was shorthand for a style that didn’t particularly suit the roster as built by general manager Kyle Dubas. “Play fast,” as interpreted by more than a few Leafs who matter, often led to a chip-and-chase grind game at which the team only occasionally excelled. “Play fast,” too often, was a slightly more sophisticated variation on “pucks in deep.” Which is why, under Babcock, puck retrieval was such a prized skill, and why a forechecking savant such as Zach Hyman was so cherished by the coach, who was fired on Wednesday.

But what’s becoming clear in the opening days of Sheldon Keefe’s tenure as head coach is that playing fast is a thing of the past. Don’t get it wrong. Speed and skill will still be the keystones of the operation. These guys certainly aren’t winning with hard-hitting heaviness. And the ability to retrieve loose pucks will still be a valued commodity, because hockey’s a game of unpredictable bounces that requires resilient adaptation to random situations. So Hyman, though he might not be the new coach’s very favourite player, isn’t going anywhere. 

Captain John

But the core principles being emphasized by Keefe, as the rookie coach held his first full practice at the University of Denver’s Joy Burns Arena in advance of Saturday’s game against the Avalanche, are clearly different than the ones incessantly pushed by Babcock. What’s the biggest discrepancy? Players are always reluctant to make comparisons so soon after a firing. But suffice it to say that if Babcock wanted the team to play fast, the post-Babcock Leafs are being encouraged to play with patience and control. Call it slow hockey with fast players, and fast thinkers.

On Friday, Keefe described the philosophy as “trying to be a little more purposeful” with the puck. Auston Matthews, the team’s leading scorer and forever a Babcock skeptic, said the newly installed concept amounts to “not rushing plays when we have the puck, especially in the neutral zone.

“It’s having more patience,” Matthews said. 

Kapanen looming

Which is not to say it’ll always be as seamless as it looked in Thursday’s 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes, wherein Toronto’s players clearly took pleasure in dancing on Babcock’s professional tombstone. To be fair to the Leafs who clearly found glee in Babcock’s ouster, four-plus years of any coach can be too much. As for four-plus years of Babcock’s repetitive shtick — “redneck authenticity” is what the two-time Olympic gold medallist once called it, as though it were a saleable product — nobody who works for the club will tell you Babcock’s act wasn’t at times tiresome. Mike Babcock, when he wasn’t betting on Mike Babcock, was about Mike Babcock. It’s entertaining until it’s not.

Which is not to say Keefe won’t soon experience more trying times than the honeymoon of a 1-0 NHL coaching record. And certainly they’ll face serious opposition on Saturday, when 10-year Maple Leaf Nazem Kadri takes a shot at exacting revenge for the summertime trade that sent him to Colorado against his will, a deal that brought Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot to Leafland.

“(Kadri is) kind of in your face, and I’m sure this is the game he’s had circled on his calendar for a long time,” Matthews said. “You always know what to expect when you go up against him.”

You know what to expect, or you don’t. On Friday, mind you, the Leafs were very much focused on what to expect from each other. One of the linchpins of Keefe’s system, after all, is five-man co-operation in every aspect of the game, from advancing up the ice to retreating through the middle on defence.

“Everyone has to be on the same page to support one another, especially through the neutral zone,” Matthews said. “I think everybody knows how hard it is to get through the neutral zone in the NHL.”

Auston awaiting the face off

If any Leaf knows how hard it is to get into an NHL lineup at age 36, it’s Jason Spezza. Scratched by Babcock on opening night, never mind that he’s a GTA guy who took less to sign with the Leafs, suddenly he finds himself a valued commodity in the Keefe era. If a play-fast, straight-line game doesn’t suit a guy who’s not as fleet as the average 20-something, Keefe’s new push to be purposeful and patient speaks to why Dubas signed Spezza in the summer.

“He has a skill set that fits the way that we want to play, so that I think sets him up for success,” Keefe said Friday.

If Dubas and Babcock never found “simpatico,” to use Dubas’s word, Spezza and Keefe seem like kindred spirits. Years ago they played against one another in the OHL during Keefe’s long-ago days as a wayward junior. Spezza joked on Friday that those years “will not be spoken about,” perhaps out of respect to a coach who is now Spezza’s lifeline to extending a career that, under Babcock, looked to have hit a dead end.

Playing Keefe’s style of game, Spezza said, “feels natural to me.” If Babcock wanted the team to dump the puck and chase, Keefe wants them to keep it and improvise, albeit with caveats and with purpose and with defensive responsibility always in mind. For a roster filled with expert practitioners of a lifetime of skill work, Keefe is speaking in what amounts to a love language. It’s a honeymoon, indeed.

Tyson Barrie

Said Tyson Barrie, the offensive-minded defenceman who was traded from Colorado in the summer: “It’s an exciting time to be a Leaf.”

Leafs prevail in Arizona

Tyson Barrie and rookie Pierre Engvall came through to help new Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe get a win in his NHL coaching debut.

Barrie scored his first goal of the season, Engvall got the first of his career and the Maple Leafs snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

"Pretty special night for a lot of guys here," said Toronto's Auston Matthews, who also scored back in his hometown. "And a big two points with everything that's been going on the past couple of weeks and the past 36 hours."

Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to help the Maple Leafs end an 0-5-1 skid one day after Keefe replaced the fired Mike Babcock.

"The guys went out and played with confidence," Keefe said. "We had to find our way through the first period. I thought we had really good energy on the bench."

Not everything was perfect in his first game behind the bench in the NHL, though.

"I was a little behind on making my line changes," said Keefe, who was in his fifth season as coach of the AHL's Toronto Marlies when he was promoted. "I'd like to speed that up a bit. But the players took care of me well there."

Some Maple Leafs players saw the coaching change as a chance for a new start.

"He came in with a really fresh attitude," Barrie said. "We know we weren't meeting expectations and we need to be better."

Vinnie Hinostraza scored with 17 seconds left for Arizona to spoil Andersen's shutout bid.  Darcy Keumper finished with 29 saves. The Coyotes had won four of their previous five games.

"Too many mistakes and we didn't really defend good enough," Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson said..

Barrie got the scoring started with 46 seconds left in the first period, beating Kuemper under the right glove after coming down the right side from the point with open ice.

"I think I did a good job jumping in on the pass and that's what I'm accustomed to," Barrie said.

The Coyotes had trouble generating offense, as the Maple Leafs dominated the puck. Andersen was forced to make a glove save midway through the first on Carl Soderberg, and made a clean save of Jason Demers' shot on a break in the second off a feed from Phil Kessel

Engvall scored short-handed after breaking up a point-to-point pass and beating Kuemper under his left leg with his left-handed shot with 3:11 remaining in the second.

Matthews made it 3-0 as he skated far side and beat Kuemper between the legs 48 seconds into the third period.

"With everything that (Keefe) threw at us in a short period of time that he'd like to see I thought we executed that for the most part," Matthews said.

NOTES: Toronto had allowed the first goal in its previous seven games. ... The Maple Leafs hadn't led in regulation in its previous eight games, since a 3-1 win against Los Angeles on Nov. 5. They trailed 1-0 against Vegas two nights later before rallying to win 2-1 in overtime in their last victory before their skid. ... The Coyotes lost for just the fifth time in 19 games (14-4-1).

Sheldon Keefe gets his first NHL win as a head coach, and lets hope there are more wins ahead.

And thank you Mike, for all you have done for this franchise.

Babcock out

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe.
Babcock had a record of 9-10-4 in 2019-20 for the struggling Leafs, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, including five straight losses in regulation.

Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan flew to Arizona on Wednesday to break the news to Babcock along with general manager Kyle Dubas. Shanahan said that he felt he should be present as he hired Babcock in the spring of 2015.
"It wasn't an easy conversation to have and it wasn't pleasant, days like today are not," Shanahan said in Scottsdale, Arizona. "But it was what we felt was important for the club. Once you realize there's something you should do, and have to do, then it's best to act on it."

 Toronto, two points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, fell 4-2 to the Golden Knights in Vegas on Tuesday night. Babcock's last win for the Leafs, on Nov. 7 against Vegas, was the 700th of his NHL career. He has a career record of 700-418-19 with Toronto, Detroit and Anaheim.
Hired as part of a massive rebuild, the 56-year-old Babcock went 173-133-45 in his four-plus seasons with Toronto. He joined the Maple Leafs with an impressive resume, having won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008 and back-to-back Olympic gold medals with Canada in 2010 and 2014.
After signing the richest coaching contract in NHL history at US$50 million over eight years, Babcock got Toronto to the playoffs the last three seasons, but was unable to advance beyond the first round.
The 39-year-old Keefe, who has a long history with Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, was in his fifth season as head coach of the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies. Keefe was 199-89-31 with the Marlies and helped secure the franchise's first Calder Cup championship in 2018.
"Our relationship has grown," Keefe said about Dubas in May. "He really opened my eyes to how much there is to learn and how to look at things a little bit differently."
Toronto's last four in-season coach firings — Pat Burns, Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle and now Babcock — all took place with the team on the road.

The Maple Leafs are set to take on Coyotes on Thursday night. Shanahan, Dubas and Keefe were all scheduled to speak with the media Thursday morning.

Babcock's Leafs stumbled this season despite a star-studded forward group led by Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, a defense corps headlined by Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie and Jake Muzzin, and goalie Frederik Andersen.
Toronto was unable to find traction after a summer of change that saw a number of Babcock's trusted veterans leave town as part of a salary cap crunch precipitated by big-money contract extensions handed to Matthews and Marner.
In fact, Toronto's Big 4 forwards chewed up nearly half of the $81.5-million cap, leaving Dubas to try and fill in the roster around the edges with young players and discount veterans.

"Our game is not really meeting our expectations," Shanahan said. "We're mistake-prone on defence, the attention to details aren't there, and even the explosive offence that our team was known for has been missing for a while now, so there's a lot of work for Sheldon to do and there's a lot of work for the players to do."
The young Leafs surprised many by making the playoffs in 2016-17 before falling to the Washington Capitals in six games. Babcock was unable to get Toronto past the Boston Bruins the last two springs, losing both series in seven games.
The 2019 series was especially frustrating given that the Leafs led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 with a chance to close things out at home in Game 6 before the Bruins fought back to win two straight.


While there's no questioning Babcock's track record, there seemed to be a disconnect between the coach and GM in terms of roster construction and style of play after Dubas took over the top job from Lou Lamoriello in May 2018.
Driving by data and analytics, Dubas focused on skill and speed — basically trying to win with four first lines — rather than the grinding type of player Babcock had previously preferred in his bottom-6 forward group.
Toronto's lack of attention to detail in the defensive zone the last two seasons and sub-par specialty teams were both troubling aspects Babcock was unable to rectify, even after changing assistant coaches this season.


Backup goalie was also a constant headache after the Leafs lost veteran Curtis McElhinney on waivers before the start of the 2018-19 campaign. Garret Sparks never gained Babcock's trust, while Michael Hutchinson secured just one point in five starts before getting demoted to the AHL.
Before the season, Dubas was asked about his relationship with Babcock, who was heavily criticized for his deployment of Matthews in Game 7 of Toronto's first-round playoff exit last spring.

"We talk a lot," Dubas said at the start of training camp. "We disagree, as any coach and GM do a lot. We agree on a lot of things and we work through it all. The key is, on areas that you disagree, that you respect one another and you work through all that."
"We communicate all the time," Babcock added in September. "We don't agree all the time. I've enjoyed it. We're excited about our opportunity."

Babcock also knew he'd be on the hot seat if things went sideways.
"I do, for sure," Babcock said. "The expectation each and every year should be greater than the previous year if you're going in the right direction."

So very sorry Mike, I know you were the right coach for this team, unfortunately the team was not the right one for you.

Okay Sheldon, you're up.

Leafs lost in the desert

The only thing missing for Marc-Andre Fleury was a magic wand.

Fleury made 31 saves for his 450th win, including an incredible diving stop late in the game, and the Vegas Golden Knights held off the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday night.

While his clutch save against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final with 1.2 seconds remaining might still be the biggest of his 16-year career, Fleury now has an argument for the most spectacular.

With the Golden Knights clinging to a 3-2 advantage and less than four minutes left, Ilya Mikheyev fired a shot that went off the crossbar and directly to Nic Petan, who was staring at a wide-open net and a chance to score his first goal of the season. But Petan's backhand from the bottom of the circle was thwarted as Fleury dove back to his left and with his body outstretched snatched the puck before it hit twine, sending 18,292 fans into a frenzy - even some wearing Maple Leafs jerseys.

"It was fun. A little lucky cause I didn't stop the first one; it was off the crossbar," said Fleury, who is three wins behind New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for sixth place on the career list. "It's good when you get those second opportunities to redeem yourself. As a goalie those are the saves that maybe make you feel like when you're a player and score a goal - the saves I love to play for."

Mark Stone, Cody Glass, Tomas Nosek and Cody Eakin scored for Vegas. But for the second consecutive game it was Fleury who kept the Golden Knights in it with outstanding stops, particularly when the Maple Leafs turned up the pressure in the third period.

With 14:59 left, Fleury denied William Nylander on the doorstep. Then with 11:21 remaining, he stymied Toronto captain John Tavares' first shot of the game, tipped the puck with the paddle of his stick to himself and snared it with his glove.

It was that kind of night for Fleury.

Moments later, with the heat still on, he robbed Nylander by sliding across the crease and stretching out his left pad at the right moment to prevent the puck from sneaking into the corner of the net.

Fleury, who shut out Calgary 6-0 on Sunday, became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to win 450 games.

"He's pretty incredible when he makes types of saves like that," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "As a coach you come to expect that from him. He makes those saves. He's acrobatic. He never gives up on the puck."

Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen, who has lost his last four starts, stopped 33 shots.

The struggling Maple Leafs have lost six in a row and are 0-5-1 since star winger Mitch Marner went down. Toronto dropped to 9-10-4 on the season and has just two regulation victories in its last 16 games.

"We had lots of chances. ... Bottom line is we've got to stick with it and just keep grinding," coach Mike Babcock said. "It's disappointing, but I'm always about the process and how hard guys play. We played way harder, so I thought that was good."

After Max Pacioretty's shot trickled through Anderson's pads into the crease, Glass was there to clean up for a man-advantage goal that gave Vegas a 1-0 lead midway through the second period.

Toronto tied it when Mikheyev entered the zone and dropped the puck off for Spezza, who fired it past Fleury early in the third.

Vegas answered immediately when Nosek made amends for missing an earlier breakaway when he stole the puck in the neutral zone, raced in on a breakaway, put a filthy deke on Andersen and backhanded the puck into the net to make it 2-1 just 42 seconds after Spezza's goal.

Stone extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play drive from the right dot at 10:22. Hyman cut Vegas' lead to one with his first goal of the season at 12:47, but Eakin put the game away when he scored the 100th goal of his career into an empty net with 21 seconds left.

NOTES: After the Maple Leafs placed forward Trevor Moore on injured reserve, forward Pierre Engvall was called up Monday and made his NHL debut for Toronto. ... Pacioretty has at least one point in nine of his last 11 games, and Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt has six points in the last four games - including five assists in the past two. ... It's the first time Toronto has lost six straight under Babcock since doing it twice during the 2015-16 season.

A new low ?

Mike Babcock has been talking up the significance of the 20-game mark for a couple of weeks now.
“What you try to do is you try to get out in the first 20, and you gotta try to get yourself established — you know what you are,” he said earlier this month. “And you also want to be in a good position so you’re not under duress.”
Duress, that is, for the playoff race.
The Leafs coach likes the 20-game barometer because “it gives you a handle” on your team. “And you can go back and say last year’s Stanley Cup winner doesn’t apply,” Babcock explained Wednesday morning, referring to the St. Louis Blues, in the dumps at midseason before winning it all. “OK. But in 20 games, you usually got a pretty good handle on what you are. I think for us, this year, it’s a little bit different in the fact that we had so many changes (in the offseason), and so we’re still getting to know each other a little bit. But I still think we got a pretty good handle on our people. But it’s taken us our full 20, without any question about that.”
Twenty games into the season and the Maple Leafs are what? Lost? Disjointed? Underwhelming? Fragile? Falling short of expectations? All of the above?
After 20 games, a team with legitimate Stanley Cup expectations, a team with as much pure talent as just about any other team in the league, hasn’t felt that way all that often. Something has been a little off all year long.
Is there even a signature win so far? The kind of victory that screams dominance or encapsulates what this team is and/or can be? Arguably, the most complete performance of the season came on Oct. 7 in a one-goal loss to the reigning champs.
More often, the wins have felt kind of hollow, missing the meatiness you might expect from a team with John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Jake Muzzin, Tyson Barrie and Frederik Andersen on it. Is it a question of coaching?
The Leafs (9-7-4) are presently on a 90-point pace, which would’ve been well short of a playoff spot last year and falls well below the 100-point benchmark of the past two seasons. Their goal differential is an uninspiring +1. The Leafs were 14-6-0 at this point last season (a 115-point pace), with a goal differential (+19) that topped even the eventual Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning. That team ended up with a respectable 100 points.
The Leafs pumped out 105 points the year before that. Two back-to-back 100-point teams for the first time in franchise history. Three in a row seemed like a slam dunk.
“We’re not where we want to be,” Tavares said after a disappointing 5-4 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday night. “I think we obviously want to play a lot better, a lot more consistent. We gotta keep working to find a way.”

(Dennis Schneidler / USA Today)

The Leafs captain then brought up a fragility that’s emerged at times, including in Long Island. The Leafs played well for long chunks of the game — they limited chances, rolled around in the offensive zone and raced back from 2-0 deficit — but trailed most of the night and sank when Anthony Beauvillier potted the third New York goal. In what’s been a season-long struggle, the Leafs also got hammered on the special-teams front, giving up two power-play goals while coming up with nothing — not even a shot — on two power plays of their own.
“OK, so they score,” Muzzin said of the goal that put the Islanders back in front 3-2. “We can’t let that kill the will in here or give them momentum. Mistakes happen. Goals happen. We’re fine. We’re playing good hockey. Let’s just continue. Let’s not panic, you know? I think we’re getting better at it — we gotta continue with it.”
“At times, I think it feels like it goes against us, and that’s just the nature of it,” Tavares added on the subject. “Sometimes that’s the way hockey goes, the way the games go, and you gotta just mentally stick with it and keep playing and keep trying to find a way to turn the tide and consistently up your level, up your consistency and get things snowballing in the right direction. We’ve had that for points of the year, but we haven’t really been able to sustain it as long as we’d like.”
The Leafs sounded like a team that was searching — for answers, reassurance, hope?
The only Cup winner on the roster, Muzzin seemed frustrated, if also hopeful about the team’s prospects.
“I think we have confidence in this group, in the team, in the room,” he said. “We’re just having some weird lapses throughout the game, and it’s costing us. I think we just have to be sharper throughout a full 60, shift to shift, more focused, with better preparation, I think, and we’ll come out on top in these games.”
Weird lapses like not getting the puck up and out in the leadup to the second Beauvillier goal, the one that made it 3-2. Or Andreas Johnsson turning the puck over on a failed drop pass to Nylander ahead of the first New York marker.
Earlier this month, Babcock said his team needed to figure it out “what we are.”
“We gotta know what we hang our hat on,” he said.
Asked what that was, Babcock responded: “Nothing. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
He continued: “We gotta find a game that we can bottle, or that’s our formula, that we can say, ‘This is what we do,’ and do it every day. So when we say, ‘This is what we do,’ we know what we do.”
What that is isn’t clear.
Who are the Leafs supposed to be? They haven’t been blowing teams away offensively, ranking 10th in goals per 60 minutes, usually hitting more with one-off quick strikes. And they certainly haven’t established themselves as a stingy defensive product at the moment.
Muzzin said that whole identity question could be found in the start of the game at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders didn’t get their third shot on goal until more than 14 minutes had elapsed. The problem? They scored on it and added one more late in the period on a power play. Still, there was a solid, simple game there for the Leafs.
Of that start, Muzzin said: “We were quick in the zone, managed the puck through the neutral zone, we got on the forecheck. We’re not the most physical team, but we’re quick and hard, and I think when we do that, we’re a very good hockey team. It’s doing it for 60, 65, whatever it may be, every shift. You take a shift off, you give good players opportunities to score, they’re going to do it. It’s a battle of will. It’s tough to explain, but who’s going to wear the other team down the most at the end of the day? Who’s not going to make as many mistakes? We cut those little mistakes out, I think we win a lot more hockey games.”
What kind of identity did Tavares think the Leafs should establish?
“I think we have four deep lines that can skate, can be strong on the puck, and then can make plays and be strong at the net and be able to come at you wave after wave,” he said. “Same goes with our D-core. And I think we want to defend quick — be able to close lanes, time and space and get our transition game going the other way. It all kinda funnels together. When one link in the chain isn’t there, everything else is affected.”

A few things shouldn’t be lost amid the underwhelming results.
For one thing, the Leafs have newness all over the place. New to the mix this season: Cody Ceci, Barrie, Ilya Mikheyev, Nick Shore, Alex Kerfoot, Dmytro Timashov and Jason Spezza. Rasmus Sandin and Kevin Gravel, too. That’s a lot of unfamiliar players and personalities to incorporate into the group, a lot of people trying to find their way in a new environment, with new coaches and teammates, a new organization, a new city, etc., all of them doing it at once.
All that newness has meant little continuity from last season.
All three defensive pairs are new. Rielly is adjusting to Ceci on the top pair. Muzzin is getting used to a struggling Barrie (one point in the last 17 games).
It’s the same story up front, where not one line really emerged intact from last season.
Nylander and Johnsson played with Matthews a bit last year, but not for any sustained period. The Leafs’ best unit of a year ago, meanwhile, hasn’t spent a day together so far this season, what with Zach Hyman missing the first 19 games recovering from offseason ACL surgery, Tavares missing seven games with a broken finger and Marner now sidelined with a high ankle sprain until early December. The third and fourth lines have been mixing and matching all season as Babcock has tried to plug holes and find short-term solutions.
“We still haven’t put our lines together yet,” he said before facing the Islanders.
Don’t forget the two new assistant coaches, either, Paul McFarland and Dave Hakstol, each bringing his own philosophy to the table. Under their watch, the Leafs have made changes to their power play and penalty kill.
Another factor in the early-season blues: The stars haven’t exactly been stars.
Matthews has been just fine, scoring at a 53-goal, 107-point pace, and Nylander has come around of late — now with 11 points in the last 11 games. Marner wasn’t right before he got hurt, though, even if the numbers (18 points in 18 games) were there. Tavares had one of his better games of the year against his former team on Wednesday night — one goal, one assist, 64 percent expected goals — but he’s not played at last year’s standard yet. Nor has Rielly, even if, again, the numbers are there (17 points).
Andersen had only an OK October and currently owns a .912 save percentage. And where would the Leafs be if they had competent play between the pipes on those nights Andersen didn’t play, when Michael Hutchinson stumbled?
It’s just been a bumpy start a lot of different ways.
Consider everything that’s happened:

• Marner misses the start of training camp in Newfoundland because of a contract dispute.
• Marner agrees to a six-year deal with the Leafs worth over $65 million, arrives in St. John’s the following afternoon.
• Babcock hints that Spezza might not have a solid roster spot.
• Matthews’ disorderly conduct charge from the offseason surfaces. Kyle Dubas says he learned about it on Twitter.
• Sandin, at 19, earns a job with the Leafs out of camp. Timashov also unexpectedly claws his way onto the team.
• Babcock scratches Spezza in the season opener.
• Tavares becomes captain, ending months of speculation.
• Leafs play their best game of the early season against the Blues but still lose. Yield seven goals three nights later in a thumping against Tampa.
• Sandin returns to the Toronto Marlies after averaging 12 minutes over six games with the Leafs.
• Tavares breaks his right index finger in Washington. Misses the next seven games.
• Leafs go 6-5-3 in October.
• Mikheyev surprises with 10 points in his first 13 NHL games.
• Alex Ovechkin creates a media firestorm when he says the Leafs need to play like a team, not individuals, to one day win a Stanley Cup. Babcock agrees with him.
• Barrie struggles in his transition to Toronto.
• Justin Holl solidifies a spot on defence, playing more games in October (12) than he did all of last season.
• Travis Dermott makes his season debut following offseason shoulder surgery.
• Marner suffers a high ankle sprain against the Flyers. Expects to miss a minimum of four weeks.
• Hutchinson loses his first five starts — all on the second night of back-to-backs. He’s waived a day after giving up five goals in a loss to Chicago.
• Leafs recall Kasimir Kaskisuo to back up Andersen.
• Hyman makes his season debut following offseason ACL surgery.

A lacklustre start like this doesn’t mean things can’t or won’t turn around. The Leafs are still close to a sure thing for the playoffs, a decent bet for 100 points (they need 78 over the final 62 games) and a candidate to compete for the Cup.

They just haven’t looked like it yet, and that merits some level of concern. For Babcock. For Dubas. For everyone in that dressing room. Right now, this team, with all that firepower, all that speed and skill, is sitting 20th in points percentage (.550) and clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
It’s not been good enough. Not yet, anyway.
“I think, human nature, you want everything to click and us to get rolling and playing well, and it doesn’t obviously always happen that way,” Tavares said.
Added Nylander: “I think we know where we can be. I feel like we’re getting better. The group is growing. So, I think we just gotta keep the pedal down, keep focused.”

All in all they look lousy so far, and Babcock's job is certainly on the line. I wouldn't want to be in Santa Claus' shoes if Mike Babcock sat on his lap and told Kris Kringle what he'd like for Christmas

After all, Micheal Hutchinson got a rock in his stocking.

Hutchison is in the dog house now

The Leafs generated 57 shots on goal. The Blackhawks generated 34. Toronto lost the game 5-4.

That tells most of the story in that Robin Lehner outplayed Michael Hutchinson — which probably doesn’t surprise anyone — but score effects did play a huge role in this game. Chicago got out to a 4-1 lead after the first period despite Toronto controlling the run of play.

Overall, this was a strong comeback performance from the Leafs despite their goaltender not getting them a save to start off the night, although you’d like to see more from the team’s depth.
As you’ll see from the grades, this really was a two-man show.

 William Nylander (RW, No. 88) — It was recently announced that Mitch Marner is going to miss at least four weeks with an ankle injury. This is consistent with everything I’ve been told by people much smarter than me in the medical field.

 Nylander’s been taking hold of that opportunity in these past two games. He’s been dominant at even strength, with that top line living in the offensive zone. He’s making creative plays in transition and nifty passes on offense, and most importantly, he looks engaged without the puck. The play he made before his second goal of the night is everything fans have wanted to see from him.


When Nylander is playing like this, he’s one of the best hockey players in the world. If he can continue to play with this kind of effort every night, I have a feeling he’s going to help change some minds on the value of his contract.

Auston Matthews (C, No. 34) — The game ball had to go to one of them tonight. I went with Nylander because of the two goals, but Matthews was just as dominant. He was stripping pucks in all three zones, generating tons of shots and carrying more of the load in transition. If I’ve had one complaint about Matthews’ offensive game over the past few years, it’s how deferential he’s been in transition, often relying on Nylander to carry the puck up the ice. This season, he’s done a much better job of putting that on himself and dictating more of the play offensively.
If he can keep up the defensive effort and continue to move the puck like this, that Matthews-Nylander line is going to dominate — like they did Sunday.


Andreas Johnsson (LW, No. 18) — I thought his linemates were more responsible for the line’s dominant performance, but Johnsson put in some work along the walls. I was worried I’d have to write about him whiffing on all the quality chances he was given in the slot, but he was able to bury one late in the game off of a quick pass from John Tavares on the power play.

John Tavares (C, No. 91) — This was a slow start for Tavares. I didn’t even notice him until he connected on that baseball swing in the second period, which served as a nice reminder of his ridiculous hand-eye coordination. From that point on, he was making some craftier plays up the ice and creating things offensively. He also picked up a couple of points on the power play — which is why I’m bumping him up to four stars — but I’d like to see him impact the game a bit better at five-on-five, especially to start the game.


The Dermott-Holl Pairing — This was a quiet but effective game from the pairing. They didn’t make any dynamic plays up the ice, but they were taking away space in the neutral zone, forcing dump-ins and making quick decisions with the puck under pressure. Those types of plays typically get things moving in the right direction, which is why I’m such a fan of the way Dermott and Holl play the game.
Tyson Barrie (RD, No. 94) — I wanted to get mad at Barrie for not converting on his Grade-A chance after jumping up in the play, but then I realized: Tyson Barrie jumped up in the play! Those are the kind of aggressive offensive plays we’ve been wanting to see from him this season. He obviously isn’t very good without the puck — he gave up way too many passes that went right through him in the defensive zone — but when he jumps up in the play, he can help make up for it with his talent. I still want to see more of it, but I have a feeling the coaching staff wants him to take fewer risks in his game, which I would argue is a mistake for an offensive talent like Barrie.
The Energizer Bunnies — I never like repeating the same thing in these report cards, so I’m going to group Trevor Moore, Ilya Mikheyev and Dmytro Timashov in this section. The latter isn’t quite as strong defensively, but I love how much hustle all three played with in this game. They finish every check in the offensive zone, hustle to take away space on the backcheck and actually have some underrated skill to make plays up the ice. It still drives me crazy when Mikheyev lets passes go through his legs in the offensive zone — it reminds me of Zach Hyman’s rookie season — but you can live with it when you’re getting this kind of effort from a complementary winger on a consistent basis.

Jake Muzzin (LD, No. 8) — He had a pretty rough start, losing an edge at four-on-four and taking an undisciplined penalty. Frankly, I don’t think he should be playing four-on-four — I’d prefer to see teams rely on their speedier defenceman like Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Dermott and Holl — but that’s another conversation for another day. Muzzin did turn it around, though, with some stellar defensive play. He’s been the best penalty killer on the team by far among blueliners, mainly thanks to his tight gap in the neutral zone and good stick defensively for taking away passing lanes.

There’s very little I enjoy more than a huge, clean hit like this. We don’t see them much anymore in the modern NHL, and when we do it tends to result in a fight, which I think is ridiculous, but good on Muzzin for standing up for himself. These are the kind of plays a lot of Leafs fans want to see more of from this team, and frankly, I can’t blame them.
⭐⭐
Alexander Kerfoot (C, No. 15) — He had a few shifty moments in this game, and he even skated end to end late in the third period to create a quality scoring chance. But he’s still hesitating in the middle of the ice when he has the puck. I love that he has the confidence to hold on to the puck and look for a backdoor pass — it’s a big part of the reason he’s such a great passer and puck-mover. The issue is that sometimes you need to shoot when you’re wide open in the slot, and Kerfoot doesn’t want to. I’d love to see him play a bit more selfishly. He actually has a surprisingly decent shot.
Frederik Gauthier (RW, No. 33) — This was an uneventful game for Gauthier. Shocker, I know. With that being said, he did have an excellent backcheck to prevent a two-on-one after Cody Ceci blew his coverage in the neutral zone. That’s why Gauthier’s in the lineup, and the inner coach in me understands that. With that being said, it’s still a tad frustrating to watch him offensively with the puck in open space — he can’t really do much with it.
Jason Spezza (RW, No. 19) — I’ve actually liked Spezza with the puck on his stick this season. He’s making crafty passes in the offensive zone despite the fact he can barely skate anymore. I still have no idea what he was doing defensively on Toronto’s third goal against, which is why Mike Babcock tends to get frustrated with Spezza. I get it, but I’d also still like to see Spezza put in more situations that benefit his offensive skill set. He still has some great hands and vision, which helps explain why the team has generated significantly more offense with him on the ice than a player like Nick Shore.
Coaching Staff — Let’s look at both sides of the argument here. On the one hand, it isn’t Babcock’s fault Hutchinson gave up four goals in the first period. On the other hand, the fact that the Leafs look way better when they play high-event hockey is indicative of the bigger problem with the team’s conservative style. Rielly and Barrie looked terrible until the team fell behind by three goals, which gave them the freedom to be more aggressive in transition, jump up in the rush and pinch offensively. Those two should be playing like that all the time. They’re never going to be great defensively at this point, so you might as well take advantage of the incredible things they can do offensively.
I also didn’t love Matthews and Nylander setting up on their strong sides off of faceoff wins on the power play — thought they looked much better with the one-time option — but they scored a nice goal later in the game from that formation, so maybe it isn’t a huge deal. Personally, I’d love to see Nylander let a few one-timers go from the left circle. Unlike Marner, he can actually rip it from there. I’d also like to see Barrie on the top power-play unit — Rielly’s weak-point shots aren’t scaring anyone — but again, I doubt we see any change there. Babcock’s stubbornness is extremely frustrating when it comes to stuff like this.
Michael Hutchinson (G, No. 30) — I completely hear the argument for Hutchinson playing well after giving up four goals. He did. The issue is that you can’t give up four goals in the first period; teams typically don’t come back from that. The Leafs were giving up far too many passes through the middle of the ice in this game, which doesn’t help your goaltender, but it doesn’t excuse Hutchinson’s poor rebound control, which has been a consistent problem all season.
I’m rooting for him to succeed, but unfortunately, I just don’t think he’s a quality NHL backup. It’s hard to find that for the league-minimum salary, but Toronto’s going to need to do a better job of it in the future. If Frederik Andersen goes down for any significant amount of time, the Leafs’ chances of making the playoffs fall off a cliff. That’s a problem.
⭐
Kasperi Kapanen (RW, No. 24) — I didn’t notice Kapanen much in this game, which has been rare for him lately. I’m not sure if this is a lack-of-chemistry thing playing alongside Tavares or just a one-off, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on. He’s been playing excellent hockey since being switched back to his right wing, but maybe his skill set just doesn’t work in the top six? The next month should help get us a definitive answer.
Nick Shore (C, No. 26) —  We’re reaching the point where I never notice Shore. The Leafs will get slightly out-chanced with him on the ice, but nothing significant enough for the coaching staff to see it as a problem. Personally, I’d like to see a fourth line outplay its matchups on a more consistent basis.
Morgan Rielly (LD, No. 44) — He looked excellent offensively after the team fell behind 4-1, but his struggles defensively are a big part of the reason it happened. He willingly gives up way too much space defensively, which allows opposing forwards to get shots off that they shouldn’t, gain the zone when they should be forced into a dump-in, or get a pass through the middle of the ice when the play should’ve been killed five seconds earlier.
I love his offensive talent, especially when it’s unleashed in a high-event game like this, but Toronto isn’t always going to be playing from behind. Some of these defensive concerns are more noticeable now because his partner isn’t covering up for him — I think we might’ve underrated Ron Hainsey’s ability to do that over the past two seasons — but some of this still falls solely on Rielly. His one-on-one defence has been terrible this season. That isn’t his partner’s fault.
Cody Ceci (RD, No. 83) — This was a hard game to watch for Ceci fans. The poor guy keeps backing off in transition, which opens up tons of space through the middle of the ice for passes. I counted at least four times he allowed a pass through the middle of the slot, which just can’t happen as an NHL defender. As a side note: Are we sure he’s a good penalty killer? I don’t think he is; he doesn’t defend the entry well, isn’t taking away space when players come near him and is gifting opponents passes through the seam. That doesn’t sound like an ideal penalty killer to me.

The hottest topic heading into tonight’s game wasn’t about the Leafs. It wasn’t even a Jonathan Toews quote about what it takes to win multiple Stanley Cups — that would’ve been my best bet.
The topic du jour has been Don Cherry’s offensive comments on Saturday night’s episode of Coach’s Corner.
Whether or not the comments offended you frankly doesn’t matter; it’s clear that a large portion of hockey fans felt personally attacked. Cherry found a way to turn a positive topic — supporting fallen soldiers by buying a poppy — into a rant about immigrant families coming to Canada and not appreciating “our way of life.”
Now, I loved watching Coach’s Corner growing up. Cherry felt like my uncle who helped introduce me to the game, but he’s alienating a huge portion of the fan base with rhetoric like this. I’m glad Ron MacLean issued a heartfelt apology over the incident, but that isn’t enough. Cherry needs to be held responsible for his actions.
I’ll gladly “stick to sports” when we stop playing the national anthem before games, honouring the military at centre ice and spending our tax dollars on public arenas. Until then, sports and politics are going to be intertwined. When there’s a story this big, people are going to talk about it. In fact, this discussion we’re having is far more important than anything that happened on the ice Sunday night between the Leafs and Blackhawks — and I say that as someone who’s writing about hockey for a living.

Mitch

Mitch awaiting a walk

Sadly this is the second time that I have had to post a notice like this.
Bailey and Keon past away some years back, veterans of the wars, and my daughter Kelly decided that we needed a new dog, a new chapter in our lives.

Well, after some research we spotted a breed that would be ideal, a Golden Doodle,a mix of Poodle and Golden Retriever, and their characteristic of non shedding was a blessing, and his hypo allergenic fur made Mike able to breathe easier.

Well for 9 and one half years that blessing was given to my wife and I. Many walks and many cuddles ensued, but unfortunately he succumbed to that dreaded beast cancer.

I won't go into all the facts, but sufficed to say, he went quietly and bravely into that good night. Cindy was with him, as I could not bear to watch another of my best pals go swiftly into darkness.

Mitch was an avid squirrel chaser, and occasional rabbit chaser but he never tired of walking with me.

Never did he complain about the weather , the snow, the rain, he would have made an outstanding postman.

Kelly holding Mitch

He had a unique habit of barking at animals on our High Def TV screen, an annoying habit, but one that I would gladly put up with in exchange for another day of his barking.

He met several other dogs, beautiful Jasper, little Sulley amongst other friends, but sadly he is gone.

I did not name him, the kids named him Mitch , I think after comedian Mitch Hedberg, not local hero Mitch Marner, but I think it was fate that they named him after a future leak, after all, his predecessors Baily and Keon were named after ex Leafs, Ace Bailey and Davey Keon.

Now when Marner skates down the ice and dipsy doodles around defenders, I think of our Mitch dipsy doodling around out in the backyard chasing a squirrel, or rabbit.

Here is one of the rare pictures I had had taken of me and Mitch, when he allowed me to hold him.

I am crying as I write this, and must stay strong for the family,Lord knows this has been a very hard year for our entire family.

Mitch McCullough, RIP
October 29th, 2019