By Jordan Long
The Toronto Maple Leafs dismissed Head Coach Mike Babcock after a 9-10-4 start to the season. Babcock had been with Toronto the past 5 years. The Maple Leafs will go with Sheldon Keefe as their new Head Coach.
Toronto hired Mike Babcock on May 25th, 2015 after the Detroit Red Wings failed to reach an extension with him. The Red Wings allowed him to seek employment elsewhere after 10 years with the organization. Toronto and Babcock agreed to an 8-year contract.
Toronto was hoping Babcock would transform the team into a consistent playoff threat every year. The goal was for the Maple Leafs to make deep runs in the postseason and win the Cup. He won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and they never missed the postseason under his leadership. His overall record with the Red Wings was an impressive 458-223-105, a winning percentage of .649. Toronto hasn’t won the Cup since 1967.
Toronto reached the playoffs the last 3 years with Babcock. They didn’t win a series. Last season they forced a game 7 against the Boston Bruins. Boston won game 7, 5-1. It was another 1st-round failure for Toronto.
This year Toronto was hoping a fast start might help them be the 1st or the 2nd seed in the Atlantic Division so they could have home ice advantage. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Toronto stands at 9-10-4 for a total of 22 points. They have lost 6 straight games. It was time to let Babcock go.
According to ESPN, Babcock said, “I’m disappointed. We didn’t have the start to the year we wanted and that’s on me. I want to thank the fans. I want to thank the media. I want to thank the city.”
Babcock didn’t have the Maple Leafs playing well overall this season. On offense, they score 3.13 goals per game, ranking 13th in the NHL. On the power play, Toronto scored on 17.6% of their opportunities, 18th in the NHL.
What cost Babcock his job was his defense. Toronto allowed teams to dictate the play in their defensive zone. When the opponents skated with the puck, those were scoring opportunities or Toronto took a penalty. Toronto gave up 3.43 goals per game, ranking 24th in the league while their penalty kill is an awful 73.1%.
Toronto is going with Sheldon Keefe. Keefe is the coach of the Toronto Marlies, the American League Hockey Affiliate of the Maple Leafs. He has been with the Marlies the past 5 seasons. His record is an outstanding 199-89-22-9 (wins, losses, overtime losses and shootout losses). Toronto is anticipating Keefe will turn the year around. Depending how well Keefe coaches them regardless of the record, he might be the coach for the 2020-2021 season. If not, it is back to the drawing board for Toronto.
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