One only has to look at Toronto's last two games to see the Babcock effect. The Leafs were blown out by the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night. They traveled to Minnesota to take on the Wild the following night. Last year's team would have gone through the motions after a rough front half of a back-to-back. Not Babcock's team. While they lost 1-0 to Minnesota, the Leafs played a good road game and could not cash in on their chances. That had more to do with a lack of skill players than it did with a decrease in work ethic.
You can also see what I'm talking about during a game. This team has fallen behind in games only to come back and give themselves a chance to win. That just didn't happen last year. The most important acquisition the Leafs made this off season was getting Mike Babcock.
In the last 20 years, the Leafs reached the Stanley Cup semi-finals four times. In those seasons, their head coach respectively was Pat Burns and Pat Quinn. Quality hockey men who the players knew meant business. That's where we are now with Babcock behind the bench.
Brendan Shanahan and Babcock have said that there will be pain during this rebuilding process. But with Babcock as their coach and Lou Lamoriello as their general manager, the Leafs are setting the stage for a resurgence. With William Nylander and Mitch Marner in the wings and other youngsters like Connor Brown, Stuart Percy and others ready to emerge to partner with Morgan Reilly and JVR, the future looks bright. In the meantime, the Leafs have become a team that the fan base can rally around. Hard work, paying attention to detail and competing every night is what Leaf fans are looking for at this point as we know that better days are around the corner.
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