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WHOA - Mike Babcock OUT | Sheldon Keefe IN

I'm surprised. 

Well, the clock has now officially started on Dubas...he's picked his core and installed his coach.

I hope Keefe knows what he's doing.
 
Strangelove said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Bender said:
4EVRLEAFAN said:
Should have fired Dubas as well
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::)
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The eyeroll is true but nonetheless Dubas is the guy who traded for the wrong D-men over the summer.
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I have a strong feeling Barrie is going to be a whole lot better under Keefe.
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Rinse and repeat for Strangelove, as he didn't see this post:

What people fail to realize is that Dubas has helped assemble this team, has put a marquee development system in place with the Marlies and now the Growlers. Brought in experts from all over the place. No expense is being spared. This is the state of the art organization.
The reality is that the Leafs needed to bring in Babcock to establish credibility, remember how we all jumped with joy when his signing was announced. Yes they needed to unlock the cashbox and give him way too long a term...market demands. Would have they signed Tavares without him...no.
The further reality is that Babcock was not Dubas hire, it has always been crystal clear that Keefe was the heir apparent, he is Dubas man.
It is also a fact that Dubas would have preferred to replace Babcock before this season, but was blocked by the powers above.
When people on all these boards start pointing the finger at Dubas and his hands are tied, it doesn't make sense.
 
L K said:
One big thing.  The team doesn't get better immediately (assuming Keefe can get the team to the next level).

Last year St. Louis fired Mike Yeo after going 7-9-3 to start the year.  They proceeded to go 8-9-1 through November/December before turning it on in the new year. 

Keefe doesn't make the team better.  The players performing better makes the team better.  There will obviously be some utilization changes.  Maybe there are roster moves made too but I would imaging that we don't see major drastic changes to the lineup in the interim.
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We'll see. Sometimes a situation can get so toxic that any change brings things right back to life. Don't know if that is what happened here but I wouldn't be surprised to see a fairly immediate positive impact. If the problems run deeper, into the core group then yeah, probably things won't change much.

 
WAYNEINIONA said:
I wonder if that's why Tavares had a personal day off today.
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My first thought when I saw the Babcock headline after reading about Tavares was, hope his "personal" issue isn't that he doesn't want to play for a rookie coach. Seriously doubt it, but you never know.
 
Highlander said:
4EVRLEAFAN said:
Should have fired Dubas as well
Click to expand...
What people fail to realize is that Dubas has helped assemble this team, has put a marquee development system in place with the Marlies and now the Growlers. Brought in experts from all over the place. No expense is being spared. This is the state of the art organization.
The reality is that the Leafs needed to bring in Babcock to establish credibility, remember how we all jumped with joy when his signing was announced. Yes they needed to unlock the cashbox and give him way too long a term...market demands. Would have they signed Tavares without him...no.
The further reality is that Babcock was not Dubas hire, it has always been crystal clear that Keefe was the heir apparent, he is Dubas man.
It is also a fact that Dubas would have preferred to replace Babcock before this season, but was blocked by the powers above.
When people on all these boards start pointing the finger at Dubas and his hands are tied, it doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Babcock was given a finer-tuned team this year and it apparently still wasn?t good enough (for him).  The firing surely indicates that he lost the room awhile ago and that the team?s downward spiral is knowing no end.

New coach, better communications skills, different approach to navigating game strategy & systems towards the players.  Keefe is an AHL coach but everyone?s hoping he brings an NHL quality mentality to everyday operations.
 
Chris said:
WAYNEINIONA said:
I wonder if that's why Tavares had a personal day off today.
Click to expand...
My first thought when I saw the Babcock headline after reading about Tavares was, hope his "personal" issue isn't that he doesn't want to play for a rookie coach. Seriously doubt it, but you never know.
Click to expand...
Perhaps Tavares is going to brief Keefe on the flight back to AZ.
 
Anyone know if there has been any news on the future of the assistant coaches?
 
Chris said:
WAYNEINIONA said:
I wonder if that's why Tavares had a personal day off today.
Click to expand...
My first thought when I saw the Babcock headline after reading about Tavares was, hope his "personal" issue isn't that he doesn't want to play for a rookie coach. Seriously doubt it, but you never know.
Click to expand...

Maybe he was informed in advance so he could help communicate it to the rest of the team.
 
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