^ Pavel Datsyuk was more often than not getting about 13-14 minutes of ice time per game under Babs. I have never heard the guy complaining about anything.
Leafs is a weird team. Not that long ago, it seemed that any good player who joined the team would become worse. I always wondered why that was the case. With the Wings it was the opposite.
As my friend, a die-hard Leafs fan, tells me every year for a decade or longer now, they are just not ready this season
Also, not to take anything from Babcock, but his success was built on the most solid team in the league at the time, a team solid to the core, something that was there before he joined the club. He left as the demise was starting to happen. Would the Wings be better off now with Babs at the wheel? I am not so sure, to be honest. Same goes for team Canada he won Olympic golds with: both solid teams. Would the 2018 team do any better with Babs? I don’t know but one could speculate and I don’t think that speculation would be in his favour. I am not putting Mike down, by the way; the guy knows what he is doing and his record shows it.
I guess what I am saying is that it is the players and the coach working together that makes things happen. I have never been to one, but I bet it is the atmosphere in the dressing room, the “I belong” part that matters. That’s why the Wings were what they were for a couple of decades and that’s where Mike built his success. Maybe the Leafs will get there, with or without Babs.
Could be worse though. Could be the Oilers drafting number ones for years just to end the following season picking yet one more, lol.