Babcock, Leafs looking for pace as run to post-season begins

Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock discusses his young players getting some hard lessons of late, saying when we play right, we're real fast, and when we don't, we can look like snails out there.

TORONTO – “Play fast. Play right.”

Seems straightforward enough, doesn’t it?

The Toronto Maple Leafs will put that theory to the test with the paint still fresh on the slogan now adorning all four walls inside their dressing room. And while sayings like this are ubiquitous throughout the NHL – it replaces the grammatically challenged “Heart and Drive Lives Here” – the timing of the change offers some insight into the mind of head coach Mike Babcock.

“I’m always waiting each year for us to come up with a way of playing that’s going to be something you can hang your hat on,” Babcock said Monday. “And so I think when we play right we can play real fast. I think when we don’t play right it looks like snails out there.”


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After 54 games, he has a strong idea of what his group looks like at its best.

That’s given him some touchpoints and hallmarks to stress to a team featuring eight rookies – a group that has fallen short of its own expectations in recent weeks. Babcock has kept a steady, patient demeanour during the 2-4-2 stretch the Leafs are carrying into a big game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

“We’re through two-thirds of the season and we’re in a good spot right now, but the league gets better and better,” said Babcock. “So if we want to continue to be in a good spot we have to get better.

“We haven’t been as good night in, night out as we’re capable of being so let’s find a way to get a little better.”

The NHL’s highest-paid coach remains, above all, a student.

He is constantly reading up on leadership and successful figures in sports – looking to glean inspiration from wherever he can find it. The 53-year-old takes pleasure in the daily grind of trying to get better and makes no secret of the fact that the biggest goal laying in front of his young team is finding its way into the playoffs this spring.

“April 12 is when the real season starts and you want to have an opportunity to be in that,” said Babcock.

The path forward is relatively clear.

This won’t be an organization that is shopping heavily for upgrades ahead of the March 1 trade deadline. Instead, it has got to accentuate the strengths of those already in-house – a group featuring talented forwards and a relatively mobile blue line that can control the puck for long stretches in the offensive zone and score goals.

That speaks to the change in mantra behind closed doors. At their best, the Leafs can play the game at a tempo opponents have trouble matching.

“I thought we had a good thing going there for awhile, so we’re just going to try to get back to that,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly.

“We’ve got a lot of games coming up here, we’ve got a chance to make up some ground. We’re going to try to take advantage of the games in hand that we have left and make sure we’re collecting points when we can.”

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With the Montreal Canadiens stumbling into their bye week, the Atlantic Division is wide open. The Leafs, Senators, Bruins, Panthers and Lightning are all jostling for the two playoff spots behind Montreal – and one of those teams may even manage to unseat the Habs.

The chase is already on.

Toronto has been leaking oil the last little while because of poor starts – surrendering a goal inside the opening five minutes in four of their last five games.

“What happens between our meetings an hour and a half before the game and when the game starts that we’re not jumping?” said Babcock. “We’ve got to get that looked after. That’s been an area of our strength and then suddenly it’s not as good for us.”

This is meant to be a year of teaching, and of growth.

There was plenty of room for reflection in the wake of Saturday’s humbling loss to Buffalo, where the Sabres raced out to a quick three-goal lead and essentially held Toronto at arm’s length the rest of the way.

“Any time you get beat and the other team’s better and quicker than you are, you get a chance to take a look at yourself and really assess yourself,” said Babcock. “Sometimes when things are going good you think you’re better than you are. Sometimes when things are going bad you think you’re worse than you are.

“You’re probably somewhere in between. Let’s just do our jobs.”

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