It was a warm August morning in 1982 as the Leafs got set for their usual announcement of the signing of their first-round draft pick from the previous June.
Gary Nylund had been selected third overall and a modest press reception awaited him for his signing in the Hot Stove Lounge at Maple Leaf Gardens. Leaf President Harold Ballard had one visitor to talk with before he headed down from his second floor office/apartment. Ballard was also the owner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and their general manager, Ralph Sazio, had uncharacteristically dropped by Ballard’s office at the Gardens unannounced.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: | Broadcast Schedule
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE | Stanley Cup Playoffs Fantasy Hockey
New Sportsnet app: iTunes | Google Play
His news was a bombshell that made the Nylund signing insignificant. Sazio was leaving the Tiger-Cats immediately to take over as general manager of the arch-rival Toronto Argonauts.
It took almost 33 years for the Toronto Maple Leafs to “get even” with the Toronto Argonauts. As Larry Tanenbaum and company were front and centre at a press conference announcing the purchase of the Toronto Argonauts and plans to move to BMO field in 2016, a question came about confirmed reports regarding the signing of Mike Babcock as the new Maple Leafs head coach.
Hard to believe a story that had been rumoured for months could still have that bombshell effect on a hockey-mad city starved for some positive news about their beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.
The reaction to Babcock rivalled the surprise signing of Pat Burns in June, 1992. In the morning, he resigned as coach of the Montreal Canadiens and five hours later was announced as Toronto’s new coach – and a memorable chapter in Leaf history began.
Though the Babcock signing had been rumoured for months, it seemed as tough he was going to sign with Sabres instead. At Babcock’s press conference, a couple of Buffalo media detracted from the love-in atmosphere as they challenged him about “lying to the Buffalo Sabres and just using them as leverage in Toronto.”
Babcock was the biggest free agent available this off-season. Unlike other player free agent signings of the past, this one doesn’t have the same downside. His yearly salary of $6.25 million doesn’t count against any kind of salary cap so there’s no worry about how to shed his salary if he turns out to be a bust.
Was he the “best” coach for the job and worth all that money? He probably was in the sense the Leafs organization needed a “win” of some sort, since all the other Canadian teams did. Five of them made the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the only other team that missed won the lottery and the right to choose phenom Connor McDavid.
Edmonton also hired Stanley Cup champion Peter Chiarelli as GM and popular coach Todd McLellan. That’s a lot of winning for a non-playoff team.
So Babcock brought the big-name arrival to Toronto and added even more credibility when he admitted there would be lots of pain before the big picture plans play out.
Again we go back to Burns. It wasn’t all smiles and chuckles in his first season as head coach of the Maple Leafs. Before going on a memorable playoff run in the spring of 1993, he struggled with a team that was under .500 at Christmas.
The big difference with those Leafs and the present day Leafs is that GM Cliff Fletcher had the flexibility to acquire players such as Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Dave Andreychuk, Bill Berg and Sylvain Lefebvre. But whoever ends up being responsible for trades in Toronto’s current front office structure will have to contend with a salary cap.
Off the ice, Babcock seems to bring the personal makeup of someone who understands and embraces being a “star” in Toronto, which is also similar to Burns. We just don’t yet know if Babcock will pick up a guitar for a car commerical.
On the ice, we all know what Babcock’s teams did in Detroit. But even when the roster was depleted by injuries, the Wings found a way to win and get into the playoffs. Babcock’s teams always played with passion, purpose and were invested at all times. This will at least be a positive start for Leaf fans who watched a team that wasn’t.
However, one thing will differ between Babcock and Burns. Burns signed a four-year contract with the Leafs at $350,000 per season. A year later, the Detroit Red Wings made Scotty Bowman the first $1 million dollar a year head coach. That didn’t sit well with Burns and he was able to renegotiate his contract up each of the next two seasons. It’s hard to imagine salary will ever be a concern for Babcock. Leafs ownership just hopes the big bucks they’re paying him will be offset down the road with many lucrative home playoff dates, just like it happened with other “big-name hires” Burns and Pat Quinn.
Babcock told Leaf fans “no pain, no gain” just a day after ownership realized “no cash, no splash.”
And if the acquisition of Babcock plays out the way it did with Burns – and Quinn – he’ll be the one to get the Maple Leafs out of the deep end of the pool.
