After the sudden disappointment of Sunday’s Game 6 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals came and went, most fans settled on one thought when it came to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season:
Boy, that was fun.
Count head coach Mike Babcock among those in agreement.
“If you’re a player with any nerve at all and you love a hockey environment, you want to come here,” Babcock said during a Prime Time Sports appearance on Sportsnet 590 The FAN on Tuesday. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like this.”
“I think it’s a special place,” he said. “I can’t believe how much fun it is. I like being here.”
The coach preached pain to those very fans just two years ago when he was brought in to take on the hefty challenge of bringing the rebuilding team back to the post-season. Just how quickly things turned around surprised even him.
“I had no idea we were getting Auston Matthews. I had no idea Mitch [Marner] could do what he did. And I didn’t know [Nikita] Zaitsev could be this good,” Babcock said. “So right away, that changed a lot of things.”
By season’s end, the Leafs had plenty of other good—and surprising—stories on the bench, both rookies and veterans alike.
“The play of Connor Brown, the play of Zach Hyman, the growth of [Jake] Gardiner, there are so many different things we could talk about,” Babcock explained. “Everybody talks about Mitch and William [Nylander] and Matthews all the time, but there’s a whole lot more than that going on.”
“We had a great group in the room. Our locker room was tight, the guys played hard, held each other accountable, and we had a good group of people in there,” he said. “I thought that was one of the best things about this year’s team, is the quality of people we had in that room.”
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Here’s what Babcock had to say about some of his players this year:
On Jake Gardiner:
“I think Gards is a real, real hockey player. I think he’s got high hockey IQ. He’s got ice in his veins. He does some things, you wonder what the heck he’s doing, but he’s plus all the time and he always gets the puck out of the zone.
“Talk to him every day and let him play. Kept putting him back out there. I thought his game really came last year but it’s coming landslides now. He can play against the best players.”
On Nazem Kadri, who embraced his agitator role:
“Nazem Kadri, we just pushed to get better. Naz is one of those guys who doesn’t mind being pushed. He has good ability, got in shape last summer. He needs to take another step that way, but Naz likes his role, has embraced it.
“Goals are a bonus from being the man in the middle of a power play. He’s still got good skill. He’s a mean guy. He likes to compete. I think he’s got a lot of upside yet. I don’t think he’s tapped out. I’m not saying he’s scoring 32 goals every year, but his play can definitely get better.”
On Brian Boyle, acquired from Tampa Bay at the deadline in exchange for prospect Byron Froese and a 2017 second-round draft pick:
“I don’t believe we get in the playoffs without getting Boyle. I think the kind of man he was, we needed a man in the room, someone to settle us down, someone to talk to us. I thought he did a fantastic job of that and I thought it was worth it. And I don’t like trading picks. I thought it was worth it, because I thought it could push us one year ahead if we got in [to the playoffs].
“Now, would it have been the end of the world if we didn’t get in? No. In saying that, to get in and to play a great team like Washington, with good players, and for our players to see Ovechkin … he’s been in the league a long time and he still hasn’t got his name on the Cup. It shows you how hard it is to get your name on it, and so I think that’s a great message for our group.”
On his own job as coach—and whether or not he believes he’s got a shot at the Jack Adams Award:
“That’s not a question for me, really. Let’s be honest about it. This is what I like, is that people have had enough respect for me to hire me and keep me on for long periods of time so my family got to live in one spot. [Brendan Shanahan] gave me a good opportunity to come here, and I love the opportunity here.
“This is what I would tell you: the coach of the year carries that silver Cup around and he gets to take it back to his town and share it with his friends. I’ve only gotten to do that one time. Our teams [in Detroit and Anaheim] have won 15 games in the Final two other times. I’d like to get my name on that Cup again. I really would. I’d like to share it with the city of Toronto. And that’s what our group is trying to do here, and I think we’re going in the right direction.”