Looking at Mike Babcock’s Maple Leafs career by the numbers

Chris Johnston and Shawn McKenzie discuss the Maple Leafs firing Mike Babcock and how it was not the ideal situation.

The Mike Babcock era in Toronto has come to an end, with the Maple Leafs making the decision to cut ties with the head coach on Wednesday just 23 games into his fifth season at the helm. Sheldon Keefe has been promoted to take his place behind the bench.

It was an era that started in May 2015 with Babcock taking over a struggling club embracing a full rebuild, and saw him help bring a new brand of fast, fun, winning hockey to the historic franchise. It ended Wednesday with a young, star-studded contender carrying lofty expectations ultimately unable to shake off its early-season woes.

Here’s a collection of numbers and stats as we look back on Babcock’s tenure in Toronto, courtesy Sportsnet Stats:

173-133-45: Babcock’s overall record with Maple Leafs over four complete seasons and part of a fifth. His 173 wins are the fifth most by a coach in franchise history. Toronto is tied for the 16th-most wins in the NHL since Mike Babcock took over as head coach.

30: Babcock was the Maple Leafs’ 30th coach in franchise history

3: Number of playoff berths with Maple Leafs, with a record of 8-12. He never won a playoff series in Toronto and joins King Clancy (1954-1956) as the only Maple Leafs coaches to lose three consecutive opening round playoff series.

9-10-4: Maple Leafs’ 2019-20 record through 23 games. His firing comes on the heels of a six-game losing streak.

Babcock joined the Maple Leafs back in May 2015, bringing a legacy of winning to Toronto that included a Stanley Cup and plenty of international success. Here’s a look at his overall numbers as an NHL head coach.

1,300: Number of career regular season games coached, with three different teams (Anaheim, Detroit, Toronto). That’s the 12th-most in the NHL.

700-417-19-164: Babcock’s overall regular-season coaching record over the course of 17 seasons. His 700 wins rank him eighth in the category in NHL history.

10: Seasons spent in Detroit, his longest coaching tenure

6: Consecutive first-round playoff exits, combining Detroit and Toronto

2: Number of times he has missed the playoffs over 16 full seasons as a head coach (Anaheim, 2003-04; Toronto, 2015-16)

2: Number of Olympic gold medals won with Team Canada

1: Stanley Cup, won with Detroit in 2007-08

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