The Cobra
02-14-2017, 05:25 PM
TSN
TORONTO – Since the NHL’s all-star break, winning hasn't come easily for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto has posted a 2-3-2 record to start the condensed second half of their schedule, which boasts 35 games in 69 days. When the team convened for a rare full practice Monday at MasterCard Centre, a slogan that had adorned the walls all season - "Heart and Drive Lives Here" - was gone.
Now scrawled in thin blue letters above each wall of player stalls is the phrase “Play Fast. Play Right.”
“I came up with what we had on the wall this summer,” Babcock said. “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. I think when we play right we can play real fast. I think when we don’t play right we look like snails out there.”
The timing of the alteration is interesting to be sure, and it may have gone undetected even a few weeks ago. Toronto is currently at the centre of an air-tight Eastern Conference playoff race, while looking dangerously close to falling into a full-blown slump. The team hasn't posted back-to-back wins since late January.
“It’s like anything – we’re all in this together,” Babcock said. “When we play well, all get the credit. When we play poorly, we all get the blame. 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. It’s probably somewhere in between.”
Cobra....
Well start the parade..................the Leafs can get motto after motto, headline after headline, contraversey after contraversey, spend $ after $, chase goalie after goalie.........but won`t get anywhere until they go out and get a defense. The Leafs need a #1 and probably a #2 or #3 pairing defenseman that can actually check, see the ice and go into a corner and come out with the puck.
Their motto until that day occurs should be.........yes, we have no defense.
TORONTO – Since the NHL’s all-star break, winning hasn't come easily for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto has posted a 2-3-2 record to start the condensed second half of their schedule, which boasts 35 games in 69 days. When the team convened for a rare full practice Monday at MasterCard Centre, a slogan that had adorned the walls all season - "Heart and Drive Lives Here" - was gone.
Now scrawled in thin blue letters above each wall of player stalls is the phrase “Play Fast. Play Right.”
“I came up with what we had on the wall this summer,” Babcock said. “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. I think when we play right we can play real fast. I think when we don’t play right we look like snails out there.”
The timing of the alteration is interesting to be sure, and it may have gone undetected even a few weeks ago. Toronto is currently at the centre of an air-tight Eastern Conference playoff race, while looking dangerously close to falling into a full-blown slump. The team hasn't posted back-to-back wins since late January.
“It’s like anything – we’re all in this together,” Babcock said. “When we play well, all get the credit. When we play poorly, we all get the blame. 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. It’s probably somewhere in between.”
Cobra....
Well start the parade..................the Leafs can get motto after motto, headline after headline, contraversey after contraversey, spend $ after $, chase goalie after goalie.........but won`t get anywhere until they go out and get a defense. The Leafs need a #1 and probably a #2 or #3 pairing defenseman that can actually check, see the ice and go into a corner and come out with the puck.
Their motto until that day occurs should be.........yes, we have no defense.