OT: Leafs Hire Mike Babcock as HC 8yr/50M

Wo1verine · Post #161 » by **Wo1verine** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:01 pm

s e n s i wrote:
vaff87 wrote:
s e n s i wrote:leafs could trade for prime gretzky for 10 cents on the dollar and leafs haters would try and spin it into a negative

Honestly, when is the last time the Leafs actually did something right to know if haters would criticize it? This move is TBD.

uhhh trading david clarkson for nate horton? that was a terrific play to squirm out of that albatross and free up cap space. and wouldn't you know it, leafs haters laughed thinking the trade was done from the leafs perspective for horton's playing ability.

That's a **** loophole - I hope they patch that one up on the next CBA! Trading the worst contract for an injured player who doesn't count against cap.

I hope Horton plays at some point

Post #162 » by **G R E Y** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:03 pm

P.S. With the new Argos ownership and Babcock signing, Tim Leiweke was doing some pressers today, and I have to say it was great to see him and hear him speak and it will be sad to see him go. He really laid a solid foundation for MLSE and the ripple effects are still reaping rewards.

LLJ · Post #163 » by **LLJ** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:07 pm

Will be tough to tank with this guy at the helm. Especially if he's as good a coach as most people think he is.

Truthrising · Post #164 » by **Truthrising** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:14 pm

LLJ wrote:Will be tough to tank with this guy at the helm. Especially if he's as good a coach as most people think he is.

I think for Babcock to sign with the Leafs, he must've been aware that the leafs will need to rebuild the right way..which means for the first 3 yrs he can forget about making the playoffs, he should've also been aware that that this will be a long process which is why i'm guessing he took that 8 yr contract..hopefully that is what Babcock has agreed and if they're both on the same page than things will work out.

Post #165 » by **CPT** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:31 pm

Torn on this move.

On one hand, I love it. Getting arguably the best coach in the league for the next 8 years has to be considered a good thing. Stop the coaching carousel and build a team in the coach's image.

On the other hand, he might be too good for what the Leafs should be trying to do, which is a scorched earth rebuild. One top 5 pick and back to the treadmill isn't going to cut it.

Will have to see how it plays out.

Post #166 » by **JaysRule15** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:39 pm

I just hope that if the Leafs front office does decide to tank next season, Babcock is onboard. That means that playing the younger players a lot and focusing on development rather than winning. The last thing we need is Babcock getting this flawed roster to an 8th place finish and getting crushed in the first round.

Raps in 4 · Post #167 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu May 21, 2015 1:02 am

s e n s i wrote:so pretty much, after all this discourse, it's safe to say that babcock is roughly one of the best coaches in the league.

why can't leafs fans be excited about this? oh right because it's the toronto maple leafs.

It's not Leafs fans that are unhappy, but insecure Raptors fans who are afraid of being overshadowed by the Leafs again.

s e n s i · Post #168 » by **s e n s i** » Thu May 21, 2015 1:10 am

Raps in 4 wrote:
s e n s i wrote:so pretty much, after all this discourse, it's safe to say that babcock is roughly one of the best coaches in the league.

why can't leafs fans be excited about this? oh right because it's the toronto maple leafs.

It's not Leafs fans that are unhappy, but insecure Raptors fans who are afraid of being overshadowed by the Leafs again.

the question was either rhetorical or for people pissing on the move like it's a bad signing. insecure raptors fans or fans of other NHL teams that hate the leafs will forever find a way to sh*t on anything the leafs do but them's the breaks i suppose.

kidr1211 · Post #169 » by **kidr1211** » Thu May 21, 2015 1:59 am

Raps in 4 wrote:
s e n s i wrote:so pretty much, after all this discourse, it's safe to say that babcock is roughly one of the best coaches in the league.

why can't leafs fans be excited about this? oh right because it's the toronto maple leafs.

It's not Leafs fans that are unhappy, but insecure Raptors fans who are afraid of being overshadowed by the Leafs again.

Again? The leafs have always overshadowed the raps lol it hasn't changed. The leafs sucked and the raps were a playoff team this year yet the leafs doubled the raps TV ratings and still got twice the media coverage. It sucks but it is what it is. If only we had a star player for the country to fall in love with

Post #170 » by **G R E Y** » Thu May 21, 2015 2:20 am

Weren't there forums on official raptors.com and leafs.com? What happened to those? Where are the alternatives (official)?

Vlade Divac · Post #171 » by **Vlade Divac** » Thu May 21, 2015 3:11 am

And why the **** we care?!?!

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

22haytham22 · Post #172 » by **22haytham22** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:17 am

GREY 1769 wrote:Weren't there forums on official raptors.com and leafs.com? What happened to those? Where are the alternatives (official)?

Not official but for most fans I know they all go to.

Realgm for Raptors

Hfboads for Leafs

T-d0t · Post #173 » by **T-d0t** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:23 am

Vlade Divac wrote:And why the **** we care?!?!

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Because we rep T-dot till they bury us!

J Dilla · Post #174 » by **J Dilla** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:59 am

Babcock is one of the best hires this city has had in a long time. Reminds me of the Raptors when they hired Lenny Wilkens and Colangelo, known and proven names to add some credibility to the Raptors. Part of me also thinks he is hockey's Phil Jackson because we all know how great the Detroit Red Wings organization has always been with the scouting and management. They always seem to have the players in place.

I'm under the impression that Babcock will cancel a rebuild, and give it a shot with the existing roster with Phaneuf and Kessel. Maybe he can get the best out of them. And I'm really interested in how he will develop Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, and Nylander. The team has a bright future if he can get these guys going, specially Gardiner and Kadri.

He clearly chose the money though. Buffalo, San Jose and Detroit were better situations to be in.

bonjovi0308 · Post #175 » by **bonjovi0308** » Thu May 21, 2015 7:15 am

The Raps should have thrown a massive deal to Tom Thib as well.....Coach salary is just a dime in a bucket to MLSE.

Post #176 » by **G R E Y** » Thu May 21, 2015 10:56 am

22haytham22 wrote:
GREY 1769 wrote:Weren't there forums on official raptors.com and leafs.com? What happened to those? Where are the alternatives (official)?

Not official but for most fans I know they all go to.

Realgm for Raptors

Hfboads for Leafs

Thanks, haytham, I appreciate it

kayliecee · Post #177 » by **kayliecee** » Thu May 21, 2015 10:57 am

bonjovi0308 wrote:The Raps should have thrown a massive deal to Tom Thib as well.....Coach salary is just a dime in a bucket to MLSE.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good investment, but MLSE doesn't throw $50 million around any more than I'd throw $5 out the window. They're in this to make money and every penny spent is calculated as a payout versus return. I don't know much about hockey, but it sounds like Babcock has no one in the NBA at his level. Pops would be if he was younger, but he will probably not coach for eight more years, let alone leave San Antonio to do it (where his is reportedly paid $11 million a year). And Thibs hasn't got near the body of work that Babcock has, and probably never will.

If I were the agent of a high-level NBA coach and the Raps came knocking, I'd be extremely happy to negotiate with the Raps after seeing what Babcock got, but MLSE doesn't have a bottomless pit of money. Maybe the reports are true and Masai is planning a longer term fix. In which case, yeah, maybe he's figuring next year is a lost year so why not keep Casey around.

Parataxis · Post #178 » by **Parataxis** » Thu May 21, 2015 12:24 pm

J Dilla wrote:
He clearly chose the money though. Buffalo, San Jose and Detroit were better situations to be in.

That depends on your goals though. If you just want to win another cup, then yes, Buffalo, SJ, or Detroit are better situations. But if you want to secure a legacy as the greatest coach in the history of the NHL...

If he can make Toronto a contender, he goes from being the Popovich of the NHL to the Auerbach.

binjumper · Post #179 » by **binjumper** » Thu May 21, 2015 1:01 pm

Fairview4Life wrote:
vaff87 wrote:You have people here comparing this guy to Gregg Popovich.

There are a number of reasons why I think throwing a pile of money at a coach at the wrong time can be a bad thing. The Leafs are really bad. If this guy doesn't have the team turned around in two years people are going to get impatient. Ownership will make short sighted moves, etc. Any number of bad things can happen. Expectations are immediately raised with this guy in town, and he's just not capable of fulfilling them with the crap on this roster.

Pop's a hall of fame coach, but he isn't actually that great of an in game coach. He is very good at evaluating talent, and he is very good at incorporating good ideas into his offense and defensive sets (like when he grabbed a bunch of what D'Antoni did with the Suns). He is also very good at coaching a team with Tim Duncan on it.

Babcock is signed for 8 years at big money. The fans expectations aren't going to matter.

not a great in-game coach? really? 5 chips and he still isn't a great in-game coach... I don't know how to feel about that comment.

Fairview4Life · Post #180 » by **Fairview4Life** » Thu May 21, 2015 1:16 pm

binjumper wrote:
Fairview4Life wrote:
vaff87 wrote:You have people here comparing this guy to Gregg Popovich.

There are a number of reasons why I think throwing a pile of money at a coach at the wrong time can be a bad thing. The Leafs are really bad. If this guy doesn't have the team turned around in two years people are going to get impatient. Ownership will make short sighted moves, etc. Any number of bad things can happen. Expectations are immediately raised with this guy in town, and he's just not capable of fulfilling them with the crap on this roster.

Pop's a hall of fame coach, but he isn't actually that great of an in game coach. He is very good at evaluating talent, and he is very good at incorporating good ideas into his offense and defensive sets (like when he grabbed a bunch of what D'Antoni did with the Suns). He is also very good at coaching a team with Tim Duncan on it.

Babcock is signed for 8 years at big money. The fans expectations aren't going to matter.

:noway: not a great in-game coach? really? 5 chips and he still isn't a great in-game coach... I don't know how to feel about that comment.

You don't need to be great at every facet of coaching to win a title. Erik Spolestra has a few of them now. You can't be terrible, and Pop is definitely a hall of fame coach, but talent trumps all in the NBA. Saying he isn't a great in game coach doesn't seem controversial to me.