Toronto Maple Leafs TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

NEELY wrote:Because they will pay him whatever he wants.

And also it's a challenge and he'll probably get along well with Shannahan.

Monumental ego on Babcock (from what I have read) and he would relish the challenge. And he would spike pay rates for coaches. Top paid coaches now make less than Colin Greening.

Yup, ego and nothing short of it. Highest paid coach, in the biggest market, on a team that hasn't won anything in generations. It's Babcock's job if he wants it, he knows it, and I think he takes it. That said they better start adding some better players because he's going to fall flat on his face like all the others before him.

NEELY wrote:Yup, ego and nothing short of it.  Highest paid coach, in the biggest market, on a team that hasn't won anything in generations.  It's Babcock's job if he wants it, he knows it, and I think he takes it.  That said they better start adding some better players because he's going to fall flat on his face like all the others before him.

and what a glorious day that will be for all of us to enjoy.

today is a good day also.

I would love to see Babcock try and coexist with Kessel, Bozak, Phaneuf, and the rest of the primadonna pansy bunghole.

Kessel was being asked in a media scrum earlier today if he was "difficult to coach". Kessel did not enjoy this line of questioning.

Also, Ron Wilson was on TSN radio in Toronto this morning and basically said that he had wanted to bench Phaneuf and Kessel when he was the head coach there, but didn't have the balls to do it.

tim1_2 wrote:I would love to see Babcock try and coexist with Kessel, Bozak, Phaneuf, and the rest of the primadonna pansy bunghole.

Kessel was being asked in a media scrum earlier today if he was "difficult to coach". Kessel did not enjoy this line of questioning.

Also, Ron Wilson was on TSN radio in Toronto this morning and basically said that he had wanted to bench Phaneuf and Kessel when he was the head coach there, but didn't have the balls to do it.

Did you hear what Kessel said? He snapped at one of the reporters "You think it's my fault?"

Yep. Kessel is a jerk off.

Kessel is a coach killer, there are a lot of them around the league. Your #1 guy has to play all 200 feet otherwise everything else fails.

NEELY wrote:Kessel is a coach killer, there are a lot of them around the league.  Your #1 guy has to play all 200 feet otherwise everything else fails.

reminds me of someone else from around here.....


...

Anyone think there're sour grapes here?

spader wrote:Anyone think there're sour grapes here?

I think it's the constant story in that market.

spader wrote:Anyone think there're sour grapes here?

Nope, think it's the truth and Wilson has no obligation to hold back.

Hilarious that people think this is some kind of revelation. All you have to do is listen to Kessel talk for 30 seconds to understand that he has character issues and likely isn't a guy you want on your hockey team. There's a reason the Bs traded him, and it wasn't just because they were getting a couple first round picks.

I wouldn't go so far as yo say I wouldn't want Kessel on my team vs I wouldn't want him as part of the core let alone the leading man on a team. He has a place but it should be that of a Gaborik role.

This has been known for a while and it's finally come to a head, things in Leafs land should be interesting the rest of the way you just hope they don't pass the Sens for a better pick at this point.

tim1_2 wrote:Hilarious that people think this is some kind of revelation. All you have to do is listen to Kessel talk for 30 seconds to understand that he has character issues and likely isn't a guy you want on your hockey team. There's a reason the Bs traded him, and it wasn't just because they were getting a couple first round picks.

Sorry, who thinks that this is some kind of revelation? It's certainly topical though.

spader wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Hilarious that people think this is some kind of revelation. All you have to do is listen to Kessel talk for 30 seconds to understand that he has character issues and likely isn't a guy you want on your hockey team. There's a reason the Bs traded him, and it wasn't just because they were getting a couple first round picks.

Sorry, who thinks that this is some kind of revelation?

The Toronto media.  It takes the coach getting canned before they start digging at the players.

Watching shows like Road the Winter Classic (and HBO's 24/7 from years past) has just taught me that coaching isn't as important as most people think it is.  If players aren't self-starters and motivated to do what it takes to WIN, then there's only so much you can get from them.  I think Kessel and Bozak are good buddies who are more concerned with what video game they are going to play after the game then what is actually happening in the game.

Kessel is 8th in goals, 9th in points, and 676th in +/-.

NEELY wrote:I wouldn't go so far as yo say I wouldn't want Kessel on my team vs I wouldn't want him as part of the core let alone the leading man on a team.  He has a place but it should be that of a Gaborik role.  

This has been known for a while and it's finally come to a head, things in Leafs land should be interesting the rest of the way you just hope they don't pass the Sens for a better pick at this point.

Think for a minute before answering this. Imagine you were the Leafs GM and you had to identify the core before starting out on a rebuild. Who would you think were the untouchables in that room? Ignore prospects, just the guys on the roster.

OK, maybe a minute isn't enough.

Pretty candid interview with Carlyle:
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/01/07/randy-carlyle-opens-up-about-being-fired-by-leafs

He was over in Sundbury after driving his wife there to be with her brother who was dying of ALS (he passed away the day after Carlyle was fired) and Nonis texted him requesting to meet at 8 the next morning:

He knew where I was because I told him I needed to drive my mother-in-law and my wife to Sudbury...So there was a red flag automatically... So I just said, ‘Call me. And we had a conversation. And I said, ‘I’m not going to drive five hours back and through a snow storm to get fired. You might as well do it now.’