Kukla's Korner Hockey
All Is Well In Toronto, At Least For A Night
by Paul on 11/22/19 at 10:14 AM ET
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from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,
It was almost as if Sheldon Keefe flipped a light switch.
Not even 30 hours after replacing Mike Babcock — and after no practices, one morning skate, one morning meeting and only modest instruction — Keefe stepped behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench and watched the team deliver its most complete performance of this roller-coast season.
If this was a preview of what’s to come, we may soon be asking Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas what took so long.
It’s only one game, of course, and there’s some obvious danger in reading too much into Thursday’s 3-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. But this was a feeling as much as a result. The Leafs were told by Keefe to be bold with the puck and they responded by putting the Coyotes in chase mode for most of the night.
"I just think a little bit more freedom," said Auston Matthews, when asked why they looked so much better. "We weren’t really just giving up the puck. I thought if something wasn’t there, we’d just kind of come back and hang on to it and we’d all come up and support each other and we didn’t have guys all over the place.
Watch the game highlights below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
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I think article subtlety defines Babcock’s coaching and what works in this day and age NHL. I get it is only one game for the new coach but the players comments says it all.
Posted by damndog revenge From the bowels of Detroit on 11/22/19 at 07:26 PM ET