from Frank Seravalli of TSN,
Before pretending to remember the words to Auld Lang Syneagain when the ball drops on 2016, let’s take a minute to recall the year in hockey.
To help you do that, we’ve assembled a list of 10 Hockey Hits and Misses from 2015:
1. HIT: Brendan Shanahan. The jury is still out on Shanahan’s decision to hire Lou Lamoriello, but coaxing Mike Babcock from Detroit to Toronto was the biggest non-lottery boon of the calendar year for any NHL team. Babcock, 52, has already made the Maple Leafs more competitive than just about anyone imagined this season. The no-excuses, lunch-pail mentality he’s instilling will go a long way toward restoring legitimacy in the Maple Leaf crest.
MISS: John Davidson. Three months into an abysmal season, the Columbus team president and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen have yet to find the root of the toxic mix in the Blue Jackets’ dressing room. Or, if they have, they haven’t done anything yet to eradicate it. Columbus was built to be a playoff team. The Blue Jackets sit in 30th place as the calendar slides to 2016 - and the Columbus Dispatch hinted this week at the team’s “attitude of contentment.” No one is advocating a move solely for the sake of one - no opposing GM will throw a life raft to Columbus now – but it’s clear this mess is a lot bigger than axed coach Todd Richards. A major shakeup is desperately needed to alter the course of one of pro sports’ most anonymous franchises.
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