Written by Liam McGuire at Bloguin
When Mike Babcock made the decision to leave Detroit and come to Toronto, it dramatically changed the trajectory of both franchises.
The Maple Leafs would go from having a pair bumbling coaches whose decisions were constantly second-guessed, providing ample fodder to the Toronto media, to one of the best coaches in the game who was respected league wide. The Red Wings went from a man who led them to 10 straight playoff appearances to Jeff Blashill, who was never a head coach at the NHL level.
So far, the two clubs are experiencing completely different results under their new head coach.
The Leafs have come out of the gate with a 6-9-4 record in 19 games. While on the surface the record doesn’t seem like an improvement, they’ve played much more structured hockey under Babcock.
From this year to last, the Leafs have improved their possession game, despite a less talented roster with a 49.4 Corsi for percent, which is up from the 46.4 percent rate they posted in 2014-15. The Leafs have generated more high-danger scoring chances (52.9 percent vs 44.5 percent), allowed fewer shots (30.3 vs 32.5) and goals against (2.0 vs 2.7) per 60 minutes at even strength. The club’s goal total is down, but the team has been snake bitten with a low 6.5 shooting percentage.
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