“Yeah… bigger… yeah”, Babcock said.
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Toronto finished 27th in the overall league standings last season.
“And we’re going to fix that”. After Toronto’s Richard Panik caught Tyler Bertuzzi with an open-ice hit in the Red Wings zone, Athanasiou delivered a big hit on Peter Holland behind the Leafs’ net. Mantha’s gears are turning and things are clicking into place, I think this year is going to be his coming out party in Grand Rapids and a lot of critics are going to have to eat their salty words. Its my third year now. That being said, Mike Babcock also loves challenges and I think this new venture is exciting for him and that the excitement of a new adventure is what he’ll be more focused on. “My family grew up here”. It’s part of your life. “I coach the Leafs”. I do find myself looking foward to the Toronto media’s reaction to the game, just to see how extreme (in either direction) they swing. The 22-year-old played 10 games for the Penguins last season and has looked comfortable in a defensive role, but has waiver exemption which could allow him to play with the Toronto Marlies and be recalled when needed.
From the first few days, players understood why Babcock brought a reputation for attention to detail.
He put out a strong Leafs lineup for the second-last exhibition game, a 4-2 loss.
The goaltending situation is cloudy, as Bernier got the majority of the work during the preseason, but was outperformed slightly by backup James Reimer. Dion Phaneuf had a rough night, especially taking needless penalties.
Notes: The announced attendance at Air Canada Centre was 17,879.
“I don’t know if we have a 35-goal scorer on the team”, Lupul said. “My best opportunity is to watch them play”.
Babcock coached the Red Wings for 10 seasons before joining the Maple Leafs in May, but Toronto were beaten in National Hockey League pre-season action despite going ahead early. He’s been a top-four defenseman lots of moments in his career. “Even though this is pre-season, I’m sure he’s happy to be back but also pretty nervous”, said Rielly.
Leo Komarov had a short-handed chance when he rushed up the right-side boards and cut towards the goal, but fired the shot just wide of the top left corner over the blocker of Mrazek. Im very confident well dress six defensemen who are absolutely good enough to win and now we just got to execute on a nightly basis.. “We want to play well for him”.
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With that said, one thing we have in this organization is depth, Blashill continued. But while a solid group of young players points to a promising future, Detroit’s success this season will depend on the health of its veterans, particularly Pavel Datsyuk, 37, and Henrik Zetterberg, who will turn 35 on October 9.
