Babcock lays out plans to run a tight ship in Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs had quite a bit of off-ice drama last season, and new coach Mike Babcock apparently will not tolerate any of that when he is the man behind the bench in Toronto.
"The number-one characteristic of a Toronto Maple Leaf is a good human being. Period,” Babcock told the media. “So if you don’t fit that, you’re not going to be here. Anything that’s been going on is going to get cleaned up."
Babcock also seemed intent on repairing the team's relationship with the media, a pairing which has always been tense but escalated to new heights this past season when the media questioned the character of team leaders like Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. Joffrey Lupul also refused to speak to the media after TSN mistakenly broadcasted a lewd tweet about Lupul and a teammate's wife during the trade deadline.
"We’re going to be a fit, fit team," Babcock said to reporters. "We’re going to be a team that comes to the media everyday, after a win, after a loss, after practice, and owns their own stuff. Period."
Pro Hockey Talk noted that the comments on the media were unprompted, as Babcock's message came following a question about expectations for players, not expectations as to how players would handle the media.
(h/t Pro Hockey Talk)
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
