Bruins commentator on overhauled Maple Leafs: 'They're going to shock people'
The Boston Bruins got a good look at the new-and-improved Toronto Maple Leafs after playing two games against each other in three days, and Bruins commentator Jack Edwards told SportsNet he is impressed by what he saw out of Toronto.
Edwards compared the changes made to the Leafs' system to changes Claude Julien made to the Boston Bruins when Julien first arrived in town.
"Julien only coached inside his own blue line, and the next season he only coached inside his own blue-line and the neutral zone," Edwards told SportsNet. "It wasn’t until the third year that Julien was with the Bruins that he finally said, ‘OK, now we’re going to play 200 feet because you’ve shown me that I can trust you in the back two-thirds of the ice.'
"That’s exactly what Babcock is doing in Toronto. And in the third year, I’m telling you, they’re going to shock people who haven’t been watching."
Julien took over as head coach of the Bruins for the 2007-08 season, and while the Bruins started off in a better place than the Maple Leafs, it took just four years for Julien to win a Stanley Cup with his new team.
Although it is still early in Babcock's tenure as Toronto's head coach, the team is already showing signs of improvement, as Toronto's defense is currently allowing just 2.64 goals-against per game, the lowest total of any Leafs team since 2002-03.
Edwards' assessment is good news for any Leafs fan who is slightly impatient as far as the rebuild goes, but the improvement on defense for Toronto might not be seen as good news for the Boston Bruins.
(h/t SportsNet)
