Nov 18, 2019
From Ray and Dregs: 'It started in training camp'
Ray and Darren discuss the current state of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the uncertainty surrounding Mike Babcock's future as head coach. Four-time Stanley Cup champion Craig MacTavish and Ray's former teammate Shjon Podein also join Episode 8 in respective interviews.
TSN.ca Staff
Welcome to The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast - where TSN's Ray Ferraro and Darren Dreger sit down with many accomplished names from the game discussing a wide range of topics in hockey.
Subscribe and listen to the full podcast here: rayanddregs.com / tsn.ca/rayanddregs
From this week's edition:
Ray chimes in on Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, his methods and current state of the team:
“There generally is a momentum to this sort of stuff...It started in training camp. It’s fine—they’ve got back-to-back 100-point years. They haven’t won a playoff series, they can’t get by Boston. This is a really important year. What I find most unnerving is that they made a decision, at the management level, to go with a certain kind of team. Everybody knows it’s a smaller, skilled team. A puck possession team—they have to skate. Well, I think there’s a thought that Mike Babcock doesn’t quite see the game the same way…”
Winnipeg Jets are overcoming adversity despite losing key components of its blue line:
Darren: "Is it smoke and mirrors? I mean, obviously they have good players—Connor Hellebuyck has been terrific pretty much all season long in goal. They've enjoyed a great run of late."
Ray: "Winnipeg's changed their style a little bit. Without their defencemen, they're not as willing to accept the rush. They're trying to stay up in the neutral zone a little bit to compact the play outside the blue line..."
Throat Punches from Ray and Darren:
"The NHL and their ongoing saga of how to determine what is a goal and what isn't a goal..."
"To me, it's a throat punch for the league. It's a blind spot and it adds nothing but uncertainty around the front of the net."
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