MONTREAL It’s not difficult to get the impression that Mike Babcock isn’t a big fan of exhibition hockey
http://www.mapleleafsjerseystore.com/kasperi-kapanen-jersey-c-17.html, NHL style.
Too many games and too many of them with lineups barely resembling what awaits in the regular season.
The Maple Leafs coach certainly wasn’t a fan of the effort he saw
from his young team Thursday night at the Bell Centre as they were
schooled in a 6 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
As Babcock might have feared, they were rather sharp lessons learned
as the Habs iced a lineup bolstered by Canadian World Cup participants,
goaltender Carey Price and defenceman Shea Weber.
“It was ugly to watch,” Babcock said. “All that skill doesn’t mean anything if you don’t compete hard.”
In their final pre season contest, the veteran heavy, willing to be
physical Habs were far more hungry for loose pucks, more responsible in
their own end and there was no comparison in goaltending, as Freddie
Andersen struggled in the Leafs net.
And if the young Leafs were anticipating a taste of the rivalry that awaits, they got a mouthful.
“We showed how young we are tonight,” said 19 year old rookie Auston Matthews
http://www.mapleleafsjerseystore.com/connor-brown-jersey-c-16.html, who scored Toronto’s lone goal, his first in a Leafs uniform. “It’s pretty embarrassing.”
Pesky, productive forward Andrew Shaw like Weber a summertime
acquisition for Montreal scored a pair of goals and showed he’s ready to
be a pain in the butt to Atlantic Division foes.
The Habs weren’t getting much resistance from the Leafs, though
Babock praised forwards Matt Martin and Zach Hyman for at least
competing.
“They won all the battles, all the races,” Babcock said of the Habs. “They were a more mature, hungrier hockey club.”
MATTHEWS MOMENT
Matthews first period goal
Antoine Bibeau Jersey, scored on a Leafs power play, was truly the lone highlight for the Leafs. And it was a thing of beauty.
The first overall pick leaned hard into a wrist shot from the face
off dot to the right of Price and beat him high. To his credit, Matthews
wasn’t overly thrilled given the carnage of the rest of the night.
“Obviously Price is one of the best goaltenders in the world, but it
pretty much means nothing when you lose 6 1,” Matthews said.
GAME ON
While he wasn’t helped by play in front of him, it wasn’t a good
night for Andersen. Worst of the six goals on 32 shots was the terrible
five hole blunder on a rolling wrister from Weber. “Definitely some
things I need to work on,” Andersen said of his first complete game of
the pre season. “Some of the parts were good. Some of the parts were not
so good.” … You can see why Babcock thinks highly of Hyman. The feisty
forward plastered big Weber into the end boards with a second period hit
that the big blueliner clearly didn’t like … Price was steady in the
Montreal net, though he faced minimal sustained pressure. The lone
highlight style save was thievery of Nazem Kadri’s chance at an open net
late in the second … By the second period, Babcock split up Matthews
and Mitch Marner, putting the latter with Nazem Kadri and the former
with William Nylander … Though he wasn’t alone, it wasn’t Marner’s best
of his five pre season appearances. The teachable moment for the 2015
first rounder was getting schooled by Alex Galchenyuk on Montreal’s
fifth goal.
SHEA IT AIN’T SO
Being division rivals, the Leafs had seen plenty of former Habs defenceman P.K. Subban and his high profile, high risk play.
So what to make of his replacement, Weber? Kadri figures he has a pretty good idea.
“Shea is a lot to handle in front of their net and in terms of him
boxing our players out, it’s going to be a little more difficult to get
to Price ,” Kadri said of the differences between the two.
Babcock
http://www.mapleleafsjerseystore.com/tobias-lindberg-jersey-c-18.html,
meanwhile, has the utmost respect for Weber borne out of coaching him
to Olympic and World Cup titles. In his first game in a Habs uniform,
Weber logged 25 minutes and 24 shots and had a game high seven of
Montreal’s 32 shots on Andersen.
“He’s as nice a guy as they come, but if you have to stand in the
lane and he is going to shoot the puck, it hurts,” Babcock said. “And
then that cross check he likes to give you in the ribs, that hurts too. I
think Weber is really going to help their franchise.”
WARNING BELLS
With the regular season opener less than a week way, the weekend will be interesting to watch.
Friday in Hamilton, Babcock will ice a lineup light on NHL talent
with Saturday’s game in Detroit more resembling of opening night. With
that, the coach said there are no guarantees.
“Your lot in life last year might not be the same this year,” the
Leafs coach warned on Thursday. “You might look like you’re going to be a
Leaf last year and someone came in here and that is the problem with
sport, the truth today is not the truth tomorrow. If someone is better,
they take your job. It’s just that simple.”
QUICK HITS
Babcock wasn’t saying much Thursday morning about Tyler Bozak and
Josh Leivo other than both are injured. On Bozak “I don’t know what he
is, but he is injured. How’s that? And on Leivo “When you are injured I
always say whose fault is it? Is it my fault or their fault? Maybe it’s
no one’s fault, but I know you can’t make an impression when you’re
injured.” … Without Bozak, Babcock can’t get a handle on what forward
combinations he likes to think in pairs he will have heading into the
season … Rough night for Morgan Rielly and again he wasn’t alone . The
Leafs blueliner was a team worst minus 4.
The Wall