Monumental Task Ahead in Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs were widely expected to clean house after a disastrous 2014-15 season, and they did that.  Now, they have a guy that will be leading from the bench, as they successfully lured Mike Babcock away from Detroit.  While it would be a folly for anyone to expect the Maple Leafs to suddenly be playoff contenders next season, at the very least, they have a guy that can lead them there who knows the pressures of playing under the spotlight.

His NHL resume consists of two years in Anaheim, where he led the team to a Stanley Cup Final in 2003 and the last 10 years in Detroit, where he led them to back-to-back finals in 2008 and 2009, winning it all in 2008.  He has also coached on the international stage, leading Canada to back-to-back gold medals in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, as well as gold in 2004 in the World Championships and 1997 in the World Junior Championships.  He has also coached in the WHL with Moose Jaw from 1991-13 and Spokane from 1994-2000.

As for the challenges that await him in Toronto, the most obvious ones would be getting Phil Kessel motivated for a full season and getting something out of a rather porous defense, as well as figuring out the goaltending mess.  The task will be monumental, and this is even before figuring in the Toronto factor, where everything is magnified.  If anyone can succeed, though, it's Babcock, who isn't likely to fold under the intense glare (Paul Maurice), do less with more (Ron Wilson), have his team turn on him (Randy Carlyle), and just do a terrible job (Peter Horachek).  Not since Pat Quinn was behind the bench do Leafs fans feel good about who's leading the team behind the bench.