Thursday FTB: Welcome to the new age - Pension Plan Puppets

Good morning and welcome to a brave new world where Mike Babcock is no longer the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Four years ago Mike Babcock signed an eight year contract and warned us that there was pain coming. There was the tank that got us Auston Matthews. The first round exit to the Washington Capitals in a year where it felt like a victory just to be there. A first round exit to the Boston Bruins that felt a bit too familiar.

And then, another.

There was a lot of people that thought that last season should have been Babcock’s final one as the Leafs head coach. And when it became clear that it wasn’t going to be, well, this year became Babcock’s last chance – get us past Boston, or leave. The more pessimistic among us figured that meant another first round exit to Boston, a grim vision looming ahead of us before they’d even played so much as a single preseason game. The more optimistic saw a season not dimmed by the Nylander holdout, saw the predictive models that listed the Leafs among the favourites to win it all, and believed.

I don’t think anyone saw this coming – either the increasingly plausible scenario that the Leafs won’t have to worry about beating Boston because they won’t even make it to the playoffs – or the mid-November firing of the highest paid coach in the NHL.

Brigstew wrote more about Babcock’s firing, and how we got to this point, here:

Yesterday, Fulemin acted as Pension Plan Puppets’ personal Cassandra:

And Hayley Wickenheiser was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame:

Some other reactions to the Babcock firing, on The Athletic:

Maple Leafs Hotstove:

And Sportsnet:

At this point we have more questions than answers, and until the Leafs knock off a couple more games, it’ll be hard to know what those answers might be. So, with all this uncertainty in the air, a poll we can all have a definitive answer for:

Poll

What will you be doing with your babsocks?

• 22%

  Burn them, à la a John Tavares Islanders jersey

  (13 votes)
• 5%

  Put them on eBay for that sweet, sweet discontinued product cash

  (3 votes)
• 43%

  Wear them today to mark a day of mourning

  (25 votes)
• 29%

  Panic order six pairs before they actually discontinue them

  (17 votes)

58 votes total Vote Now

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November 21, 2019 at 06:00PM