The hammer has dropped, Mike Babcock has been fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs and as expected, Sheldon Keefe has been named his replacement.

Hey Mike Babcock….you are a total failure in Toronto….let that sink in you arrogant prick.

— Mike Commodore (@commie22) November 20, 2019

The Maple Leafs have been struggling lately, losing their 6th in a row in Vegas last night and the management team pondered the move all night, and sure enough, after practice, Babcock was given the news.

We had a feeling this was coming when I released this article a few days ago:

https://crier.co/sports/nhl/a-couple-of-trades-or-fire-mike-babcock-what-will-kyle-dubas-do/

Then, Dean was sent a text two days ago, and we released this, and humble brag here but – again we were ahead of the curve:

https://crier.co/sports/source-we-may-see-a-leafs-coaching-change-sooner-than-later-and-mikes-lost-the-room/

The management team had enough, and the news will send Leafs Nation into a frenzy. For me, Babcock was so set in his ways, he lived by his fourth line, and now, his employment dies by it.

He played the Nick Shore line after the team scored last night to tie the game, and he played Tyson Barrie with them, and sure enough, Barrie turned it over and whammy…….Vegas took the lead and the rest is history.

Here are some things to consider:

• Dubas was pissed with Babcock’s comments about Jason Spezza in training camp
• Dubas was frustrated with Babcock’s coaching tactics, playing the fourth line way too much and in crucial times
• Matthews wasn’t happy with Babcock because of his lack of ice time, and even though there were meetings the last two summers, the relationship was salty
• Dubas wasn’t happy with the goaltending management, even though, he’s admitted many times, this is one area Dubas made a mistake
• The team wasn’t playing good enough and you can’t fire 20 players, it is ‘the easy way out’ but this is a move that’s been discussed since the team was eliminated last playoffs
• Kyle Dubas finally gets his guy into the role he’s been groomed for the past few years

Sheldon Keefe

Maple Leafs that Sheldon Keefe has coached:
William Nylander
Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman
Andreas Johnsson
Frederik Gauthier
Trevor Moore
Dmytro Timashov
Nic Petan
Pierre Engvall
Justin Holl
Travis Dermott
Martin Marincin
Kasimir Kaskisuo
(And he played against Jason Spezza) #Leafs

— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) November 20, 2019

https://twitter.com/ToddCrocker/status/1197269971178524672?s=20

Mike Babcock, way to bet on yourself, I hope you take Nick Shore and Cody Ceci with you.