Carlyle always piques curiosity in Toronto
A visit by Randy Carlyle and the Anaheim Ducks always piques curiosity here as he coached the Leafs not so long ago, while Mike Babcock started in the NHL with Anaheim in 2002.
Carlyle was asked Monday morning if he’d followed the progress of Toronto rookie defenceman Travis Dermott, who plays the same position Carlyle did as a Leaf and wears his old No. 23 from the late 1970s.
“I had longer hair, that’s the only thing,” said Carlyle of his previous mop. “I don’t know too much about the kid, obviously, I just saw the last couple of games. He’s a puck- moving defenceman who is cutting his teeth. It’s good to see he got a goal during the ( Leafs’) Dads’ trip. Those are nice stories. We just hope he doesn’t have any more of those good stories tonight.”
Babcock gets praise worthy
Babcock was quizzed on his relationship with Ducks’ centre Ryan Getzlaf, who was drafted during Babcock’s two years in SoCal, but whom he didn’t coach until various Team Canada opportunities re- united them.
“That’s a good man,” said Babcock, breaking into a huge smile. “He can really bring it when it matters, with an elite hockey sense.
“He’s got a good way about him, good with the guys, he’s loose and knows what to say at the right time. To me, they’ve got a good looking hockey club, but we don’t see ’ em enough.”
Not afraid to pull the trigger
The Leafs are trumpeting some analytics that they’ve taken 1,706 shots on goal an average distance of 33.8 feet from the net, the closest average shot distance of any team. They’ve also credited themselves tipping the most shots on goal ( 149), tied for most tipped- in goals ( 24) and are also top three in backhand shots and resulting goals. If so, Carlyle wanted his team to emulate that as the Ducks suffer from a bit of a scoring drought.
“If you did a quick tabulation of where goals are scored from, they’re usually from the 15- foot range,” Carlyle said. “There’s not a lot of down- the- wing, poundthepuck in anymore, it’s the second opportunity, rebounds and dirty areas. We have to do a better job of getting in there and staying in there. We just don’t seem to want to make a living there.”
Loose Leafs
Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk played a couple of years in Philadelphia, so he was excited for his old city that the Eagles won the Super Bowl. “That’s probably Philly’s team, out of the popularity of the four sports there,” van Riemsdyk noted. “But I grew up a New York Jets fan ( in Northern New Jersey). I’ll keep that quiet.” ... Still chugging along for the Ducks is defenceman Francois Beauchemin, coming up on seven years since he played here, between a total of three stints in Anaheim. “It’s pretty much adapting to every situation,” the 37- year- old said of why he’s been able to play so long. “Conditioning off ice is important, because the game has changed so much the past 15 years. You used to be able to get away with all those stick infractions, cross check guys in front of the net.” ... Beauchemin credited Carlyle for retaining faith in him. “There’s always a coach in your career who makes a difference with you, tries to make you play the best and Randy has been doing that for me. I owe him a lot.” ... Going into Monday, the Leafs had a record of 21- 3- 1 when Nazem Kadri gets a point.