Why Matthews and Babcock must play nice
Like Burns with Gilmour and Quinn with Sundin, head coach has to earn franchise player’s trust
DIMANNO continued on S8
A coach who will not bend and a star player who did not shine.
Each has something to account for in the not-again collapse of the Maple Leafs, Game 7 at Boston, with a long summer stretching ahead to ponder what went wrong.
Mike Babcock is set in his ways. And why not? They’ve brought him acclaim and riches.
Auston Matthews is scarcely ankle deep into a career that shows every indication of eventually eclipsing all Leafs who came before. He’s that good, that gifted. There’s no ceiling.
But a bench boss and his most glittery asset have to be simpatico. There needs to be trust and mutual commitment, as Pat Burns leaned so heavily on Doug Gilmour — the player “from another planet’’ — in days of yore. As Pat Quinn wrung the living daylights out of Mats Sundin in crunch games and both thrived from it.
Yet Matthews, who’d been on a tear down the regular-season stretch upon returning from a third injury absence — seven goals and seven assists in nine games — seemed in crucial phases of Toronto’s first-round playoff elimination a marginalized factor, not entrusted to begin a period, a power play, a shift after a catch-your-breath TV timeout, all of which contributed to a choppy stop-start performance, particularly in Game 7. He had a mere six shifts in the second period, with a total of 4:05 in ice time. For one interlude of more than five minutes, Matthews didn’t come over the boards at all. Little wonder he failed to get a shot on net in that frame.
Granted, the Leafs were killing off a penalty during a patch of that spell, but it’s hard to reckon what Babcock was thinking because he certainly didn’t maximize his No. 1 centre’s talents. And still Matthews led the Leafs with four shots and twice as many chances.
Matthews did not look like a happy young man on the bench, though that’s a subjective interpretation of body language. We can’t lip-read words exchanged between them. Babcock’s shift of fluid faith to the Mitch Marner line was conspicuous, however. Understandably so as Marner displayed a kinetic ferocity throughout the series. Babcock digs will. If there is any breach of faith between Babcock and Matthews, it must be mended. If Babcock “lost” Matthews, he damn well better find him again.
“No,” insisted Matthews, when the question was put to him bluntly on clean-out day at the Air Canada Centre. “Our relationship’s fine. Obviously you guys can speculate all you want. But to me, I think it’s pointless.”
The likely future Leaf captain was perplexed by the tenor of inquisition. “I don’t know why I’m getting all these questions.”
Well, that’s a fib. Because Matthews did know about media hypothesizing of a purported fraying of the bond between coach and stud. Babcock had explored the matter with him first thing Friday morning.
First Babcock knew of the budding controversy was in a text message he received late Thursday night.
“Our relationship’s fine. Obviously you guys can speculate all you want.” AUSTON MATTHEWS ON TALK OF A RIFT WITH COACH MIKE BABCOCK “If you go hide in the corner, what’s the point of that? You have to face what you did.” JAKE GARDINER STILL TAKING BLAME FOR GAME 7
“I’ll meet him and ask him,” Babcock texted back to whomever had brought the matter to his attention.
“That’s how I started today,” the coach said Friday in his concluding press conference. “I said: What’s going on?”
Babcock didn’t exactly provide Matthews’ response to the query, instead veering immediately to what had transpired on the bench and the player’s alleged displeasure. “Auston was pissed off in the third period, in the last 10 minutes of the last game. Probably 23 other guys on the team were the same.”
Obviously there was plenty to seethe about as Toronto lurched into an abyss that saw a 4-3 lead turn into a 7-4 defeat.
“I think Auston and I have a good relationship,” Babcock continued, after a brief segue into media conjecture. “I asked him that exactly today. I’ve told Auston a lot …”
Not sure precisely what Babcock has told Matthews “a lot” because the coach sidestepped into a lauding of the player’s parents. “When parents give you their children, they expect you to treat them like you treat your kid. I try to push Auston to be better every day. I make it very clear to him: If I’m pushing too hard, get into my office and tell me.
“Now, the other thing about the bench. Sometimes people snap on people. So what? It’s the game. But I asked him flat out: Do we have any (issues)? He was sitting right there. We don’t seem to.”
What’s a kid not yet turned 21 supposed to say in that situation? Gee coach, how come you don’t love me anymore? How come I’m not on the top power play and haven’t been all season? How come you never play me with Mitch?”
Those latter two questions have been asked by Leaf observers all year.
There’s no doubt Babcock has a high opinion of Matthews, which is manifestly merited. This coach-player tandem will be the defining essence of Leaf teams for years to come. And Matthews, with just a goal and an assist in the Boston series, did not cover himself with glory. Toronto’s best player was not Toronto’s best player.
Both men will have to learn from that.
“I think Auston’s a young man, wants to be the best player in the world. He wants to get better. He’s like everybody else on our team, dis- appointed today. The hardest part in life is when you’re disappointed, you thought maybe you could have done more yourself. I know that for me as a coach, when I feel like I didn’t get what I should have done, it makes you sick.
“So, he’s a good young man. We’re lucky to have him. I’m lucky to get to coach him.”
Yes, you are.