Coaches take friendly rivalry to another level
Bench bosses Babcock, Trotz mix in a little gamesmanship with playoff X’s and O’s
Leafs coach Mike Babcock and his Capitals rival, Barry Trotz, both staged press conferences Sunday and acknowledged their mutual respect and friendship — which dates back decades to the time when they played against each other as teens in Saskatchewan.
There is, however, a growing competition between the two now that the Leafs have tied their playoff series with Washington after Saturday’s double-overtime win in Game 2 in Washington.
While the coaches respect each other, there’s a little edge developing in a series that has been closer than expected.
In other words it’s “game on,” as Trotz said Sunday. The bench bosses are mixing in a little gamesmanship because, like players, they just want to win.
“I think everybody goes into a se- ries hoping they win every game. But the reality of it is, it’s going to be a long series no matter who you play, and if you play really well and you get a couple breaks and you execute, and you’re playing well as a team, you may take out a team a little earlier,” said Trotz, who added he’s expecting a “long” series.
“You look around, they’re always anywhere from a six- to seven-game series … I think we came into the series from a feeling-out process. They won a game in our building, so the series is on. It’s on.
“They played well. We can improve in our game, there’s no question. They’re doing certain things that are helping them have success against us.”
Babcock may have an early edge in the off-ice battle with his pre-series quip about “puckering” and how the pressure of playing as the heavy favourite could work against the Caps.
“I have a lot of respect for (Trotz),” said Babcock. “He treats people and players right. He’s a great asset for the NHL. Having said that, I’ll do what I have to do to win, and he’ll do what he has to do to win. We’ll have our relationship as we already to, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win.”
In his comments about the pressure of expectations, Babcock was drawing more on his experiences behind the bench with the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim, Ducks, as well as internationally with Team Canada.
“Life is way easier when you don’t feel any tightness,” Babcock said. “Sometimes when you get going good, you move the puck around like the other team is standing still . . .
“I’ve lived both situations. I’ve been the underdog, and I’ve had the best team in hockey. They’re different . . . people can tell you they’re not, but I’ve lived it. They’re different.”
Things are quite different now for the Leafs, having pulled even with the top seeds heading into Monday night’s Game 3 at the Air Canada Centre.
They’ll hit the ice with a rejigged defence after Roman Polak’s seasonending injury in Washington. Martin Marincin and/or Alexey Marchenko will suit up, with Nikita Zaitsev close to returning from a suspected concussion but no sure thing for Monday’s contest.
Leafs goalie Freddie Andersen, meanwhile, has been the best player in the series. Trotz knows this as well as anyone, and is looking for ways to beat him.
“I think it’s a mindset. Any time the puck’s in a position that you have the ability to score, don’t cheat yourself and look for a better play,” Trotz said. “You get a chance . . . you’ve got to bury them. We had some good opportunities where we had some good plays off the rush, made some good plays in the offensive zone, we pounded some pucks in the blue paint, but we can do more of it.
“This series is about wearing people down, and I think we’re fine that way. We need to sort of pound the rock, if you will, and see if we can wear people down. Their D got extended pretty hard (Saturday) night in a lot of areas. Those 40-plus minutes, those are hard to recover from.”