One of the biggest criticisms of the Toronto Maple Leafs during their tailspin last season was a lack of effort. Even as players insisted they were trying, they didn't have the look of a team hell-bent on winning.
As the rebuild continues, the Maple Leafs might not be much better, even under Mike Babcock. But the star coach will make sure that at least they put up a fight.
"Two things that irritate me the most are lack of preparation and lack of compete," he said. "That's not happening. We're going to get that fixed."
The Leafs should be motivated by playing for a new coach and needing to impress a new general manager, Lou Lamoriello. Phil Kessel's already gone, and almost no one on the roster is untouchable.
Management brought in several players on one-year, ``prove-it'' contracts. Shawn Matthias signed for US$2.3 million, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau $1.5 million, Matt Hunwick $1.2 million, Mark Arcobello $1.1 million and Brad Boyes $700,000.
They also have players with a year left on their deals, like centre Nazem Kadri, defenceman Martin Marincin (acquired from Edmonton) and winger Michael Grabner (acquired from the Islanders).
Toronto probably won't contend for a playoff spot, but it won't be because players aren't trying.
``We're not going to lose because of lack of effort this year,'' Kadri said. ``It's something that's going to change. We're going to be a skating team, a team that is going to move quick and with pace.''
Much has been discussed about Babcock bringing a more puck-possession style to the Leafs. His Canadian Olympic team had the puck so much that it dominated the tournament.
Babcock's Detroit Red Wings also thrived on puck possession. But it's not like flipping a switch.
``The better players you have, the more that you have the puck. That's reality right there,'' Babcock said. ``We plan on having the puck. We're going to work very, very hard to play defence fast and (then) we're on offence. I think that's the whole key to having success.''
Babcock's first Leafs training camp has included a lot of hands-on teaching. Totally new systems means even the veterans have a lot to learn.
From the first few days, players understood why Babcock brought a reputation for attention to detail. If all goes according to plan, that'll carry over to game action when Toronto hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night to open the regular season.
``He is very structured,'' captain Dion Phaneuf said of Babcock. ``His teams play with a structure that no matter who's in the lineup, injuries, guys moving on, they play a consistent way. So as players, I think that helps you. When you have that structure on your team, our jobs is to put the work in and we'll see where that takes us from here.''
A lack of talent will probably take the Leafs to another top-10 draft pick because it'll be almost impossible to make up for Kessel's lost production. Babcock said he and Red Wings GM Ken Holland used to sit together before each season and figured out how many goals the team would have to score to make the playoffs.
``You have to score about 230 to get in,'' Babcock said. ``When we did the math, it didn't add up. So we had to find some other way to get better.''
It'll be on Joffrey Lupul, Kadri, Grabner, Parenteau, Matthias and others to try to replace Kessel's goals.
``I don't know if we have a 35-goal scorer on the team,'' Lupul said. ``I need to score more. Kadri needs to score more. We need more goals from our bottom six. It's going to have to come from a lot of different players.''
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