SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Twenty-three games into the season, Mike Babcock has been fired by the Maple Leafs.Mired in a six-game winless streak, the team announced Wednesday that Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe would take over the team beginning with Thursday’s road game against the Arizona Coyotes.“It wasn’t an easy conversation to have and it wasn’t pleasant, days like today are not,” team president Brendan Shanahan said. “But it was what we felt was important for the club. Once you realize there’s something you should do, and have to do, then it’s best to act on it.“Our game is not really meeting our expectations. We’re mistake-prone on defence, the attention to details aren’t there, and even the explosive offence that our team was known for has been missing for a while now, so there’s a lot of work for Sheldon to do and there’s a lot of work for the players to do.”Babcock, the richest coach in NHL history thanks to the eight-year contract worth $50 million the Maple Leafs handed him in 2015, led the Maple Leafs to the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. But playoff success has eluded him; he’s lost eight of his past nine playoff series. It was no secret that Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas and Babcock didn’t see the game the same way. And Babcock had little success getting the team on track this season; the Leafs have lost six straight games and sit outside a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 9-10-4 record.In parts of five seasons under the 56-year-old Babcock, the Maple Leafs posted a record of 173-133-45 in 351 regular season games and an 8-12 record in three post-season appearances. Babcock thanked co-owner Larry Tanenbaum for bringing him to Toronto and said he enjoyed his time as Leafs coach in a statement issued through TSN.“Had an absolute riot and met another friend for life in (ex-GM) Lou Lamoriello,” Babcock said. “ ...
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