Lights go out on Leafs, Babcock continues practice (Video)
The lights have gone out on the Toronto Maple Leafs; offensively and in reality.
While practicing Wednesday at the Master Card Centre for Hockey Excellence, the arena’s main lighting went out.
Naturally everyone left the ice, right?
NOPE! This is a Mike Babcock coached team that is coming off of a 7-0 thumping by the Los Angeles Kings.
Babs hinted at what was coming following the loss and made good on it as practice kicked off.
Mike Babcock said last night that the Leafs would have to earn their “penance” today after 7-0 loss. Starting practice with a bag skate.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) November 9, 2016
Then during a battle drill the lights suddenly shut off.
The players thought they had lucked out and would be leaving the ice.
Gardiner on power outage in midst of intense practice: “I was thinking, thank goodness we’re getting off the ice. Babs had different ideas”
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) November 9, 2016
The coach sure as heck wasn’t going to let the lack of visibility change his plans. The arena’s emergency lights came on and the team continued.
Skating in the dark #Leafs pic.twitter.com/Jr5cbOmqrV
— David Alter (@dalter) November 9, 2016
(If Happy Gilmore taught us anything, an arena with lighting like that requires the soundtrack of ‘Endless Love.’)
Speaking with the media afterwards, Babcock was a salty as expected.
Babcock: “We did stop practice. We stopped the drill we were doing & did a little skating. Why? You can’t skate in the dark or what?”
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 9, 2016
Babcock: “We need to work & compete. If we don’t want to do it at night then we might as well do it in the day.”
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 9, 2016
Babcock: “We’re not playing like that. It’s unacceptable. It’s un-Leaf-like as far as I’m concerned & we’re not playing like that.”
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 9, 2016
Jonas Siegel of The Canadian Press continued:
By the time the practice ended the ice was entirely chewed up. Mounds of snow were everywhere and remained there. The power was expected to remain out for an extended period in the Etobicoke neighbourhood where the team’s practice facility is located.
Babcock got his message across though, loud and clear. Even in the dark.
“You can’t play like that. You can’t compete like that. You can’t be that light,” he said. “You can’t be the way we were.”
The Leafs hit the ice again on Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers and look for redemption for their season-worst loss. If all goes well, and knowing how superstitious coaches and players are, Babcock just might continue to have practices in the dark, and he’ll be hailed as a genius.
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!