Back to Excited Episode 82: A New Start (ft. Katya)

Welcome back to another episode of Back to Excited. Today we discuss:

[1:20] How the Leafs have looked in their first two games under Keefe, including the tactical adjustments they’ve made, and how they’re generating higher quality shots.
[24:06] The Leafs penalty kill, which has still been a little worrisome.
[28:05] Morgan Rielly’s PK troubles and his troubles in general this season.
[36:23] Arvind rants about how Barrie’s usage under Babcock was fine.
[39:30] The psychology of coaching changes, and whether the team had simply tuned out Mike Babcock to a degree.
[46:00] What Babcock did and didn’t do, and why having honest discussions about him is going to become more difficult.
[52:53] The tradeoffs the Leafs may be making for the sake of their offence under Keefe, and why the Leafs defence will likely still be bad despite the changes Keefe may make.
[56:15] Auston Matthews’ defence.
[59:15] Katya joins us in roasting bad takes; this mostly includes bad narratives about Babcock’s usage, and Greg Millen claiming Sheldon Keefe invented sliced bread, penicillin, and using sticks for hockey.
[1:05:04] The optimism we all have in light of the strong two games under Keefe.
[1:07:31] The Leafs 4th line usage, and how it changed in the Colorado game. We also discuss Pontus Aberg, Dmytro Timashov, and Kenny Agostino.
[1:18:31] Sheldon Keefe’s defenceman problem (he doesn’t have enough good ones)
[1:20:01] Has Dermott’s progression stalled?/