Former Leafs goaltender calls out Mike Babcock and his out of control ego
Jean-Sebastien Giguere was acquired in January of 2010 when the Leafs sent Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake to Anaheim for the former Conn Smythe winner. He played a season and a half with the Leafs from 2009-2011, going 17-18-6 over that span. Years before in Anaheim, Giguere played for former Leafs coach Mike Babcock and helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003 where Giguere captured the Conn Smythe trophy in a losing effort to New Jersey.
Giguere joined Sportsnet's THE FAN 590's Morning Show and was asked about his time with Babcock as a coach and how he perceived him, following Babcock's hire in Columbus this week.
"I had Mike in his early days and I loved playing for him. He was very intense and demanding but at the same time was very well prepared. He was very confident in the way he wanted his team to play. I enjoyed the way he was off the ice too, he knew your wife and kids. I think over the years he became too big, thought of himself too highly. Everyone makes mistakes in life and I hope that he's learned."
While Giguere offered some praise for Babcock in his early days, he, along with many others, believes that Babcock let his ego get way too big and it caused the reported rifts between himself and a number of former players. As Giguere said, he hopes that Babcock has learned from his mistakes, but I'm sure it won't take long for us to find out given that Columbus has one of the league's biggest prima donna's in Patrik Laine, who had a very public rift with another hard-nosed coach in John Tortorella.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 7 | 1487 ANSWERS Former Leafs goaltender calls out Mike Babcock and his out of control ego How do you feel about Mike Babcock being hired by another NHL team? | ||
| Hate it | 218 | 14.7 % |
| I don't mind it | 354 | 23.8 % |
| Honestly, I don't care. He's not with the Leafs | 915 | 61.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
