Not really... this is about Shanny putting his chips in with Dubas. Once he was hired (and Lou fired), Babs was never gonna make it to the end of his contract. The way that Dubas has built the team isn't in sync with how he feels Babs coaches. Babs isn't taking the fall for Dubas... Dubas is now taking the full spotlight - it's his roster, it's his head coach, and it's his Assistant Coaches. Nobody to blame now but Dubas (and the players).
One thing that came up in all of the media analysis yesterday (it was insane!) is that the team is 30-28-10 (or something along those lines) for calendar 2019. So the problems go back all the way to the beginning of the year. Their 9-10-4 start this year just was a continuation of the slide they were on in 2H last season.
Starting the season, the bar for success was set at a 2-3 round playoff run. They've regressed so much that the new bar is just MAKING the playoffs. And once Shanny/Dubas reached that conclusion, the right thing to do was to let Babs go - he couldn't get out of his own way. So many head-scratching decisions... like why in b2b games, when game 2 is against a divisional opponent, 3 times he put Andersen in net for Game 1, Hutchinson in net for game 2! Points against Boston/Mtl are far more important than points against Columbus!
The stats are staggering:
26th in GA/game
13th in GF/game
25th in points % (which normalizes points against the number of games played)
mid-20s in both PK and PP
18/23 games they have given up the first goal; they've only held a lead start to finish TWICE
2 regular time wins in the last 16
Only 6 regular time wins - against Sens, CBJ, Wings, Wild, Sharks, Kings. All teams below them in the standings
After last night, Ottawa has more wins as the Leafs do, with 1 less game played. Let that sink in.
Pretty sure this was exactly the start I predicted - actually, it's worse. I figured they'd be a little over .500, not well below it.