Burning Questions For Toronto Maple Leafs Entering 2015-16 National Hockey League Season

The guys are a lot younger now and they’re brought up differently than it was 10, 15 years ago where the Mike Keenans could come in and yell and scream and get a message across; it’s not quite the same [now].

In other training camp related news, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock wants either Jonathan Bernier or James Reimer to step up and claim the No. 1 goalie job.

A free-for-all for everyone, from Day 1. “I’m as excited as I’ve ever been to be a Toronto Maple Leaf”.

“I’ve been part of the rumour mill for six years now”, he said.

“I like the plays he makes”. They know the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins both rebuilt into their teams into contenders in three seasons.

“The only difference, for me, about moving your training camp as a player is that you just travel”, Phaneuf said.

He used to hire experienced hands to help him behind the bench. “They’re pretty well behaved, they’re waiting outside and they’re excited”, he said. He pushes other people and he pushes the defense back. It’s not as if the Maple Leafs roster is void of talent. So with every move he makes, like acquiring Michael Grabner on Thursday from the New York Islanders, it will be natural to wonder if it’s consistent with the long-term plan to make this franchise a victor or will there be an urge to speed it up.

Their situation at right wing alone now that Phil Kessel is gone means any one of Grabner, Joffrey Lupul, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Brad Boyes or Richard Panik could theoretically get time on the top line, whatever it may be.

When you’re one of the richest teams in the NHL, in a city that obsesses about hockey and is screaming for a victor , and you haven’t won a single playoff series in more than a decade, there is going to come a point where sweeping changes are going to be made throughout the organization.

What Babcock has here, entering his first camp with the Leafs, is flexibility.

By Thursday, the word had spread to most of the players.

Now, the ability to turn this train wreck of a franchise into a Stanley Cup champion over the next several seasons would certainly fill that insatiable need to win like nothing else could.

Who knows if any of this is going to work, but with Lamoriello and Mike Babcock at the helm, you have the sense that there’s a plan, a vision, a blueprint in place.

“Can they play or can they not?” “They gave up some chances today”, Babcock said of Rielly and Gardiner on Saturday, after the duo participated in a high-tempo scrimmage.

“We know we have fans from coast to coast and in particular we have fans in the Maritimes”, said Steve Keogh, a spokesman for the Maple Leafs.

“When he’s stopping the drills short, it’s to make sure we’re in the right position and it’s to help us get better quicker”, Holland said.

Babcock has a reputation as one of the best hockey coaches in the world.

There’s excitement in the air around Halifax, as The Toronto Maple Leafs get set to hit the ice for a three-day training camp. He’s going to be the captain of the Leafs.

One of the most intriguing storylines of this camp will be who emerges as the undisputed number one goaltender, as Babcock said his preference is to go with one main guy.

The Maple Leafs’ rebuilding efforts are further along than anyone cares to admit. “If we were in Toronto, when practice was over guys would go back to their house and their family and kind of be doing their own thing”.