draeko17 said:
Highlander said:
The problem with Bozi is that it was reported that he had adopted Phil's work ethic without Phil's talent, meaning last on the ice, first off.
Babcock will want him gone.
Is it possible to link that report? I hadn't seen it. Would be interested to hear more.
Let's not get crazy with interested...
That report comes courtesy of that bastion of credibility, Steve Simmons. Oh, and some unnamed Leafs' executive of course
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/02/28/leafs-believe-babcock-will-be-their-man
KESSEL DRAGGING DOWN BOZAK?
What happened to that nice kid who used to be Tyler Bozak?
That?s a question the Maple Leafs are asking themselves as the NHL trade deadline approaches and the future of the club needs to be directed.
Those around the Leafs have seen a change in Bozak this year and it isn?t for the better. It?s partly his play, but just as much are his habits at practice, off the ice and in the dressing room.
?It?s OK to be first off the ice at practice every day when you have Phil Kessel?s freakish gifts,? a Leafs executive said. ?But when you?re second off the ice at practice every day and you don?t have those gifts, what are you doing? Why aren?t you working on your game??
This is among the reasons the Leafs would like to rid themselves of Kessel. He is different and works differently than most NHL stars. If it works for him, so be it and most of the time it has. But when it begins to influence others, negatively ? Bozak has also turned into an interview malcontent when once he was a reasonable subject ? then the Leafs realize why they must move him in a rebuilding time.
The Leafs expected Kessel to be that way because he has always been that way. They didn?t expect it from Bozak, the one-time humble free agent who club officials worry is lost in his own self-importance.