Following a 7-0 shelling at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Babcock pushed his team to their limits during yesterday's practice. Without question, the Toronto Maple Leafs were embarrassed on home ice, and that certainly didn't sit well with their head coach. Babcock refused to address his squad before he ran an intense drill session, and when the lights abruptly went out during practice, the training didn't stop. The dimly lit action was caught by TSN reporter, Kristen Shilton, and was shared on her Twitter account.
Following the events, Leafs d-man, Jake Gardiner, made it clear that the message was received. "I think everyone kind of got the message, if we're not going to skate during the game we're going to skate the next day," he told reporters. Babcock put his players through a tough bag skate, along with other grueling exercises. When the lights went out, Gardiner thought everyone might finally get a break. "I was thinking 'Thank goodness we're getting off the ice' and then obviously Babs had different idea".
The Leafs are off tonight, but will face the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow evening. That game takes place on home ice, with the puck drop at 7pm. If you're in Canada, you can catch the action live on TSN.
