Babcock lashes out at reporter after being pressed on tough question.

In a rare display Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock got very frustrated at a line of questioning from a reporter on Tuesday.

Specifically the reporter in question pressed Babcock on the issue of goaltending in Toronto, a problem that the reporter claimed has plagued the organization since Ed Belfour moved on from his time in Toronto. It was however when the name of Don Cherry was mentioned that Babcock really lost his patience.

Here's thetranscript from NBC Sports:

Reporter: The guy on Saturday night said the Leafs goaltending has been lousy this year.

Babcock: Who did?

Reporter: The guy on Saturday night — Don Cherry.

Babcock: Oh, OK. Well now that I know where I’m getting my facts from, here we go. Come on. Let’s move on. What’s next here? Holy [expletive].

Reporter: No, but seriously, it’s been an issue for this market probably since Ed Belfour left, and I’m wondering if there’s anything to that.

Babcock: But I’m not dealing with that. This is what I would tell you. We think we have a really good goaltender. At the World Cup I had three outstanding goaltenders, and they all talked about how much time it usually takes to get ready.

Our guy didn’t have that opportunity because of his injury. We’re real comfortable with him. Do we think he’s played as good as he’s capable of playing? No. Do we think he’s going to? Yes.

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While some might argue that it's a bad look for Babcock, it's clear here that is defending his young goaltender, the man they believe will be their goalie of the future, and there's little doubt that his players will respect his response as a result.

It's also worth noting that Babcock is right about the fact that Andersen's slow start could largely be caused by the fact that he was forced to recover from an injury when he should have been preparing for the season, so his slow start becomes much less of a concern in context... for now at least.