Babcock throws his players under the bus following Ovechkin’s comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals face off tonight and Alex Ovechkin added some tension to the game this afternoon when he made some comments about the current state of the Canadian team. 

When asked about the battle scars the Capitals required to earn before winning the Cup in 2018, the captain took the time to advice the young players on the Leafs roster. 

“I think it helped a lot when your core group of guys stays together and go through that, coaching staff, players,” Ovechkin said after the Caps’ morning skate.

“You can see it took four years to realize what we have to do. We make mistakes, coaching staff makes mistakes, you get a chance to take (it to) another level, we all came together and it works.

“I think for them, they are still a young group of guys and I hope they’re going to learn. It’s up to them how they want to do it and if they want to play for yourself, or if they want to win a Stanley Cup they have to play differently.”

Right before the game, Mark Masters of TSN asked Leafs coach Mike Babcock what he thought of Ovechkin’s comments and the bench boss had no issues letting his players know the Caps captain was right. 

“Things like that always sting way more when it’s right,” bluntly said Babcock in his pregame interview. 

Of course, Babcock has a lot of respect for the 34-year-old forward who won a Cup two seasons ago. However, he might have wanted to have his players’ back and discussed this behind closed doors… 

Let’s see how the Leafs respond tonight against Ovechkin and his team.