Leafs’ Dermott takes final shot at Babcock BEFORE first game under Keefe

On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs made a necessary move that still few people expected this season: they fired head coach Mike Babcock amidst their losing streak, which they finally broke last night with a win over the Arizona Coyotes under new bench boss Sheldon Keefe.

No one could have predicted that Keefe would win his first game as Leafs bench boss last night, however, it seems like the Leafs’ entire dressing room trusted him. 

Before the game even took place, one Leafs player wanted to make sure everyone knew he was happy to play under Keefe as blue liner Travis Dermott took a final shot at his former head coach Babcock in a pregame interview. 

“The boys wanna play for him. He lets us play to our skill and that’s exactly what we needed.” 

We are sure Babcock felt the sting. 

On Thursday, it was revealed by Leafs insider James Mirtle of The Athletic, “90%” of Leafs players were relieved to see Babcock fired.

It sounds like Dermott was amongst the majority.