Report: Babcock criticizes his team despite strong season

The Toronto Maple Leafs are on track for more than 100 points this season - competing for the Atlantic division title, and maybe even the President's trophy for the best team in the NHL.

Yet - Mike Babcock has a criticism for his team and spoke about it to the media recently.

"The bottom line is if you want to be a real good team you've got to play every day," Babcock said, according to David Shoalts of The Globe and Mail.

"You've got to play every night and start on time if you're going to be successful.

"There was nothing wrong with our effort in the second and third [periods]. Those details, we really played, none of that was a problem. You've got to start on time. You spend the whole night giving away two points because you didn't prepare."

The Leafs' problem last season was that they blew several leads, and lost many games in extra time. This year, they don't come out as strong, but they finish the right way.

Babcock's criticism aims at the team's inability to put together a full 60 minutes of hockey, night in and night out.

The most recent example of this was against the Vancouver Canucks - they gave up 2 goals early in the game and played catchup all night. Players like Frederik Andersen and Morgan Rielly recognized that they only played a 40 minute game, and while that wasn't enough - they were pleased with the effort they put up.

That kind of attitude won't bode well for the team moving forward - confidence is good, but being content with 40 minutes of effort, especially in a losing effort, will cause issues in the long-term.