The "Power Went Out" At The Leafs Practice Facility...And Mike Babcock Made His Team Skate Anyway

Gardiner on power outage in midst of intense practice: "I was thinking, thank goodness we're getting off the ice. Babs had different ideas"

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) November 9, 2016

Lights go out at Leafs practice but skating continues pic.twitter.com/gAWhMXWupU

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 9, 2016

Power went out at the rink. #Leafs continue to practice. pic.twitter.com/Dbt0ppI2SR

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) November 9, 2016

Look, I absolutely love this move. I honestly don't know how any fan couldn't. This is some grassroots hockey shit right here. If Herb Brooks and Gordon Bombay taught us anything throughout their illustrious careers it's that nothing lets the boys know that the spotlight is getting brighter quite like practicing in the dark. I know it makes no sense to assume that your team will improve by trying to correct their mistakes when they can't see a goddamn thing, but knowing that the supposed "electrical circumstances" don't lend themselves to drills that involve a puck is a daunting enough thought to scare the stupid out of anyone's game. Considering the Leafs lost 7-0 to a team that went three consecutive games without scoring a goal this year, they could probably benefit from what has to be the dimmest of wake-up calls. 

​I guess my only issue with this is that it's a little early to be going with the power outage motivational plan. I mean, hitting the breaker and making grown men skate suicides until they treat winning and losing like life and death is a tried and true way to get your players to rally your through the shared fear of being told "line up and do it faster this time". That said, it's supposed to be used as a last resort. It's only the beginning of November and one of the most respected coaches in the sport has already shown all his cards. He's undoubtedly a smarter hockey mind than myself, but - according to my cinematic experience - this is thee last ditch tool to galvanize your team into turning around their season. I don't want to question Mike Babcock's ability to keep his silver bullet in the chamber, but if he doesn't know of a ludicrously large hill to make his players run up during a thunderstorm then I think this is a case of premature humiliation. If you ask me, it seems like it's far too early in the year to be trying to work miracles...