Bryan McCabe, who spent close to seven seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, says his last year there sucked the life out of him and took some time to get over.
Already facing a shortage of rights, the Detroit Red Wings saw another one taken away from them in Thursday’s 6-3 season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Bryan McCabe has worn many hats with the Florida Panthers over the years. He first joined the team before the start of the 2008-09 season after a big deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was named the sixth captain in franchise history a year later.
NHL head coaches have to hire good assistants. They have to set an overarching philosophy, juggle lineup configurations, and do the kind of “man management” that is impossible to track statistically.
There’s a pretty long list of offensive defencemen that Maple Leafs fans have blissfully chased out of town. Jake Gardiner, Larry Murphy, and Bryan McCabe are prime examples of that but players like Tomas Kaberle were not without their detractors as well, and John Klingberg…well…what I can say, sometimes running players out of town is justified.