Mike Babcock and the NHL's White Whale

"He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness...." – Herman Melville, Moby Dick.

A 21^st century Captain Ahab, Mike Babcock has effectively signed on to hunt down the NHL’s White Whale – a Stanley Cup in Toronto.

The move has all the markings of a narcissism-fueled tragic quest. Babcock is a quintessential tragic hero; a man of ‘eminence’ who seems to be a good person, although not completely virtuous. The hiring of Babcock magnifies the Leafs' decades-long struggle of failing limbs and running down blind alleys. By going all-in on the Babcock Sweepstakes, the Leafs have figuratively and literally upped the ante in their quest for a first Stanley Cup since 1967.

"Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me."

– Ahab to Starbuck about hunting down "a dumb creature" 

Last week, many hockey media outlets, including this one, were hearing from their sources that the Sabres had all but locked up Babcock’s services with a six-year deal worth in the neighborhood of $30 million. The Sabres later leaked that they had even begun preparations for a Monday, May 18 press conference. Just as we were all hearing these reports, HNIC’s Don Cherry put out a 15-part Twitter rant that never mentioned the Sabres organization -- Grapes all but refuses to admit the team is in the league -- yet suggested Babcock should not “take the money and run.”

Ironically, at that very moment, Toronto’s Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment group was putting together an even bigger offer, with even more money just 750 metres away from the CBC Studios.

"Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that madly seekest him!"

– Starbuck to Ahab.

Sabres fans have every right to be pissed off and disappointed with the way this all went down, but they shouldn’t forget that their team may have a big, big role in how this story all plays out. The blue-and-gold have dominated their cross-border rivals ever since Punch Imlach took the reins in 1970 and there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that is about to change. Even over the last two "tank" seasons, the Sabres won both of their in-season home games against the Leafs.

According to popular opinion – MLSE isn't the ideal ownership model, the organization is short on prospects and last I heard fans wear throwing more jerseys on the ice than hats. TSN tweeted out that 6 of the last 7 Leaf head coaches had gone to the Stanley Cup final before taking over in Toronto in an ultimately futile attempt at repeating that success. Even the organization’s last saviour in Brain Burke was run out of town – just before the team he assembled started to put together a decent, albeit short-lived, run.

credit: Toronto Maple Leafs

And this isn’t all just a begrudged Sabres fans ranting and raving. Numerous figures in Canadian hockey media have said throughout this past shitty horrible Leafs season that something – from the media coverage to the organization structure to ownership itself – needs to categorically change in Toronto before the Leafs become a successful franchise. Not sure that massive change is a guy from Saskatchewan with a single Cup under his belt.

Call me skeptical.