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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It\u2019s hard to remember a better sports day in Toronto&amp;nbsp;than this one. Mike Babcock is officially a member of the Maple Leafs.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just be sure to enjoy the sunny skies while they last, O ye burghers of Hogtown, because the forecast calls for years and years of pain clouds.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If nothing else was made clear during Babcock\u2019s exhaustive press conference&amp;nbsp;on Thursday morning, it was that the Leafs are continuing down the bumpy&amp;nbsp;path to building a long-term contender from square one ... and the arrival of the NHL\u2019s hottest free agent is not going to expedite the process.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIf you think there\u2019s no pain coming, there\u2019s pain coming,\u201D Babcock warned at his introduction. \u201CThis is going to be a massive, massive challenge. It's going to take a long time.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maybe that's not what long-suffering Leafs fans want to hear, but it's what they need to hear.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Babcock, who signed an eight-year, $50 million contract with the Leafs on Wednesday, might be the best coach in the game. His record with Detroit was 458-223-105 and the Red Wings made the playoffs in all 10 years that they were on his watch. His overall NHL record is 950-527-285. He\u2019s won the Stanley Cup and guided Team Canada to back-to-back Olympic gold medals.&amp;nbsp;But he's no miracle worker. \r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A team that has missed the playoffs in nine of the past 10 years won\u2019t suddenly turn it around just because it has someone new tapping its players on the shoulder. It\u2019ll take time to assess, acquire and develop the assets that are needed to make this squad&amp;nbsp;a winner.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of those players may already be part of the organization. Morgan Rielly. William Nylander. Nazem Kadri. There may be others as well, although neither Babcock and team president Brendan Shanahan were not interested in naming names.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe have good people here,\u201D said Shanahan. \u201CWe\u2019re going to acquire good people and we\u2019re going to make them better.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shanahan also said that Babcock will have input into player personnel decisions.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe're going to have men on this team,\u201D Babcock promised. \u201CWe're going to have people that are accountable.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That's a strong message to the fans and, more importantly, the players. If lack of talent was issue No. 1 for this season\u2019s Leafs, then lack of accountability was 1A. Babcock will address that problem. That\u2019s a standard he set in Detroit, with the help of trusted leaders like Steve Yzerman, Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg. Even if success doesn\u2019t come quickly to Toronto, you can bet that accountability will.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bet on this as well: The arrival of a premier coach means the Leafs intend to move forward. Whatever this organization eventually achieves, it won\u2019t be built on tanking for better odds in the draft lottery. There won\u2019t be two or three Sabres-style seasons spent as the league\u2019s punching bag in hopes of hoarding top picks. The Leafs intend to get better immediately, if only by incremental steps.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Babcock\u2019s arrival is one of those. But just the first of many.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nhl/2015/05/21/mike-babcock-toronto-maple-leafs-press-conference-plan-for-future>