Babcock hints at inconsistency between officiating crews

As he so expertly does, Mike Babcock has not so subtly let another group know that he thinks they could do their jobs more effectively.

Asked about his penalty kill's clean performance versus the Edmonton Oilers a night earlier, the Toronto Maple Leafs coach took the opportunity to implicitly blast one officiating team - and potentially infiltrate the collective conscious of another.

"You obviously don't want to be in the box, but I see who's refereeing tonight, and there will be way less penalties in tonight's game," Babcock said Wednesday, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "That's the one thing about it, when you arrive at the rink you know whether there's going to be penalties or not."

So then the question Wednesday night in Calgary as the Maple Leafs complete the second half of their back-to-back: Can this group be cajoled, or will they stick up for their brethren by sticking it to Babcock?