Mike Babcock’s media scrums are getting awfully short.



I mean, they’ve always been short since he came to Toronto — control the message and all that makes sense in this town — but we’re talking under two minuters at this point.



The Maple Leafs lost in Minnesota on Thursday, and it was a better effort than some of their recent wins. It wasn’t a pretty game — with Toronto generating all of eight even-strength shots through two periods — but it also wasn’t one where they sat in their own end the whole time.



Still, it was crappy hockey. I pity anyone who paid to go. Minnesota did a good job of being Vintage 2003 Wild, clogging up the neutral and defensive zones. Toronto missed the net a million times. (Actually 21… a season high.)



The curious part, however, came afterward. Babcock’s comments were that the Leafs played well, the game was tight, but he liked what he saw.



He was...