May 20, 2015 was supposed to be a relatively quiet Wednesday in the Toronto sports world. The Blue Jays were last in the AL East at 18-24 preparing for a home game against the Angels, no one was thinking about a Raptors team that was embarrassingly swept by the Wizards one month prior, and Toronto FC was a humdrum 3-5-1 squad.

The only major sports news the city was expecting to hear that day was an official announcement that the recently-sold Argonauts would be moving to BMO Field for the 2016 CFL season.

That, however, was completely overshadowed when the Toronto Maple Leafs shocked the hockey world by signing Mike Babcock to a massive eight-year, $50 million deal.

There had been plenty of speculation where Babcock, a highly coveted free agent head coach, might land. Would he return to the Detroit Red Wings where he spent 10 years racking up a 458-223-105 record and a 2008 Stanley Cup championship? Would he go back to the Western Conference? Would he go to an established contender or a team on the rebuild?

At roughly 1 p.m. ET, Jeff Veillette of theleafsnation.com pointed out the team’s private jet was scheduled to fly to Detroit and leave shortly after arrival. This caused a frenzy on social media. Roughly one hour later it was confirmed that the Maple Leafs’ Babcock era was underway.

Another dramatic layer to how everything unfolded involved the Buffalo Sabres. They were at one point believed to be the frontrunner to land the two-time Olympic gold medallist coach. In fact, reports later in the day surfaced that suggested the Sabres were livid Babcock chose Toronto since they reportedly believed they had a deal in principle with Babcock two days prior to him signing on the dotted line in Toronto.

It was a significant and memorable day in Maple Leafs history. His introductory press conference the next day followed suit.

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When you think about it, it’s quite remarkable how much the culture within the organization has changed since Babcock’s arrival. Team president Brendan Shanahan obviously deserves a lot credit for how things have played out as well.

You have to remember the Maple Leafs were in a state of disarray at the time. Two head coaches — Randy Carlyle and subsequent interim bench boss Peter Horachek — lost their jobs in a four-month span and there was rampant speculation about the futures of sniper Phil Kessel and captain Dion Phaneuf.

The team ended up trading Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1 but Phaneuf began the 2015-16 campaign with the blue and white. Babcock spoke highly of Phaneuf throughout training camp and the first half of the season, and dialed back Phaneuf’s ice time slightly and utilized him in such a way that his game simplified. It resulted in slightly better numbers and an overall improved performance compared to his two previous seasons.

“I’m going to get to know Dion and he’s going to get to know me. I like to think I am a straightforward communicator,” Babcock said on his first official day on the job. “When you work for people and they tell you what they want, I’m one of those people, I like to please them. I like to know what they want, I don’t want to read their mind. I want them to tell me and I’ll be straightforward in that way as well. I think you have to help your leaders. I think that’s what your job is to help them do things right. You just do it right day after day after day. I’m a fan of Dion, I think he’s a good kid and works hard and tries hard.”

Babcock working with Phaneuf and taking pressure off the oft-criticized blueliner helped re-establish his trade value. The captain was dealt to the Ottawa Senators in February, which turned over another page in the Leafs’ rebuild.

Two of the players Babcock helped in his first year in Toronto are a duo that will be expected to fill Phaneuf’s leadership void in the coming years: Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly.

“They’re better players than I thought,” Babcock said of Kadri and Rielly (as well as Jake Gardiner) in January when assessing the first half of the season. “They play harder. They’re more competitive. To me, that is the positive part. We sure like some of the guys we have here and our prospects.”

Babcock liked Kadri and Rielly enough to support the six-year contract extensions each received just four days after their season ended.

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The most notable quote Babcock had when he was introduced to the horde of Toronto media was: “If you think there’s no pain coming, there’s pain coming.”

Babcock had a career regular season winning percentage of .627 prior to joining the Leafs. The Leafs had a .421 winning percentage this past season. That’s definitely painful if you’re Babcock.

The silver lining to that short-term pain is the fact the Leafs did begin to play a more structured game. No, it didn’t help them win many matchups this season but it will undoubtedly help them be competitive going forward. Players like William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, Nikita Soshnikov, Zach Hyman, Connor Carrick and others who are currently in the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final with the Toronto Marlies now know what to expect from Babcock and what they need to do to contribute.

Besides the on- and off-ice structure the Leafs are beginning to show, another staple of Babcock teams is a lack of fisticuffs — and we saw that too. Babcock’s Red Wings had the league’s fewest fighting majors in nine of the 10 seasons he coached there. The Maple Leafs had 48 fighting majors in 2013-14 and 24 in 2014-15. In Babcock’s first season behind the bench in Toronto, the Maple Leafs had just 10 – only the Penguins and Red Wings had fewer fighting majors.

Oh, what a difference 366 days can make. (2016 was a leap year.)

The Maple Leafs were the worst team in the NHL in 2015-16. No one is denying that. Yet, with Babcock at the helm and the team in possession of the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, the pain has subsided dramatically in a calendar year.

It will be fascinating to see how things look on May 20, 2017.