Screen Shots: Welcome to Toronto, the NHL's confusion capital
Cliff Flecther was brought in to help right the ship, but the future is as unstable as ever in T.O. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Adam Proteau
2008-05-08 14:34:41
At Wednesday’s press conference announcing Paul Maurice’s dismissal as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the prevailing sentiment interim GM Cliff Fletcher attempted to sell to the media and general public was simple: all systems are normal and the team’s legion of fans shouldn’t worry themselves sick over the laborious process of putting a new management team in place.
The first part of Fletcher’s message certainly is true. However, what is considered ‘normal’ for the Leafs is not what’s considered ‘normal’ for the other 29 NHL franchises.
And that’s not a good thing.
As for the fans’ angst level – well, let’s just say you trust this particular ownership group at your own peril. It has made a handful of similar assurances since the team was pried out of Harold Ballard’s cold, dead hands, but the only area in which it excels – besides making enough money to fund several small-to-medium-sized guerilla wars – is leaping between management philosophies faster than your average NHL on-ice shift.
One day, Fletcher says he’ll leave Maurice’s fate as Leafs coach in the hands of the team’s next GM. Another day, he says time’s a-passin’ too quickly and it’s time to grease up the guillotine.
One day, team president Richard Peddie outlines a list of qualities (i.e. a veteran GM and proven champion-builder) the team will demand for Fletcher’s successor. Another day, there are rumors of the Leafs asking permission to speak with former Canucks boss Dave Nonis, a man who showed he was competent in the role, but someone who nobody could argue meets Peddie’s publicly-stated criteria.
Another day, another message dropped down the memory hole and hopefully forgotten by the time the next one arrives. That’s what ‘normal’ has become to the Maple Leafs.
The follies don’t end there. According to a report in the Toronto Star, some members of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s executive board want the team’s new GM to include Tie Domi in Toronto’s reconstituted management group.
(This is the part where I’d express my incredulity at such a suggestion, but words can’t really encapsulate the degree of “Are you kidding me?”-type feelings I’m dealing with. Just imagine my eyebrows raised high enough that I had to ensure they were in accordance with local airspace regulations, and you’ll get the idea.)
If you recall, one of the main themes touted by Peddie and Fletcher since John Ferguson was fired is that the new GM will have total autonomy to run the team as he sees fit. Now the new guy will have to assimilate one of the owner’s buddies into the mix?
Ashton Kutcher and a hidden camera aren’t going to be making an appearance soon, are they?
And while I’m asking questions I don’t really need or care to receive an answer for, why has Toronto’s GM search turned into something of a scene out of Moby Dick, with a cadre of Captain Ahabs searching out a whale whose legend grows more massive with every passing day? Does any other NHL team turn their hiring procedures into a prolonged beauty pageant of sorts?
Naturally, Fletcher and his superiors at MLSE don’t see a single thing wrong with the current course of events.
“This organization is running forward full speed ahead,” he said Wednesday. “The one thing we can’t do is be spinning our wheels in sand.”
Sure they can’t. Remember, since an obscenely awful West Coast trip made by the Maple Leafs in mid-January, this team has known there are massive deficiencies that require serious and sustained attention. Yet here we are a quarter of a year later, and the only thing that’s changed is there are now even more holes to fill.
Is that normal? Perhaps in a world fueled by hallucinogens and the flimsy hopes of true believers, it is.
In Toronto, though, where the beer ain’t cheap, but the talk sure is, these bizarre episodes are standard operating procedure.
Adam Proteau is The Hockey News' online columnist and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog appears Mondays and Wednesdays, his Ask Adam feature appears Tuesdays and Fridays, and his column, Screen Shots, appears Thursdays.
For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.
Enter THN’s Free Playoff Challenge for your chance to win a 2008 Harley-Davidson Night Rod Special Motorcycle. Contest closes at the start of the third round.
Slap me I'm a Leaf Fan (Posted 2008-05-15 12:15:48)
Maxime, I think Peddie is doing what the shareholders expect...make money...and he has been successful in this regard. Now I think he needs to get his head around putting together a good management/coaching team that can build a successful team on the ice. One that key piece is in place he should clean the current slate of players and start building anew. To do this the organization needs to crush those no trade contracts even if it means embarcing the player by moving them to the minors. If he's shrewd...and I think he's proven so on the profit side... then he should be able to apply this ruthfulness in building a better product on ice....
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-14 10:50:36)
To whatsthatsmell : Yeah i guess JFJ was that kind of puppet...see it worked perfectly for Peddie. JFJ took the heat, while we all know Peddie must have had a thing or two to say while negociating contracts...so whose fault is it for those crappy contracts? JFJ's!
To Madman : Is that the best you could come up with as a reply? It kinda makes me happy, because it proves to me that there is nothing more to say. And yes, i know kinda is another contraction.
Slap me I'm a Leaf Fan (Posted 2008-05-13 13:25:21)
I started being a fan in the 70's watching Rick V and right throught the Dark year with Ballard. Pat, Wendle and Gilmour brought a gleam of hope only to be stolen by the Great one. I still carry that scar in my mind on Gilmours chin. Then the next Patty took up the cause and gave us wicked season after season... I could almost taste that final round, then he made very strange trades and it wisked away like smoke... the team got stuck with Pilons like both on the ice and in back office, and all poor Cap Matts could do was shrug and say... dah the puck didn't bounce our way.
The smoke has cleared and Peddie has appeared to send forth his message that a new champions are needed in the Hockey realm. AND who might you say will head up this bold new adventure... why the White Wizard Fletcher and I heard he may even have room for a Troll Domie... I love the Drama the circus but really I would love a Cup even better, so
don't cry for me Argentina...but you may indeed Slap me I'm a Leaf Fan.
Joe Blake (Posted 2008-05-13 01:39:37)
There seems to be a couple of good coaches now available .
MLSE can sign-up Nonis and let's get the show on the road.
LT (Posted 2008-05-12 22:05:13)
In late 70's NY Giants fans burned tix outside of stadium...Giants were 1 of only three NFL teams NOT to make playoff appearance in 1970s...talk about bad mgmt NFL had to step in to settle dispute between owners and hire a GM for the draft....Fans burning Tix sent the last big message and helped turn around franchise...stay away it works....
whatsthatsmell (Posted 2008-05-11 18:58:49)
I love Cliff Fletcher's response over the Blake Comments. It went something like this: "While his input is appreciated, we fully expect Jason Blake to be back in a Maple Leafs uniform next year". In other words, the equipment manager better order that extra bags of pucks.
whatsthatsmell (Posted 2008-05-10 20:20:17)
Jason Blake announced today he would welcome a trade out of Toronto. We would welcome a trade of Jason Blake out of Toronto too. If I was Cliff Fletcher, I would happily accept a bag of pucks in return. Any takers?
whatsthatsmell (Posted 2008-05-10 19:50:56)
Hey Maxime: to quote you "Best bet for Toronto and Peddie : get a new guy. Someone with no GMing background. Get a regular Joe. That way, Peddie gets his puppet, the fans get their rep in office, and if things go wrong again, you can always blame it on the guy without a clue (which will always be Peddie as long as someone who knows what a puck is is in charge of the Leafs roster management)." I thought that was what JFJ was for.
Clayton (Posted 2008-05-09 19:30:26)
This is just too much fun watching the centre of the hockey fool's universe going around and around in circles, foaming at the mouth, chewing off limbs and biting itself on the ass.
Madman (Posted 2008-05-09 18:16:45)
Maxime, why are you using ain't in your comments? Ain't isn't a word.
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-09 16:55:13)
It is so redundant to hear every fan bash at a writer for bad mouthing their O SO GLORIOUS CITY AND HOCKEY TEAM! Every article, on any given team, is riddled with posts about how the writers is biased, how the writer hates that team, how the writer should do his job, etc. He's the guy getting paid to report what he sees. He's the guy who gets paid to provide you with articles for your enjoyment, and YES, YOU ARE THE PEOPLE WHO KEEP READING THE ARTICLES! If everyone so hates Mr. Proteau (i don't think there is a single city where there isn't at least one person who thinks that Adam hates their team), why keep reading? With send him flowers when he says good things, and flame him when he doesn't? What he reported, i see everyday on the news. He ain't saying Toronto is a bad team. He ain't saying Toronto has a bad fan base. He ain't saying the team should move. He ain't saying the fans are idiots. All i read, is a writer giving his opinion about the freak show that is MLSE nowadays. Now, if Leafs's fan can't face the facts, it ain't my problem, it ain't anyone elses problem but their own. Your team is facing hard times with a clown at the bar of the ship. Cliff has seen some rough times, and he may be the best man to handle this, but he isn't 40 anymore. So please Toronto fans, please stop acting as victims, no one is saying you are dumb, people are sympathizing and telling you that if you want a winner instead of Peddie's "we lose be i make money" marketing plan, then do something about it. Complaing on THN.com and sending bomb letters to Adam Proteau isn't the answer.
Kato B. (Posted 2008-05-09 16:30:34)
Hey another uninspired media person with something negative to say about the Leafs! Well done ...except that there's so very little independant thought put into your article. I'm not a MLSE or Fletcher defender but I can't help but speak up now because there's no logic at all to what you are suggesting.
The moves this week should have barely created a ripple. Everyone knew Maurice wouldn't be back ...his firing was hardly news. The timing makes perfect sense and Fletcher stating he'd let the new guy do it simply reflects the fact (yes I'm using some common sense here) that they probably assumed they'd have there guy (read Brian Burke) by now. Burke hasn't worked out (yet) so Fletcher has to make the move. If you accept that the Burke situation is true then the Nonis interview also makes perfect sense if you believe the two want to work together again.
Look, the Leafs are at rock bottom but I challenge the media (who love to right about the Leafs troubles) to think outside the box and please stop regurgitating this ridiculous "sky is falling" and "MLSE is to blame for everything" stuff.
Matthew Roberts (Posted 2008-05-09 14:48:38)
By the way, the suggest that the great fans of the leafs are to blame for this is so ridiculous. There are at least 28 other teams in this league that wish they had a fan base like ours. ALso, to suggest that the leafs have never felt any pressure to ice a winner? are you kidding me? try telling that to pat quinn, or john ferguson jr. They tried their best to create a winner here, but obviously they fell short. Theres alot of talk about how the leafs "only care about making money" well if that was the case dont you think that going deep in the playoffs and winning a stanley cup would make them a boat load of cash? Can you imagine all the "2009 Stanley Cup Champion" tshirts, mugs, hats, you name it, there would be? The leafs have just begun to start a culture change here and people are already sentancing them to death even though they havent even finished phase 1 yet.
Matthew Roberts (Posted 2008-05-09 14:36:50)
Were supporters of the Boston Red Sox "idiots" when they were without a championship for 80 some odd years? what about rangers fans and their 54 year drought? The blackhawks are even worse off than the leafs in terms of winning a title. Things are sketchy right now to be sure, but remember that alot of teams go through management changes and coaching changes, its just that in toronto its under the microscope to the tenth degree. People are complaining about how they have no gm, no coach and no captain. Well, they fired ferguson so now IN THE OFF SEASON they are going to hire a new one. Whats the big deal? Then they will get a coach and if mats comes back or not the captaincy will be decided. If the team they ice this season is a last place one, isnt that exactly what mr.proteau along with tank nation was demanding off this team last season? Get a 1st overall draft choice then build from there. I urge leaf fans to wait out this summer and see the results of this GM search and give them a chance to start building a new team. Theres a reason Leaf fans are considered the most loyal and diehard of them all. Its because we are! GO LEAFS GO!
Brian (Posted 2008-05-09 13:07:01)
Steve.. this is for you...
Get a grip my good man!
The Ontario Teacher's PENSION FUND would sell this team the very second they lost money (or even began to make not-so-much money).
..and do you really think that Toronto would ever be without an NHL hockey team..ever?
Nope, buddy, the Teacher's would sell, pocket the millions and millions of dollars in profit and the team would ultimately (hopefully) end up in the hands of either a successful business person OR, even better, a successful business person WHO LIKES &/or KNOWS something about the game!
Further, just to clarify, I said I ADMIRE Maple Leafs fans loyalty!
I've been a Flames fan since they moved to Calgary, and I, like you, have stayed faithful thru good times and bad and have never for a second considered switching teams, so I completely understand your feelings.
What I refer to when I suggest such silly things as a boycott is in more simple terms; tough-love.
I mean, the Leafs have all the money required, all the fans and all the (free!) media coverage any team could ask for and yet for years and years and years they have never been anything better than mediocre so consequently the owners of the team have never actually felt any pressure or motivation to actually ICE A WINNER!
I feel some pain when watching this team struggle so hopelessly year after year as the Buds were my late Father's team and so I, somewhere in the back of my mind actually want to see them do well, however I really believe that until there is a concerted effort on the part of the fans to FORCE the team executive to perform, they will continue to bleed thier fans dry.
I was born in 1967 and The Leafs last won a cup in 1967. It must have been a good year for my Dad, and I will smile up at heaven IF in my lifetime I get to see the Leafs hoist the silver... but at this point, it really looks like I better start living a more healthy life if I hope to accomplish such!
Steve (Posted 2008-05-09 12:43:49)
A true fan loves his/her team no matter what idiot is running it. We may get discouraged, and even stop following them quite as closely when things are really out of hand. But don't call us stupid for being a life-long fan. I'm proud to say I've been a Leaf fan for the last 35 years or so, and I'd be embarrassed to be one of those jerks who just cheer for whoever's the best team each year. The Leafs may never win another cup in my lifetime, but I can live with the hope that maybe one day they will.
And if people ever listened to the stupid suggestions to stay away and the Leafs stopped making so much money, the Teacher's Pension Fund that owns the majority of the team wouldn't hesitate to move this team to the first city who offered them the sweet arena deal, etc.
Jim Reinecke (Posted 2008-05-09 12:04:32)
A little history might come in handy here, folks. Cliff Fletcher knows about this kind of nonsense in a front office. In the late sixties and early seventies, he was Scotty Bowman's assistant GM with the St. Louis Blues, where perhaps the greatest hockey mind of all time had to put up with Sidney Salomon III, the spoiled-brat son of owner Sid, Jr. The old man bought Sid III a very expensive toy but neglected to provide him with an owners manual. Before long, Scotty was gone, Al Arbour was gone (he only went on to win 4 Stanley Cups with the Islanders, but Sid III let him go as coach of the Blues, saying that "Al is a great sergeant, but will never be a general") and Cliff Fletcher headed south to help build the then-Atlanta Flames as their first GM. If Fletcher survived the nuthouse that was the Blues front office in their early years, he should be able to navigate these choppy waters and right the Maple Leafs ship. . .or at least put the proper people in place to do so. If ownership realizes that career hockey people know a little bit more about the game than they do! My sympahties to the loyal Leafs fans. . .this is one of the storied franchises in NHL history and they've become a joke. Pity!
Brian (Posted 2008-05-09 11:40:41)
I pity Leafs fans, but admire them for thier loyalty.
(They have BIBLICAL patience!)
However, at what point can we call "loyalty" "Stupidity"?
We know that an actual boycott is impossible, but what effect would it have if all season ticket holders waited an additional month to renew/purchase?
Hit MLSE in the pocketbook!!!
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-09 11:30:45)
Best bet for Toronto and Peddie : get a new guy. Someone with no GMing background. Get a regular Joe. That way, Peddie gets his puppet, the fans get their rep in office, and if things go wrong again, you can always blame it on the guy without a clue (which will always be Peddie as long as someone who knows what a puck is is in charge of the Leafs roster management).
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-09 11:27:00)
Bandwagon hoppers? Matt, seriously, MLSE has always been some sort of a freak show, but this is basically insane. Not a single franchise, not even the Nashville Preds can enjoy such chaos and confusion. I think Cliff must cry at night for all the lies he is being forced to tell..."Everything is normal!" Yeah right...
Matt Roberts (Posted 2008-05-09 10:02:32)
All i see here is a bunch of bandwagon hoppers. Eventually this team will ice a good product (within 3 years) and everyone will be singing their praises again. Well, everyone except adam proteau.
Deepayan (Posted 2008-05-09 00:54:18)
One of the biggest problems that people are forgetting is that the exorbitant cost of tickets has already alienated the 'true' fans. When was the last time a fair price ticket was available for a Leaf game at the ACC? So long as the Leaf brand retains its star-power, corporate interest (read: the entire lower level) will ensure sell-outs for every game, regardless of the actual product on the ice. Its a wierd morbid fascination with something that USED TO BE amazing, but now... not so much. It's tough days being a Leafs fan!
whatsthatsmell (Posted 2008-05-08 21:00:44)
I find it more entertaining reading about the soap opera off the ice, than the product on ice. HAHA my TML's still suck and will continue to suck for the foreseeable future. I am one of the dumb fans that keep hoping they will squeek into the playoffs at some point, then somehow fluke through a round or two.
Jeff (Posted 2008-05-08 20:15:41)
Why would anyone so intent on making money (Peddie and Tannenbaum) not understand that their franchise stands to make an extra 3 million in revenue from a single playoff game?
All we have to do is look back to the Quinn days... how many times did this coach/GM take the Leafs to the playoffs? That is a lot of extra money to squander or whatever else Adam P accuses them of...
Peddie and Tannenbaum - STAY the HELL OUT!
Robin Noh (Posted 2008-05-08 19:52:37)
NOT WILLING TO SPEND MONEY?!?!
This is a team that before the lockout spent ridiculous amounts of money to sign players, and during the cap era they play right up to the max. More like bad managment in my opinion.
bob (Posted 2008-05-08 18:57:49)
all I can tell leafs fans, is that here in phiily, we had the leafs version with the baseball phillies, wouldn't spend money, commit to winning and between staying away in droves and talk radio, it HIT THEM IN THE WALLET and then things changed a little for the better, not a total commitment but enough where they won division last year.....only way you're gonna change things is stay away...............
Maxime (Posted 2008-05-08 16:21:02)
I don't think Richard "Yes i swear i know hockey - it's played with some kinda of stick, right?" Peddie will want to sell the team, like ever. Like Ballard, unless someone makes a ridiculously high offer, then the team will be taken when he's on his deathbed. Peddie is one of those man who has enough money he can have pretty much everything he wants, and if he wants a hockey club, and claim he knows how it should work, then he'll do it, and no one can tell him that he's wrong, because HE'S FILTHY RICH! Rich people don't care about the little people, because as long as the little people are willing to pay to see his mediocre product, he will keep on showing his medicore product and pat himself in the back, saying "See! I did a good job! People come see my hockey club, and it makes a lot more money then the others! So see, i'm a great manager!" Peddie doesn't care about performances, he cares about revenue, just like all the big shots! (e.g. Buffalo's owner, whose name i forget). But i must agree : the Leafs, the fans and MLSE will never EVER, as long as Richard Peddie lives (because he will hang on to his milking cow as long as he can), enjoy a championship. He knows nothing, yet believes he knows all...kinda like Don Cherry, but at least, Don at least knows SOME things!
Alexander (Posted 2008-05-08 16:05:13)
Nothing brightens my day, then an article on the ineptitude of the Maple Leafs ownership!
Jay R (Posted 2008-05-08 15:45:20)
Here's an idea! Follow another team!!! MLSE has shown complete disregard for the fans.Wake up,toss your Leaf jerseys,tickets,and your blinders in the garbage and cheer for another team.As long as the circus has funds it will continue!
Matthew Carulli (Posted 2008-05-08 15:07:47)
Ken, that sounds eerily similar to the Pittsburgh Pirates, so I can relate pretty well. Here's an idea: Let Jim Balsillie buy the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ken (Posted 2008-05-08 14:59:14)
One last comment. What if the new G.M. wants Paul Maurice as the head coach.
Ken (Posted 2008-05-08 14:57:02)
Lets face it, as long as Peddie and Tantenbaum run the show, nobody with any real aspirations will want the G.M. job. The 2 aforementioned wanna be hockey gods want somebody they can control. ( Read: Cheap as possible) Getting past this, the total blame lies at the feet of any Toronto fan that continues to pay these two morons by showing up at the games. Until the small minded Toronto fans realize this and make them pay, Toronto will continue to be the laughing stock of the N.H.L. I grew up a Toronto fan, I remained a Toronto fan for 40 years. I quit being a fan in the last 2 years. I feel sorry for any Toronto fan that doesn't understand how they are being used. Good luck with your last place team.
Advertisement
Where do you think Mats Sundin will end up?
Our Partners
The Hockey News Corporation. All Rights Reserved © 2007 Transcontinental
Standards: XHTML 1.0 STRICT + CSS 2. V 1.1 04.03.2008
