Got back to town last night and there was no talk about the Grey Cup game - only that the Maple Leafs had lost another 2 games. There is speculation and rumours regarding a new president, general manager and/or coach. The Toronto Sun suggests that JFJ tried to fire Paul Maurice last week but was not allowed to. But within the organization it appears calm.
So whats really going on? Here are some questions and answers that I've put together that reflects my uninformed perspective.
Is it true that MLSE doesn't care about winning a Stanley Cup and only cares about the bottom line?
I don't think so. Sports leagues have many owners who want to win but have no clue how to build a winner. They are also all owned by business people who like to make money. And some have no clue how to make money owning a franchise. That isn't a problem here. The Leaf owners were one of the top spenders before the salary cap which conveniently papered over years of weak ownership and management. The Chicago Cubs haven't won the World Series since 1908 but not from lack of trying.
Are the Leafs really that bad?
Definitely. They are near the bottom of the league in most statistical areas. No matter who is in their lineup, they play the same sloppy hockey that every team in the league hungry to play the Leafs. Don't be fooled by the occasional strong game. As they say, "even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut."
Why are the Leafs so bad?
Hard to know but like everyone else I have my theory. Five or six years ago they Leafs were tough team to play against with Gary Roberts, Tie Domi, Shane Corson, Travis Green, Wade Belak, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe. They were dirty, mouthy and irritating. Pat Quinn was an offensive minded coach who hated the trap. So he directed an offense oriented team that had lots of irritating players and great goaltending (Joseph and then Belfour) to cover up all their defensive mistakes. Today they are a soft team that plays the same likes to play wide open with just ordinary goaltending. Even the defensemen are offense oriented. It's a formula for disaster.
Who is to blame for this mess, Ferguson, Maurice or the players?
Everyone has to share in the blame. The manager doesn't have the right mix of players to win but thinks he does. No physical players, no strong defensive players. After the lock out he stated that he would hanging onto draft picks because young players were critical to building a winner. He has failed to keep that commitment. But even worse, the assets he has received in exchange for younger players and picks have not helped the team. The coach seems to have lost the players despite their vocal support. If he has a defensive system he isn't evident. Every expansion team coach goes with trap to survive until the franchise develops some good players. It's easy to execute with marginal players and keeps the scores down. Finally, the Leaf players seem to be unable to respond to their coach. I can't explain it. You need to be in the dressing room itself to understand.
But if you want to know where to start, its moving Richard Peddie out of the president's position. It was his idea to bring in an inexperienced GM and he continues to stand by him. The same thing happened to the Raptors when Peddie hired Babcock until they both pushed aside with the hiring of Bryan Colangelo.
Why hasn't Ferguson and/or Maurice been fired and players traded?
I can understand why there has been no firings yet. The most qualified candidates already have jobs. You can get permission to approach them in the off season but not during the season. Still the papers have bounced around all kinds of names and something may still happen. The worse the team does the more likely the organization will have to do something, even if it means bringing in some people on an interim basis. Also, the ownership doesn't need to act quickly because every ticket for the remainder of the season is sold. So that isn't a factor to consider. Which also feeds the perception among fans that the ownership is not interested in winning the Cup.
What would fix this team?
I think only blowing it up will work. The chemistry is all wrong here. Trade away players with big salaries for draft picks and use the money to buy some good free agents next summer. But this is a difficult thing to do in the Toronto market because their is a perception that you need to always ice a competitive team when you are charging the highest ticket prices in the league. However, once the team sinks to the bottom of the standings, the option of tinkering to maintain a competitive team is taken away from you. Also, trading players in this market is a real challenge. High priced players are virtually untradeable until the trade deadline. And the Leafs have at least 4 players with no trade contracts. The next guy has his work cut out for him.
So who would you keep?
Well no one is that good on this team to make them untouchable. The theory for rebuilding under a salary cap is keep underpaid players which provides more money to work with in the future. Not too many players on the Leafs fall into that category.
12 years ago
