I’ve been a Leaf fan since Lanny MacDonald and Borje Salming were rookies; to this day they remain my favorite Leafs. Lanny was the lucky one, after getting traded from this dysfunctional franchise he became a prolific goal scorer and eventually won the Cup with the Flames – Borje was not so fortunate. Mats Sundin has probably come to the realization that if he isn’t traded soon he will be walking in Borje’s footsteps.
After the Leafs were eliminated from playoff contention, Sportsnet saw fit to dredge up old nightmares by airing a four part profile of Harold Ballard. One item from it stood out above all: even though he drove a prestigious hockey club into the toilet, Ballard still managed to amass a fortune of over $100 million. Others were quickly attracted to what had become an unhindered cash flow. Except for a brief interregnum between Ballard’s demise and the take over of Steve Stavro, profits have always been put ahead of the welfare of the club. Even when the team was winning, the “board” invested just enough to keep the team competitive but not be a serious contender for the Stanley Cup. This “board” has become so bloated that they behave like pigs at a trough, and none is fatter than the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Fund and their conniving front man Richard Peddie. This man genuinely makes my skin crawl.
His record with the Raptors speaks for itself, but once he outmaneuvered Ken Dryden, whose six Cup rings worked against him, it was clear that his incompetence would befall the Leafs. The Fans deserved a top tier general manager – so Peddie gave us John Ferguson Jr. Since he was in an impossible position I was willing to give Jr the benefit of the doubt, but his news conference to announce that Quinn had been fired was a complete disaster. He gave the impression of a man who is utterly clueless, continuously falling back on his tiresome obfuscations to cover up for the fact he’s overwhelmed. I thought to myself “even Gerry McNamara could have done a better job”. Unless he is paid millions of dollars, I can’t see Paul Maurice wanting to coach this team. His prospects are so much better elsewhere. Nor can I foresee any impact free agents wanting to play for this dysfunctional franchise.
Even though management worked against them there were years when the Leafs were on the verge of pulling of a Cup fluke. In 1993 they came close, but they were already running on empty by the time Kerry Fraser refused to call a match penalty on Gretzky, in 2002 it was a different story. The Leafs had swept the Sens, and then they had the New Jersey Devils on the brink of elimination. It appeared that the streak of futility would finally be broken…until Tie Domi decided to take out Scott Niedermeyer. If he had played on a well run franchise Tie Domi would never have been allowed to return to the team. Recently he insinuated that Quinn had made a mistake by benching him during the run to the playoffs. I agree with him; had he played the Leafs would have gotten a higher draft pick.
Even though I’ve ranted so extensively I’ll always remain a Leaf fan. Perhaps if the Senators win the Cup, Leafs upper management may finally be purged…but I seriously doubt that. I’ve come to the realization that the St Louis Browns have a better chance of winning the World Series than the Leafs have of winning the Stanley Cup.
After the Leafs were eliminated from playoff contention, Sportsnet saw fit to dredge up old nightmares by airing a four part profile of Harold Ballard. One item from it stood out above all: even though he drove a prestigious hockey club into the toilet, Ballard still managed to amass a fortune of over $100 million. Others were quickly attracted to what had become an unhindered cash flow. Except for a brief interregnum between Ballard’s demise and the take over of Steve Stavro, profits have always been put ahead of the welfare of the club. Even when the team was winning, the “board” invested just enough to keep the team competitive but not be a serious contender for the Stanley Cup. This “board” has become so bloated that they behave like pigs at a trough, and none is fatter than the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Fund and their conniving front man Richard Peddie. This man genuinely makes my skin crawl.
His record with the Raptors speaks for itself, but once he outmaneuvered Ken Dryden, whose six Cup rings worked against him, it was clear that his incompetence would befall the Leafs. The Fans deserved a top tier general manager – so Peddie gave us John Ferguson Jr. Since he was in an impossible position I was willing to give Jr the benefit of the doubt, but his news conference to announce that Quinn had been fired was a complete disaster. He gave the impression of a man who is utterly clueless, continuously falling back on his tiresome obfuscations to cover up for the fact he’s overwhelmed. I thought to myself “even Gerry McNamara could have done a better job”. Unless he is paid millions of dollars, I can’t see Paul Maurice wanting to coach this team. His prospects are so much better elsewhere. Nor can I foresee any impact free agents wanting to play for this dysfunctional franchise.
Even though management worked against them there were years when the Leafs were on the verge of pulling of a Cup fluke. In 1993 they came close, but they were already running on empty by the time Kerry Fraser refused to call a match penalty on Gretzky, in 2002 it was a different story. The Leafs had swept the Sens, and then they had the New Jersey Devils on the brink of elimination. It appeared that the streak of futility would finally be broken…until Tie Domi decided to take out Scott Niedermeyer. If he had played on a well run franchise Tie Domi would never have been allowed to return to the team. Recently he insinuated that Quinn had made a mistake by benching him during the run to the playoffs. I agree with him; had he played the Leafs would have gotten a higher draft pick.
Even though I’ve ranted so extensively I’ll always remain a Leaf fan. Perhaps if the Senators win the Cup, Leafs upper management may finally be purged…but I seriously doubt that. I’ve come to the realization that the St Louis Browns have a better chance of winning the World Series than the Leafs have of winning the Stanley Cup.
