As everyone this side of Singapore knows, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired bench boss Paul Maurice last week after two disappointing seasons.
The dismissal came a few months after general manager John Ferguson Jr. was axed and it creates another hole for a team very much in disarray.
The Leafs are now without a coach, a general manager, and possibly a captain, with Mats Sundin's contract status up in the air.
They are without a lot of other things too. Leadership, heart, accountability, toughness, identity—you name it, the Leafs don't have it.
That's why the next coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs has to be more than just a winner. It has to be someone who instills a sense of team.
It has to be a coach who gets the players to stick up for each other, so that when Tomas Kaberle takes a cheap shot from Cam Janssen, someone takes him to task.
It has been embarrassing enough to watch the Leafs' on-ice failures in recent years, without seeing them stand still while teammates are being pushed around.
The current group also lacks accountability.
When so-called "leaders" like Bryan McCabe (*snicker*) constantly shrug off their screw-ups and failures like they're no big deal, there is a major problem.
When you add the fact that the Leafs will likely be a young, inexperienced team over the next couple of years, if Cliff Fletcher has his way, that makes it more difficult to find a suitable coach.
Someone who's a proven motivator and keeps his players accountable yet has the patience to deal with young players and their mistakes. That's a tall order.
So, who should be the next coach of the Leafs? There is no easy answer.
Ron Wilson has dealt with young players, but his playoff record isn't great. Joel Quenneville is used to dealing with experienced teams, as is Pat Burns.
Then again, any of those men might work out fine in Toronto.
Or maybe a minor-league coach would too. The experience factor is often not as important in the coaching game as with general managers.
Look at Bruce Boudreau or John Stevens. Look at Gary Green, who took over the Washington Capitals at 26 years old and oversaw a significant improvement. Scotty Bowman was once a young buck as well.
That doesn't mean the Leafs should hire an unknown to run the bench. It just means that coaching is unpredictable and sometimes the perfect fit comes from a strange source.
But whoever it is, he has to instill accountability, teamwork, and work ethic. Without those, the Leafs will be developing yet another generation of players destined for failure.
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about 1 month ago
I think Quenneville will end up in Ottawa. They need someone to motivate, and plain get tough on the guys who aren't pulling their weight. Q will would also deal with the Emery situation (if he was there last year). He's a no non-sense kind of guy, which is something Ottawa needs. Someone to tell Spezza to smarten the hell up! Know what I mean?
It will be interesting who will end up in Toronto. Dealing with the media, and the guys upstairs... how about John Tortorella! Can you image the media frenzy. I'm crossing my fingers for the entertainment value.
about 1 month ago
I hope Ottawa doesn't hire Quenneville, for the simple fact that he would make them a better team and I would not like that.
Tortorella, lord no, he'd destroy our young players. Maybe Ottawa? Haha.
about 1 month ago
The Leafs have to get at the very least - a new manager in place now. If they don't then Fletcher will be the one at the helm when they enter this years draft... And what kind of manager wants to take on a team where every change he wants to make might be at the risk of one of the new "Fletcher" picks...Me thinks yet another "lame duck manager"
about 1 month ago
Obi Wan Kenobi? To paraphrase Princess Leia, he may be our only hope.
I think they should strongly consider Ted Nolan if he becomes available (and it sounds like he might). He has always been able to get bad teams to play above their heads and the Leafs figure to be a bad team. What about Kirk Muller? He did a great job with the Habs powerplay this year - well, regular season anyway - and you can't seem to go wrong with these Montreal guys. Not sure if he's ready to make the jump to prime time just yet but he also offers good name recognition which seems to be important to Leafs management.
about 1 month ago
All depends on what the game plan is going forward. If they're going to try to push for a playoff spot next year, Nolan would be a good choice. But if they truly commit to the rebuild and go the Tavares route, I they probably wouldn't want a guy who'll make them better in the short term. Like it or not, a HUGE part of successful rebuilds is having a team bad enough to land you an elite young player.
Just ask the 1984 Pittsburgh Penguins. If they'd finished three points higher, they would have had Muller instead of Mario.
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