Leafs Notes: Management Silent, But Stirring

After Saturday nights loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, rumors were running rampant that the Board of Governors of the Toronto Maple Leafs were planning on meeting this Tuesday to discuss the future of Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. and head coach Paul Maurice.  Earlier today I heard that the meeting in fact would not take place, in fact the chairman of the board, Larry Tanenbaum is not even in the country.

If Leafs fans hadn't been through enough already, this one was just another slap in the face to some of sports most loyal fans.  The fact that the board seen a meeting as such an inconvenience was enough of a kick to the collective guts of Leafs nation. 

But just because they were silent, doesn't mean they weren’t stirring.

As reported on TSN earlier tonight, the Maple Leafs have contacted former General Manager Cliff Fletcher about his interest in becoming the Interim GM for the remainder of the season.  It appears that the Leafs are content to go through the rest of the season with an interim GM, and to conduct a more thorough search in the offseason to find a full time replacement.  Rumored to be on that short list are Neil Smith, Ken Holland, and Brian Burke.

Back to Fletcher, who if he accepted the job would A) be his second tenure with the club and B) signal the demise of current GM John Ferguson Jr.

Fletcher made his mark with the Calgary Flames as their general manager, but was hired by the Maple Leafs in 1991.  His biggest move with the Leafs was the trade with his former club, the Flames, that brought the Leafs fan favorite Doug Gilmour.  It was in that same year that Fletcher also hired Pat Burns to coach the team.  

The organization contacted him early this morning.  Fletcher has since not been available for comment, so whether or not he is interested in the job is up in the air, although many are speculating that he would jump at the idea, and there are several reasons pointing in that direction.

Obviously there is the familiarity factor.  As noted before Fletcher has been here before, he knows how to handle the pressure of the Toronto spotlight.  Also he is currently in limbo with his job position with the Phoenix Coyotes club.  He was fired last year, but is still under contract, and is still being paid by the Coyotes.  Another interesting item is the fact that Fletcher's daughter, Kristy, works with MLSE.  She is the director of executive suites for both the Maple Leafs and Raptors.

So while it remains to be seen who else the Maple Leafs have contacted, simple mans logic would say that Fletcher most likely would be interested, but that remains to be seen.  

As far as the Leafs on the ice, they did practice today.  It was a real up-tempo practice where every player was working real hard for the entire time.  During the post practice scrum, Paul Maurice called out Toronto sports writer (and perennial Leafs basher) Steve Simmons.  Simmons asked him what he thought about Ferguson trying to fire him twice, only to be told by the board he wasn't allowed.  Maurice snapped back saying he didn't know that was the truth for sure, and he had never heard that from anyone within the organization.  He also wondered if Simmons had wrote it so many times he began to believe it himself. 

Remember the Maple Leafs are in action tomorrow night against the high powered Hurricanes.  The game will take place at the Air Canada Centre.  Game time is 7:30 PM and remember to check this spot Wednesday afternoon for my game notes and summary.