RealGM

Title says it all.

Bryan ........... er.....

Scotty Bowman.

Your pick?

I think one of two situations will occur.

Young, up and comers:
A management committee made up of the likes of Yzerman, Messier, Gilmour, etc. which can easily be sold to the public and would be atttractive enough for names to come to the city. Fletcher can build the scouting staff and stay on as a senior advisor/President and at some point someone will distinguish themselves and take the reigns.

Solid Senior/closet yes man:
I can see David Poille coming here in the off season. it makes sense as he and Cliff have worked together since Cliff gave him his first job in Atlanta and they worked together in Calgary as well. Poille is not interested in Nashville, especially if they are going to Kansas City, and he buiult that franchise from the ground up, using scouting and the draft, without spending up to the cap.

I think Fletcher will begin cleaning house this week and if he really has his waty, expect a number of buyouts if they can't deal some of these contracts. I feel for Ferguson- no one deserves to be treated like that. In all fairness though, he made bad trades, bad signings and wasn't successful, which ultimitely has led to this situation.

getzky

kelso wrote:I think one of two situations will occur.

Young, up and comers:
A management committee made up of the likes of Yzerman, Messier, Gilmour, etc. which can easily be sold to the public and would be atttractive enough for names to come to the city. Fletcher can build the scouting staff and stay on as a senior advisor/President and at some point someone will distinguish themselves and take the reigns.

Solid Senior/closet yes man:
I can see David Poille coming here in the off season. it makes sense as he and Cliff have worked together since Cliff gave him his first job in Atlanta and they worked together in Calgary as well. Poille is not interested in Nashville, especially if they are going to Kansas City, and he buiult that franchise from the ground up, using scouting and the draft, without spending up to the cap.

I think Fletcher will begin cleaning house this week and if he really has his waty, expect a number of buyouts if they can't deal some of these contracts. I feel for Ferguson- no one deserves to be treated like that.
In all fairness though, he made bad trades, bad signings and wasn't successful, which ultimitely has led to this situation.

I don't know what he could have done considering he didn't have a mandate to overhaul the team. Typical Peddie sheit.

Poile would be a good choice, and the right kind of move.

But will they just try and win the press conference again? Stay tuned...

Unemployed? I'd take a look at guys like Neil Smith and Doug Armstrong I suppose.

Realistically? I'd really like to see Tambellini given a shot.

emfive wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I don't know what he could have done considering he didn't have a mandate to overhaul the team. Typical Peddie sheit.

If you look at it that way then, he failed miserably at achieving success now. The proof is in the pudding- just look at the decisions he made:

- extended Ed Belfour, through the lockout, and before back surgery
- extended McCabe for more money then anyone had, or was going to offer
- Signed Jason Alison, Eric Lindros, Alex Khavanov- all of whom were duds
- Signed Kubina for stupid money
- Signed Jeff O'Neill
- Traded Rassk for Raycroft
- Extended Raycroft
- Traded Brended Bell for Perrault
- no movement contracts to McCabe, Tucker, Kaberle, Sundin
- Basically has kept signing the majority of his free agents (Stajan, Antripov, Poni, Kilger, Belak, etc.) on a team that has not come close to achieving the level of success expected
- trading draft picks for a goalie, and absorbing a contract (Bell) in the process
- 5 years and 20 mil for Blake, who scored 30 goals once and will be 39 at the end of his deal

Did I miss anything??

Its very easy for me to throw stones from my armchair, but truth is JFJ made bad trades, signed bad contracts and failed at improving the hockey club. You can't dispute that.

Holland.

kelso wrote:

emfive wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I don't know what he could have done considering he didn't have a mandate to overhaul the team. Typical Peddie sheit.

If you look at it that way then, he failed miserably at achieving success now. The proof is in the pudding- just look at the decisions he made:

- extended Ed Belfour, through the lockout, and before back surgery
- extended McCabe for more money then anyone had, or was going to offer
- Signed Jason Alison, Eric Lindros, Alex Khavanov- all of whom were duds
- Signed Kubina for stupid money
- Signed Jeff O'Neill
- Traded Rassk for Raycroft
- Extended Raycroft
- Traded Brended Bell for Perrault
- no movement contracts to McCabe, Tucker, Kaberle, Sundin
- Basically has kept signing the majority of his free agents (Stajan, Antripov, Poni, Kilger, Belak, etc.) on a team that has not come close to achieving the level of success expected
- trading draft picks for a goalie, and absorbing a contract (Bell) in the process
- 5 years and 20 mil for Blake, who scored 30 goals once and will be 39 at the end of his deal

Did I miss anything??

Its very easy for me to throw stones from my armchair, but truth is JFJ made bad trades, signed bad contracts and failed at improving the hockey club. You can't dispute that.

- As much I dislike McCabe, if he were a Free Agent this past offseason, he would've recieved a comparable contract.

- Jason Allison was actually a pretty decent player for the Leafs. He was criticized for his lack of speed, but did exceptionally well on the PP, and put up points in the process. Eric Lindros was at one point one of our leading scorers until he was injured, he was a cheap gamble that didn't pay off due to injuries.

- Jeff O'Neill was recently removed from a cup run that saw him put him good numbers for Carolina. We traded away a 4th rounder (I believe) in exchange for him. He put up half decent numbers, but was wildly inconsistant. However, the 4th rounder we gave up wasn't anything to lose sleep about.

- Bell for Perrault? Bell was recently played on waivers. Our true loss was the 2nd rounder, not Bell.

- He kept and re-signed Antropov...and how has that turned out so far this season? I don't like Stajan, but he's young and worth keeping around. Poni is a good marginal 2nd line/3rd line player, and Kilger is a perfect 4th liner.

- Trading that draft choice for Toskala may go down as his best trade as Leafs GM. The outcome of that trade is starting to show, Toskala is an extremely good goaltender.

- The Blake signing was a good one at the time. Ferguson was expected to win games, and signed a player a season removed from recording 40 goals. He hasn't been bad this season, just hasn't played as well as he's capable of. Again, if Ferguson is expected to win hockey games, and is told to do so by upper management, the Blake signing is obviously a good one. It isn't for a rebuilding team though.


Ferguson's moves throughout his tenure were due to his lack of control over this franchise. When he stepped in, he wasn't given many tradeable assets (enough to contend), was expected to plan under a hard cap when the team was designed otherwise...and was forced to create transactions in the best interest of winning. It'd be rather difficult for an inexperienced GM to take a team in the position they were in (aging vets) and suddenly make them a young exciting team with the assets he was given.

He did however provide this team with players that will contribute in the future. He did an excellent job drafting, and he came away with some sleepers. If he's going to be hired in the near future with any NHL franchise, it'll be focused solely on his drafting abilities.

Simply put, Ferguson was not the right man for the job, especially in Toronto. He was placed under the spotlight from day one, and was expected to perform with little freedom. If he was placed in a smaller market, perhaps it would've been different. He was too inexperienced when he was hired, and was a mistake from the get go.

Though it is completely abnormal, I am dying to see a "team" of GMs as listed above for one team. I think it would just be interesting to see how it plays out.

If they could somehow get Bryan Burke that would be the best. He would be the best guy IMHO.

Doesn't Burke have an opt out at year's end? If so he's my guy (bitching and moaning about RFA's notwithstanding).

After that I go to Poile, then Rutherford.

There's so much supposition surrounding this team, it's very difficult to separate truth from fiction.

As Cox intimated in his article from today's Star, "Can Fletcher Save The Leafs?", if the Leafs spurned Scotty Bowman in favour of Cliff Fletcher, I'm not sure this franchise through it's star-studded selection committee (Peddie & friends) will ever be able to choose an appropriate successor.

What's wrong with Scotty Bowman?? To my mind, limited as it is, he would have been an ideal selection: he's had success and commands respect. If all the scuttlebutt about autonomy is true, Bowman is exactly the sort who wouldn't cowtow to bosses who aren't hockey experts. His pedigree of winning sends the right message through the organization. A useful side effect, probably, would be that he would bring in terrific hockey people, setting up the franchise for future success.

So, if not Bowman, then who? This thread has listed a bunch of good names: Burke (who I'd love to see in TO), Poille, Ken Holland, Doug Armstrong, Neil Smith, Steve Tambellini. The only reassurance I feel as a fan of this team during the new 'selection process' (why do the Leafs have to be so public and idiotic about their internal dealings?), is that because Peddie hired an unproven GM last time, he will feel pressured to choose someone with a full resume. Hopefully that person also has a strong personality to mitigate the oft-rumoured meddlesome 'board'... hence why I would like to see a curmudgeon like Burke take over the team.

If the top guys (Burke, Holland, Poille, Smith) turn down the job, Leafs fans will know not much has changed.[/url]

Burke or Bowman. . .