Wednesday, May 07, 2008

And the band played on...

Apparently Paul Maurice has been fired as Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It would seem the powers-that-be in Leafland have overlooked the fact that Maurice had ZERO talent to work with! And, I thought the incoming General Manager was supposed to decide Maurice's fate?

I'm beginning to think that Cliff Fletcher - originally hired as a short-term GM after John Ferguson Jr. was fired - is going to stay on through next season. After that, Brian Burke's contract with Anaheim expires and the folks at MLSE will offer Burke whatever he wants to take over. Or not. Logic doesn't usually factor into too many decisions surrounding that hockey club.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul Maurice simply had to go. He missed the playoffs 2 years in a row. Regarding talent he may not have had the most talent, but many times that team was absolutely listless, and quite frankly as a Leafs Fan I wanted to puke watching them play the slow, plodding defensive hockey. He had 8 years in Carolina which was about 4 years longer than he should have been there. Minnesota doesn't have talent, but they compete. Washington wasn't loaded, but they competed. It was the right decision, and right now MLSE should be contacting Doug Armstrong in Dallas to see if he wants the job.

I've never been impressed with Burke. I was unimpressed when he was running Hartford. Vancouver never went anywhere with him, and when he got to Anahiem the table was set pretty good.

Pac58 said...

Not the first time I've heard Armstrong suggested. He did build a pretty good team. I still haven't heard a solid reason why he was fired by the Stars. Maybe just to create a job for Brett Hull? Anyway, he'd certainly be somebody worth talking to.

Anonymous said...

Geez, it appears that Spokane went through Lethbridge like a hot knife through butter. I guess being rated near or at the top of the CHL all year has some merrit.

I was reading where the Chiefs haven't been to the League final since 2000...boo hoo...Try being a Pat fan, we haven't been there in 25 years. I still think there is something goddam wrong here, very wrong. The last two ownerships groups haven't done any playoff winning. Frankly I couldn't give a crap if these guys sell out. It is time to get someone who can actually build a champion.