Time to Start Inviting Resumes

Barring a truly extraordinary turnaround, the Maple Leaf season won't include a playoff berth, and that has to mean the Pat Quinn era will be over.

'Course, with MLSE, you never know. Quinn might spend a little time at Larry Tanebaum's cottage this summer and - presto! - just like that he'll have a new five-year contract.

But let's assume two things. Let's assume John Ferguson is safe as Leaf GM, and all indications are that he is, and let's assume he'll finally want to hire his own coach.

Quinn gets bumped up to executive vice-president/special consultant/MLSE schmoozer, and on the show goes, with a 40th anniversary celebration scheduled for next spring to mark four decades since George Armstrong hoisted the Stanley Cup.

Hard to believe, but when I first started covering the Leafs, they were only 23 years removed from their last bit of glory.

Now we're almost at 40 with no Cup in sight.

So who's to be the next coach?

The assumption, and it's a reasonable one is, that Marlies coach Paul Maurice will get the job. That makes a lot of sense. He's got NHL experience, he's media savvy and most of the Marlies who have graduated to the big club this year have helped the team.

So he goes in as the No. 1 contender.

But given that MLSE, in hiring Bryan Colangelo, may have suddenly instituted this new policy of actually going out and finding the best candidate possible, it also seems reasonable that the Leafs should look around a bit.

Here's a few names. Feel free to give your thoughts on them or contribute any others.

BRENT SUTTER: Sure, he may be headed to the Islanders, and maybe he'll never leave Red Deer. But wouldn't you at least want to ask? Wouldn't a Sutter look good behind the bench in Toronto?

MARC HABSCHEID: Has worked at the elite levels of international hockey, has played in the NHL and coached successfully in junior. He is ready for an NHL shot.

DALE HUNTER: His situation in London is similar to that of Sutter in Red Deer. But he has been so successful with the Knights he'd certainly be worth talking to.

PATRICK ROY: Roy will end up coaching in the NHL. He's done a marvellous job as owner, president, GM and head coach of the Quebec Remparts this season.

GREG GILBERT: An associate of JFJ's from their St. Louis days. Coach of the Ice Dogs and Canada's under-18 team. Learned from his first, brief shot with the Flames a few years ago.

PETER LAVIOLETTE: He's with the Canes now, but has no contract beyond this season. He might be a free agent.

MARC CRAWFORD: This could be his last year with the Canucks, although two straight wins over Edmonton have improved his status. Formerly the coach of the Leafs' farm club.

RICK TOCCHET: Might be a bit of a gamble, but. . .okay, just having some fun.

Comments

[Canaan Rhodes]

What about Julien?

[Roberto]

I don't get it. I really don't think the Leafs are underachieving, so why fire the coach? The only guy from your list that might be an upgrade is Laviolette. But inject Eric Staal in the current Leafs lineup and remove Staal from Carolina and the teams switch positions in the standings.
Number 1 contender Maurice was fired by the Canes because they couldn't score goals.
What has Crawford accomplished in Vancouver? Anybody could have won with the lineup he had in Colorado.
This season for the Leafs is about two things. Sub par goaltending and JFJ not understanding the impact of the new rules.
Any team with a defense including Khadavernov, Ice Berg, Wade The Pylon Belak and the number 7 defenseman from Columbus , even if they were coached by the best of Scotty Bowman/Toe Blake/Al Arbour and Badger Bob Johnson, cannot win. So why fire the coach?

[ryan]

I think Roy would be a great candidate for the coaching job in T.O. However, i also think with the right line up Quinn could do some damage. Therefore I have to say...FIRE FERGIE!!!

[Bobby Peru]

Ha ha, Damien Cox can't even contain his excitement until the season is over, now that his personal crusade against Quinn may actually be realized. I wonder if he'll be at a loss for material in the post-Quinn era, since getting Quinn fired has seemingly been the organizing principle of Cox's entire existence for years now. Hopefully one of the two will write a memoir one day that will reveal what exactly Quinn did to initiate Cox's obsession. I've always wondered about that. Cox may miss Quinn when he's gone, though, because it'll mean he won't be able to file the same story over and over again.

[Joi]

Quinn has proven before that with the right lineup, he CAN win. (2002 Olympics). of course, most people might call that a fluke, considering what happened in Torino. But to be perfectly honest, he has shown he can get results, in the pre-Fergie era, where the leafs made the conference finals with Cujo? Yeah. Remember that? Well, Fergieboy has done absolutely nothing of the sort since he's been here, with his best deal (and this has been repeated numerous times all over the media) being a waiver pickup from the Habs...That's not a good track record. Fire Fergie, get a decent GM (Think Raptors!), and Leafs Nation will let out a sigh of relief =P

[Rivers]

I know that his name gets tossed out a lot, and it's one that somehow slipped this list: former coach of the year, Ted Nolan.

Want a no-nonsense approach? A quality coach? A stand-up kind of guy who'd bring fresh breath into the Leafs? Look no further.

[JP]

Quinn is past his prime and as for Ferguson he still has a chance to stick around for one more year. However, If Ferguson even thinks of signing McCabe for close to what he's asking he's gotta go. I mean McCabe has said publicly that Kaberle is the best d man in the league. Then shouldn't McCabe get less then Kaberle? Seems right to me.

[R.ST.Germain]

The only guys that would fit the bill for the Leafs are Peter Laviolette and Paul Maurice.The other guys mentioned are not the answer.They are losers.

[kevin long]

Damien, aka (mr leaf negativity..leaf basher..look at all his columns if you disagree)calls the Leafs "liars" in his article today.

I guess its not feasible that the Leafs next year might go from worst to first, just like other clubs in the past? Look no further than Buffalo, Carolina, and the Rangers this year. Damien will say he saw it coming because of the new rules, and the team speed each of these clubs had. Truth is, a new "hot" goaltender, a coach, and another goaltender is primarily the reason for these teams succeeding this year.

Hopefully Damien doens't think that dinosaur Sather had anything to do with the Rangers being a contender this year. The fact is, he sold off all his talent and had no choice but to use young legs and prospects, who along with a hotshot rookie goaltender came together. Same thing could happen to the Leafs next year.

[Mark Breznay]

Either JFJ is totally incompetent, or MLSE has his hands completely tied. I think Quinn is a great coach.
Mark Breznay
Miami Florida

[C.W.J.]

Damien Cox is just a nut case - some of the suggestions he's made for the next coach of the Leafs - surely he's, hee,hee,hee,hee
What's this guy smoking?

[Brian Marto]

Leaf management dropped the ball many years ago instead of building a team to compete with Ottawa they have built a team that would win in the 1970's . Montreal's Bob Gainey got smart and continued with team speed and skill so did New York Alanta you get the idea. The Leafs need a complete clean out from top to bottom, they due have some decent players that can offer speed I like the Klee deal, but Luke Richardson umm ? The new NHL is skill and speed if you do not have it you will not win plain and simple . I look forward to the NHL playoffs ,no more will you see the slow trapping styles, I would like to add the new Nhl could change how we develop players in Canada, speed and skill are going to be the X Factor in hockey .

[Harry Hickman]

Get rid of Ferguson and Quinn,I cannot believe that the "talk" is that Ferguson will keep his job.This season is more on his shoulders than Quinn's.

[Ken Cross]

Damien, you forgot two other potential candidates. 1. Scotty Bowman, I know that he is retired and not sure if there are contractural obligations with the Redwings to come back and coach in the NHL, but he would be the #1 consideration for the job. 2. What about Ted Nolan, still no one in the NHL has given this guy a chance to come back.

The leafs need speed, youth, and an offensive punch in the new NHL, right now they sometimes look like they are out of place on the rink (out for a sunday skate). I hope the offseason, JFJ is looking closely at some free agents and getting rid of the "slackers" in Toronto, ie. Berg, Belak, Lindros, O'Neill,and yes its time to part ways with Domi..

[Dan O.]

People forget that the lack of talent on this team didn't start this year. The abundance of old slow pricey players didn't start this year. The lack of developing younger players didn't start this year. Most of this came to be with Patt Quinn at the helm as both coach and GM.

The comments are right Quinn is not the problem as the coach but he was the problem because of what he did or didn't do as the GM. NObody could win with this bunch of slugs but Quinn must go, for building such a poor team. Ferguson I would leave for one more year. What ever coach they bring in must hold the players acountable. Quinn waited far too long before he started benching and moving guys in and out of the line-up. This is a COUNTRY CLUB HOCKEY TEAM!

[Mobeen]

I agree. Somebody has to go. Who will it be? Only time can tell. But i don't think firing th whole coasching staff is a good idea. The assistant coach Rick has been pretty good. Letting Quinn go is a good idea.

My reasons are simple. Quinn loves certain players and he is loyal to them. It boggles my mind that some players are always on the roster no matter how they play. Tie Domi, Aki Berg, Nik Antropov are certain good examples.

John Ferguson is good guy. But he is not the right fit for this club and i don't thinkk he is too be blamed. For years, MLSE executives have been interested in bringing high profile players to Toronto for the sake of filling seats. The team would get to first or second round of play offs and due to intense interest in hockey in this city, they would make a healthy revenue.

Ferguson is only doing what he is paid to do. If somebody has to the price it has to be the people in executive posts in MLSE and certain people in coaching department.

In my humble opinion. The situation right now is at least good for fans, by not making the play offs the executives might wake up and start looking for young players instead of older NHL stars.

"Speed Kills". We got a very nice educational lesson of this theory by watching Torino Olympics. What Toronto Maple Leafs really need is to structure a young team around players like Matts Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Chad Kilger etc.

New York Rangers are a very good example. The organization went out and structured the whole team around Jaromir Jagr. As a result, we have a combination of average players turned into goal scoring machines.

Just look at Jonathan Cheecho and Joe Thornton. Few people saw that one coming.

[Ryan Hurley]

What about Andy Murray? He did a good job in L.A. for a number of years. If not for the injuries in Los Angeles this year he'd still be there..

[Paul]

I'm all for giving Maurice a shot but I also like the idea of having a Sutter behind the bench. Imagine skating back to the bench after dogging it for your 40-second shift. The work ethic he would instill would be something new for this Leafs group. However, the ingrained aura of futility and dysfunction would eventually sicken Sutter like all the others before him who came with good intentions. Once you come into this organization, you come out a different person.

Quinn may not be a bad coach but he's had his time with nothing to show for it. I've also had enough of Rick Ley. How this guy keeps his job is Houdini-like! The way the Leafs handle this off-season will say a lot about the future. Will it be the same money-first philosophy or will they actually try to win something? Why they would hire a rookie GM in a hockey city like Toronto only shows that money-first philosophy may win ... again.

[Naz Ihejirika]

The biggest problems with the Leafs have little or nothing to do with the coach.....now I'm not saying that Quinn is the best out there, but when you have a bunch of old forwards who are past their prime (especially defensively), were willing to overpay a 39-yr old goalie with a bad back in a 2-yr deal in this cap-conscious NHL, and rather than make improvements and develop young players continue to fool yourself into thinking you'll make the playoffs; I think the problem is with this GM who has done nothing right in his tenure. Look at teams like Ottawa, Carolina and Buffalo who are enjoying success this season, they are doing so with young talented players and after a year or two of rebuilding.
Chasing short-term success at the expense of long-term gain is what has dragged the Leafs down. Ferguson and half his roster should be kicked out.

[amn]

I have always believed assistant Keith Acton to be a quality candidate, although too close to current situation for next year's leafs.

[LoveandhateLeaffan]

OK, time for my two cents here. First off, Quinn WAS an excellent coach. When he first took over the leaf reins in 1998, he took a cellar-dwelling team with little to no positive aspects, and turned their focus on speed, skill and timely goaltending from one Curtis Joseph. At that point, the average age of the core was around 25,26. Now go back two years, to the 2003/04 team. A bunch of slow, overpaid veterans with no commitment to team defence, and a goaltender who routinely bailed out the club by being spectacular nine games out of ten.
Now that Belfour is not the goalie that he used to be, those major holes in the defensive game are being exploited, along with the fact that the team can't fill the net like they used to.
But I ask you, is Buffalo or Carolina what you'd call stacked teams?
No, they just play as a team, believe in their coaches, and excel at what their individual talents are. New Jersey has no all-stars on their blue line, with the possible exception of Colin White, and they are near the top of the league in goals against. And the GM is running that team.
So, is Quinn really that great a coach? Is he really that great a GM? Dmitri Khristich, Robert Reichel, Nik Antropov all say no.
But you only need look at the standings to see that when his coaching skills are really needed, ie, coaching an expensive group of underachievers and getting the best out of them, and you have your answer.

[Marcel Wegman]

What about getting Wayne Gretzky now that would be a steal.

[Brian Marto]

What the Leafs need is a new direction a changing of the guard. Pat Quinn is a great coach but Toronto needs youth and speed right now . Problem is us fans can we put up with not making the playoffs in the next few years in order to rebuild this team. Look at Pittsburg they will be a team to reckon with in the future it just takes time. I agree on bringing CUJO back but what will that do to Telly's mind set. I would give Eric Lindros another year but really from Eric I would keep maybe 7 players, trade your vets for draft picks build the farm system, give Keith Acton the Marlie job and let Paul Maurice take over the Head Coach job. If we can improve the speed on the team it will make the team fun to watch.