An Old Story, But Still A Good One

These days, news can be news twice. Just depends on how its packaged.

So HNIC's interview with Scotty Bowman on Saturday night, while well-done by host Ron MacLean, was a case in point.

Many news outlets are breathlessly now writing and broadcasting stories on the interview, particularly the part where Bowman tells how he was turned down by the Leafs - or Richard Peddie - last August as the team's new hockey boss.

All good stuff. Just old.

Bowman said all of this several months ago on The Fan 590 morning show, where he is one of the weekly insider guests.

He talked about his discussions with Larry Tanenbaum. He talked about meeting with Peddie, and then eventually being told his services weren't required.

This is not to say, by the way, that HNIC was claiming it was breaking new ground with the Bowman interview. It's just others who weren't paying attention back in the fall when Bowman first laid out the entire course of last summer's events who are interpreting this is as hot new stuff.

So to repeat myself, I don't think the important point here is whether Bowman would or would not be a good choice. It would depend on the role and the job description and the authority he was given.

What's interesting is that Peddie, who has a history of hiring weak, inexperienced executives to run the basketball and hockey operations, was clearly not interested in Bowman mostly because, having already given up ground to Bryan Colangelo on the Raptor side of the things, he wasn't will to do the same on the Leaf side.

He wasn't willing, essentially, to hire his own replacement as Leaf president.

So choosing to tell Bowman to take a hike had nothing to do with hockey, or building a championship team in Toronto.

It had only to do with MLSE politics.

And that's nothing new either.

Comments

[steve guerrera]

We need a billionaire (RIM guy comes to mind)who shares in the love of our buds and to put a beating heart back in the team. Pressure (in the form of negative publicity) must be put on the Ontario Teachers PP to sell..the following link is a list of major investments by OTPP:

http://www.otpp.com/web/website.nsf/web/majorinvestments

All true leaf fans should revamp their portfolios accordingly.

[Shafraz surabi]

I agree its politics that is hurting the leafs. That was apparent when they hired JFJ, didn't pat Quinn want the autonomy bowman needs? Peddle needs another lame duck like ferguson, so he can still have control. Any great hockey mind can only fix the leafs without peddle's interference, and JFJ gone!

[Sean]

"I don't think the important point here is whether Bowman would or would not be a good choice."

What a convenient copout. That's two articles you've written today that mention Bowman, and you still won't say whether you think he's a good choice or not.

A cynic might think that you're waiting to see how it plays out to make sure you come down on the right side of the question -- which of course will be the one that allows you to criticize the Leafs organization (and their "sheep" fans of course).

They hire Bowman? What a mistake, he's too old and out-of-touch! They don't hire Bowman? What a mistake, he was exactly the kind of veteran mind they needed!

How about putting your cards on the table up front for a change?

[Guido]

Sean .. that's the media in Toronto for you. Everybody thinks they know everything.

The problem is simply the structure. Who they get to replace JFJ is immaterial. Until The structure is fixed, anyone is doomed to fail.

[matt]

The Leafs will go nowhere as long as an egomaniacal suit like Richard Peddie has anything to do with decisions that will impact the on-ice product. He would do the team and their fans a favor if he decided to focus on his strenghts, like hawking condos, and other blue and white crack with Tom Anselmi, and hire Scotty Bowman (who is clearly willing to do the job) to be President of the Leafs.

Bowman's hiring would have a similar effect to Brian Colangelo taking over the Raptors: it would relegate Peddie to his intended role as one of the faceless skexis that oversee the continued deluge of cash into the coffers of the Teachers' Pension Plan and BellGlobeMediaexpialladocious. By providing a buffer between the inanity of the MLSE executive and the actual hockey operations, Bowman (as Colangelo did on the basketball side) would instantly instill a sense of optimism and pride throughout the program and would give the Leafs the ability to attract competent, even (dare to dream) excellent hockey execs. He may be ageing, but Bowman would surround himself with intelligent people would, I'm sure, hire a good young hockey exec to be GM.

The fact that there is no successor to Ferguson, nobody with the ability to take over in an emergency is unacceptable. Peddie's lack of a contingency plan is damning evidence that he has no idea what he's doing actually running a hockey team. Has Ferguson's performance been so stellar (or even acceptable compared to his peers) that a plan B wasn't scribbled on the back of a blue and white cocktail napkin as some point?

When Peddie hired Colangelo he famously noted that there had been "too many suits" on the basketball side of the organization and that more hoops lifers were needed to lend the team some wisdom. Either arrogance or ignorance prevented Peddie from drawing the same logical conclusions about the hockey team on the other side of the hall. One can almost hear the thought process "Meh...we're Canadians, we KNOW hockey. That basketball stuff might as well be cricket."

Hopefully the team on the ice continues to nose dive to the bottom of the standings, leaving as much egg on the face of Tricky Dicky Peddie and poor JFJ. Perhaps the embarassing performance of the team coupled with the comission of this infamous report on all 30 GM's will allow the mysterious board to take some "decisive action" in a month or so.

[Bruce]

Scotty Bowman is a coach, not General Manager. I seem to recall that sometime back, quite awhile ago, Bowman was a GM and failed. If he is as good as all who praise him think he is, wouldn't one think that Detroit would have him as GM instead of Holland??
Bring in an experienced GM, someone who will get noticed and respected by the other GM's in the league. Someone who can evaluate talent, both on the ice and off.

[Mark Scully]

I think Scotty Bowman's history shows that he was an outstanding coach, but an average GM. His period as GM with the Sabres from the early to late '80's was not that successful. That being said, he would have to be better than JFJ.

[Kevin Fauth]

The longer this goes the longer it feels like they will do nothing at all. As hind-sight is perfect, it seemed that if they were going to save this season, the time to have done it has passed us by. It seems that changes won't be made for the simple fact that they can't or they don't care. Sure they are making money but some of these guys have to at least be hockey fans to some degree... or at least be well acquainted with people who are hockey fans. If they don't do something before the trade deadline it definitely shows that they [the board and others -- Peddie] just do not care. There is no sense of urgency and no sense of personal failure for these people.

[Eli]

That's fine (the fact it was on the radio before, and, i think, print too), but nothing resonates quite like one of hockey's greats in the flesh telling his tale of rejection to a national audience with the Leafs at their absolute depth (maybe?).

The timing was exquisite. Or if a diehard, it bordered on piling on.

And with the increasing appearances in recent times of Bizarro MacLean, with his tangents that interest no one, it was nice to see the guy who is hockey's Russert (friendly with his subjects but probing) back in action.

[Paul]

Peddie is just trying to save his face. If he hires Bowman, Smith, Healey, etc. its just putting him out of a job. He wants control. Bottom line, fire Peddie & JFJ, hire a real executive like Bryan Colangelo with the Raptors (ie. Bowman!).

[dennis]

Not that it will make a lick of difference, but I've set up a petition calling for Peddie to be fired immediately for the sake of whatever pride Toronto hockey fans can still muster:

http://www.dennis.ca/weblog/2008/01/13/fire-richard-peddie-now/

[Sandy T.]

"Bowman said all of this several months ago on The Fan 590 morning show, where he is one of the weekly insider guests."

Many of us who read this blog, or watch HNIC, aren't privy to the daily droolings of The Fan 590, ergo, without larger sources like the CBC passing on said information quite a few of us outside the GTA may very well have been hearing from Scotty for the first time.

And you are absolutely correct... the big issue here isn't whether or not Bowman would or would not be a good choice, the BIG issue here is Richard Peddie's steadfast, Ballardian refusal to get his beak out and give up control of this team to genuine hockey people. The debate over who their eventual saviour might be is always going to be secondary to that.

Whatever drives Peddie, it's increasingly clear that he's quite willing to take a chance on sacrificing the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club at the altar of his own pipedreams, and that Does Not make him a good leader.

Something else for the board to consider?

[smokey]

I agree that sports writers earn their living by offering cticisms when teams struggle. Damien seldom writes anything positive. Scotty Bowman is not a young man anyomre and does have heath issues so he would struggle under the burden of the constant negative Toronto media. It would simply take far too long to re-build the team and there is no patience amongst first the media and secondly the fans for that.

I just do not see how or why a change right now is going bring about immediate improvements but if a change is done , it needs to be an interim management team to give the organization time to pick from all available candidates. Toronto has got to be the hardest place to play now and I suspect any free agents must think twice about ever signing with the Leafs. The Toronto media needs to lighten up and not consider it their modus operandi to diss the team and what makes them think they are qualified to do so.

[Faraz Farooqi]

Thanks Damien for counselling the dumb hockey heads in Toronto -- I have to say that your advice Mr. Cox, in addition to being timely, for our unsavy hockey cheifs, is also a blessing in disguise -- something that they should a) act upon, b) reward you for it and c) gracefully relinquish control of hockey operations thereafter.

The hockey problem in this city is simple to solve and fans should not have to suffer due to their nagging tendencies to keep making their pretty pennies while an original six hockey club frustrates its players, fans, and future prospects who had wanted to come to Toronto Maple Leafs but may now be reconsidering other options.

Thanks again Damien!

Go Leafs Go ! (although I gotta tell you, that this loyalty is going through its most fragile stages ever -- and I am not the only Leaf fan feeling this way)

[Susan Smith]

There was a suggestion this morning in the Star that if Ferguson is fired then the interim management team could be run by Jeff Jackson, Doug Gilmour or Glenn Healy-more wallowing in the quagmire the Leafs find themselves in! Undoubtedly,Gilmour is still one of the most popular Leafs in Toronto but popularity and being one of the best Leaf players of all time does not guarantee outstanding management skills. If he has been effective as the Player Development advisor, a position he has held for 18 months, then surely there would be more prospects being developed for the future in the farm system.
Gilmour was very supportive of Mark Bell coming here( they are good friends)That proved to be a bad decision and hockey should be run as a business , not a friendship club! Since Gretzky's "cronies" were fired in Phoenix, the team has completely turned itself around and Gretzky may be considered for the Jack Adams trophy. Healy is a wonderful hockey analyst but again no hockey management experience. By this token why not give a very passionate fan a shot at the job?! Theycouldn't make more of a mess This downward spiral of a former proud hockey franchise was CAUSED by hiring an inexperienced GM so why more of the same? If definitive action is taken, then it should be for a complete change of direction with a very strong hockey management person otherwise they may as well keep Ferguson. However this may be a pipe dream for the fans since it seems that Peddie and the board are loath to relinquish their control and fans blindly pay the ridiculous prices at the ACC regardless of the product being delivered. .

[Andrew]

Actually Sean, Damien is saying it doesn't matter whether or not Bowman would work out. He's not arguing that point at all, but is rather stating pretty clearly that this isn't about Bowman - it's about the dysfunctional mind of Richard Peddie.

Back to the post, it should be pretty clear by now that the only management-side change that needs to be made with the Leafs is to get Peddie the heck out of there. He's a Ballard-esque poison who's stunting the franchise's success for the sake of his own personal pride.

I think Paul Maurice is a great coach, and with his experience coaching the kids would be a great choice to lead the rebuilding from behind the bench. Ferguson's actual ability to be an NHL-caliber GM is definitely up for debate, but I do wonder just how good he would actually be without having to hold Richard Peddie's hand?

[Mark]

One benefit of a sinlge-owner is that his name is widely known and he must feel personal pressure from fans to make his team better.

This MLSE board, other than Peddie, are hiding in the back rooms and have no personal accountability to the actual sports fans of this city.

The Star should place the names and biographies of all the board members on the front page. Damien, you should strongly pursue this opportunity to expose them.

There's some small chance that the fans may shame the board into making a sporting decision.

Don't good sporting decisions eventually translate into business success? If the Leafs ever win a cup, they will have a license to print money for the next 40 years.

[Ted]

The sad part is the "sheep" will go Tuesday, spend the $10 a beer and $6 peanuts. People don't get it? OTPP, MLSE, they don't give a s#!t about fans, people , performance. As long as you don't hurt them at the bottom line, nothing will change. EVER. Everybody is talking about Collangelo ... Why they hire Collangelo? Because attendance at Raptors game was LOW and going down. They knew that they are losing fan base. BOTTOM LINE. That what matters. They did same with Marlies tickets this year after they realize that people won't just go. But as long as ACC is full, why change anything? Why spend money on Bowman? He can't add anybody in the stands because it is already full....

[mark]

Good blog by Sean. Why don't you man up for a change Cox and tell us what you think of Scotty Bowman having a hockey position equal to Colangilo's basketball position? It's pretty obvious you're waiting for a choice (any choice) so you can criticize instead of offering your opinion on available candidates now. Typical from a spineless ink-stained wretch. No wonder McCowen doesn't have you on his radio show any more and Quinn hated your guts. Get some onions.

[B Johnson]

"Bowman said all of this several months ago on The Fan 590 morning show, where he is one of the weekly insider guests."

Did you ever think maybe more people watch HINC than listen to The Fan 590? (Except when you are a guest on HNIC, then everyone switches channels!)

[KW]

Damien...
How does Scotty's fairly open campaigning for a job on television go over in hockey circles? I thought it was a deeply embarassing, even offensive display. And while Scotty is surely the best coach of all time he has always been an awful executive (i'm sure he's a fine 'advisor').

[Nick]

I don't know why anyone would want the job of Leafs G.M., frankly. It's clear JFJ has been emasculated publically, and so long as Peddie has his way, anyone else in that office would be equally impotent. Quinn's legacy, you might say.

Speaking of coaches, I couldn't help but think that Paul Maurice took a page out of Hillary Clinton's book, after Saturday's game. The moist eye, the quivering voice. Well played Paul! It worked for Hillary!

All kidding aside, I like Paul Maurice, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't make sense (given MLSE's vipers' nest they call a board) to empower the coach with G.M. authority. Maybe Quinn had it right after all.

[Peter Toffler]

Bowman unquestionably has one of the better resumes of available candidates, however, he would not be my first choice to take over the Leaf organization. He had the benefit of learnig from a master (Sam Pollock) but the NHL is much different now. Here are the two main problems that the Leafs face. (there are many more but these are key) The first underlying problem that haunts the Maple Leafs is that they make too much money.This has allowed then to spend at the salary cap maximum, thus eliminating them from finishing in last overall. Really terrible organizations such as Ottawa and Pittsburgh managed to finish dead last several times by spending very little and being very poorly run. Ottawa even managed to waste a number one overall pick on Alexander Daigle (remember him?)and still have enough high 1st round picks to be among the NHL elite.Ditto for Pittsburgh. Leafs will never finish last overall season after season therefore they will never benifit from no-brainer draft picks (note Chicago this year). The second underlying ailment of the Leaf organization is that they have failed to put a reasonably good infrastructure in place. They have not spent on scouting, been diligent on finding hidden gems. My first choice to take over the Leafs would be Lou Lemorello. He has consistantly improved his club through shrewd trades (like Tom Kurvers for Scott Niedermier) and drafted impeccibly. New Jersey also has been the best run organization even with a limited budget. Imagine what he could do for the Leafs. He has also instilled an organizational attitude much the same as the Montreal Canadiens of the 70's where effort an teamwork and coaching are all on the same page.

[FRT]

The fact of the matter is that they could bring Sammy Pollock and Toe Blake back from the dead to run the Laughs...and it wouldn't make one iota of a difference as long as you have the bean-counter Peddie sticking his number-crunchers big nose into the everyday running of the hockey club. If Peddie...who is as dumb as a fence post when it comes to anything involving hockey matters...cannot be removed from his position of making money for the shareholders...then he MUST at least be removed from ever communicating with the hockey department ever again! Until this is done...it won't matter who they hire to run the team.

[Steve Barnett]

Hate to say I told you so..But for months I have been saying that Dick Peddie is the true problem at The Big Top on Bay...This guys ego is out of control...Dick is someone who thinks he is a hockey guy. Dick just loves sitting on the corporate jet and staring at his business card that say's CEO, MLSE. Dick, in his former glory was a soup salesman, Lipton's I believe. I will bet he is the guy who invented Cup of Soup.Dick is also a condo salesman. Dick is many things. What he is not is a hockey guy of any sort. He would not know a hockey player or executive if he tripped over him. I noticed after the San Jose debacle they were showing the players being lead to the bus (by gunpoint I believe) and who is sitting in the front of the bus going over his game notes? Why its Dick Peddie of course! Perhaps Dick was driving the bus as well.And say what you want about JFJ, but how do you think the guy feels sitting up in a box with the camera's zooming in every couple of minutes. But not on Fergie, they are zooming in on Dick who seems to be caught up in something (probably line combinations or defensive pairings)I was beginning to think I was wrong about Dick and his influence but now I see everyone is catching on. We must keep the heat on this guy until someone tells him to vamoose, sci-daddle, scram. I mean seriously folks,Dick is starting to make us long for Harold Ballard for christs sake! Maybe one of the earlier posters is right about e-mailing the teachers..If someone has thier site let's get it and git at er...I cant take much more from the Habs fans I know..And that should be reason enough to do something. We have become the biggest joke in the league..."Fire Dick Peddie, the passion that Ignites us all"
should be our new chant.