Maple Leafs’ ‘Shanaplan’ Still Not Canned After Decade of Poor Results.
On Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs front office held a press conference, and something caught my attention. Brendan Shanahan, who’s now the team’s president and alternate governor after joining the Maple Leafs over ten years ago, was deemed a “champion” by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Keith Pelley.
Shanahan the Champion?
With all due respect for Mr. Pelley, I’m not sure he has the right definition of “champion.” While Shanahan was a champion on the ice with the Detroit Red Wings, he’s done nothing to deserve the title in a management context.
Besides, a great hockey player doesn’t necessarily make a good coach, general manager, or president. Case in point, Réjean Houle was a first-overall draft pick in 1969 and won five Stanley Cup championships with the Montreal Canadiens, but when he took over the Canadiens with Mario Tremblay behind the bench, he promptly ushered the team into an era of darkness by trading Patrick Roy for peanuts (perhaps it was because Houle’s nickname was Peanuts?) that took decades to get out of.
Shanahan emphasized that the club’s results are on him and that’s where accountability is. If this is the case, why did Sheldon Keefe walk the plank alone? Shanahan also mentioned that management would look at everything to ensure they reach their ultimate goal.
As for Brad Treliving, he explained that when he got to Toronto, he felt keeping Keefe in place was the right call, but now, a new voice is needed, which is why Keefe was let go. This summer, they’ll take the time to look at everything and make decisions to address the problems identified.
Accountable, But Not Open to Talk About His Own Job Security
The icing on the cake though was when Shanahan refused to discuss his contractual situation. If the accountability is on him as he says, he should be able to answer the question and put his neck on the line if he wants people to believe the accountability is with him.
I’m puzzled by Maple Leafs management to be perfectly honest. Say, if you want to be a lawyer and you need to pass the bar, they won’t let you sit the exam for ten years in a row. You’re simply not good enough and you’ve got nothing to do there. Why should it be any different in Shanahan’s job?
Asking the Fans How They Feel
I wondered if it was just me, so I put up a poll to see what Maple Leafs fans had to say on X. Were they happy for Shanahan to still be at the helm? Ready to give him one more year? Starting to get annoyed? Or thinking “Enough already!”?
This is not scientific polling by any means, it’s a simple poll on X, but as the votes kept coming in, the same tendency emerged; roughly around 60.5% of the Maple Leafs fans who took the survey had had enough of the “Shanaplan”, and would have liked to see him gone.
Leafs fans, please tell me, how do you feel about the “Shanaplan” not being canned? #LeafsForever #TML #MapleLeafs #BrendanShanahan #SheldonKeefe Vote and retweet please, the more votes the better and you can of course add comments.
— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) May 11, 2024
12% of the fans polled were starting to get annoyed while another 12% were willing to give him another kick at the can. As for those who were still ready to say “In Brendan we trust!” they accounted for 14.5%. It’s not a very big poll, admittedly with only 117 answers, but judging from what I saw on social media, it does appear to reflect the situation quite well.
If coaches are hired to be fired in the NHL, it often goes for other hockey jobs like general manager and yes, at times president. Professional hockey, just like any professional sport is first and foremost a results-based business, and if you’re not getting the results, you shouldn’t be called a champion by the company’s CEO.
In this press conference, the organization admitted, not expressly, but still, that there was a flaw in the design of the team. The Core Four is apparently over and the man who thought it was a good idea to build around so much talent and no sandpaper is still in his post. MLSE has been incredibly patient in the face of repeated failure. Elimination at the Boston Bruins’ hand has become a regular nightmare for Maple Leafs fans and most of them are ready to move on from the Shanaplan, but when will those in charge be?
