The addition of Brendan Shanahan as president
of the Toronto Maple Leafs, this move has to be
a plus for the team.
Shanahan is a class guy and a good
strategic thinker and of course he's had a terrific
career as a player.
My hope is this - I hope that Brendan
Shanahan will put up with only so much
humiliation, before he demands that positive
changes be made to the team.
Because the Leafs have been losing
for so very, very long, a masochistic situation
has arisen with regard to Toronto hockey
viewing. When the losses start to pile
up again, the sports press enters, scene left,
and starts to pick apart every circumstance
that led to every loss.
Every gaff is seen through
a magnifying glass, and this intense situation
is hard on the psyches of the young players
trying to make it as Leafs.
This situation can weigh on the
mind of a Leaf President, also.
I've been a leaf fan for a very
long time, and it has taken a lot
to make me as cynical as I am today
about the motives of Leaf Management.
When the Argos were constantly losing
years ago, they were still very popular,
because it was still fun going to the games,
and having a few drinks and booing
good-naturedly.
But Toronto is a hockey town, and
there's nothing funny about the Leafs
losing for decades and living in the
basement and continuing to do so,
with no end in sight!
Nothing funny at all. Changes will be
made to the Toronto Maple Leafs
management's methods and attitudes.
If changes are not made from within,
changes will have to be made externally
to alter the monopolistic hockey
situation in the Toronto area.
All anyone can do at the moment is hope
that the appointment of Brendan Shanahan
is the beginning of positive changes
within the Leaf organization.
Otherwise...
I think perhaps Leaf's Management ought to
understand that this really is the
end of the line for them... only a few more years, and
this present situation will be excised utterly,
as in a 100% excise tax.
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