Keith Pelley hired as new MLSE President, CEO

[rumman]

a raps title, a tfc title and multiple finals appearances and a Leafs team that’s as competitive as most have seen in a lifetime aside from a couple pockets of dumb luck success (92-94 and 99-02)

The two main additions are still running their respective teams a decade later. Id say leiwicke delivered on what was expected of him.

I laugh at this, they've literally won nothing...........

 

[Apex Predator]

I laugh at this, they've literally won nothing...........

They won respect at the handshake line.

 

[myleafs]

They won respect at the handshake line.

did they though?

 

[Leaf Fans]

They won respect at the handshake line.

They got a lot of respect, but as Keefe said " ...again, we’re not in the respect game. We’re in the winning game."

 

[hullsy47]

They got a lot of respect, but as Keefe said " ...again, we’re not in the respect game. We’re in the winning game."

The new CEO needs to find us a jim Rutherford.
The Canucks just went all in with a good team
The next president has to have vision, and definitely not hire rookie gms and give them no direction in negotiating
The leafs could end up trading minten or Cowan for tanev and still go out in the first round
He's might be a bit better than brodie ffs

They already tried that with Shanny

Ya shanny is shiny tho

 

[hullsy47]

Hard to tell exactly what Tre is right now, is he Shanahan’s puppet? Is he making the decisions and if so I’m highly concerned. Extending Keefe was idiotic, Klingberg wasn’t the type of D team needs, and the Styles contract was a joke. Plenty to hate IF these decisions are the new GM’s……….

Tre got hired cause Tannenbaum and his dad are buddies
Gm search my arse
If tre was shanahans man he would have fired dubas in June and give the guy a chance to bring in his staff
Shanahan panicked and tre has had a bad off season
Seems like he made his deadline deal July 2 with domi and bertuzzi

 

[ACC1224]

Tre got hired cause Tannenbaum and his dad are buddies
Gm search my arse
If tre was shanahans man he would have fired dubas in June and give the guy a chance to bring in his staff
Shanahan panicked and tre has had a bad off season
Seems like he made his deadline deal July 2 with domi and bertuzzi

You really believe a guy that's been in the game all his life needed his daddy to get him a job?
He may turn out to be the wrong hire but at the time who was available that had more experience?
Burke? Stan Bowman? I'm sure there were others.

Not sure if Shanahan panicked but Dubas negotiating himself out of a job left the Leafs in a bad spot.
They didn't have a lot of time to make a choice on a replacement.


** it's really weird some Leaf fans obsessions with dads.

 

[thewave]

Tre got hired cause Tannenbaum and his dad are buddies
Gm search my arse
If tre was shanahans man he would have fired dubas in June and give the guy a chance to bring in his staff
Shanahan panicked and tre has had a bad off season
Seems like he made his deadline deal July 2 with domi and bertuzzi

Everyone knows the Leafs is an old boys club full of nepotism. Its the best gig in Toronto. Never concerns of profitability. No real accountability. Massive golden handshakes and all the cigars a smokey room can handle.

 

[hullsy47]

You really believe a guy that's been in the game all his life needed his daddy to get him a job?
He may turn out to be the wrong hire but at the time who was available that had more experience?
Burke? Stan Bowman? I'm sure there were others.

Not sure if Shanahan panicked but Dubas negotiating himself out of a job left the Leafs in a bad spot.
They didn't have a lot of time to make a choice on a replacement.


** it's really weird some Leaf fans obsessions with dads.

Maybe but treliving wasn't hitting a home run either
Just saying again SHANAHAN let dubas go he should have owned it and cleaned up his mess
The leafs already had a 100 point club with out spending to the cap limit

 

[ACC1224]

Maybe but treliving wasn't hitting a home run either
Just saying again SHANAHAN let dubas go he should have owned it and cleaned up his mess
The leafs already had a 100 point club with out spending to the cap limit

I don't think that's how it played out.
Dubas is a snake and a terrible negotiator, it finally caught up to him.

 

[hullsy47]

I don't think that's how it played out.
Dubas is a snake and a terrible negotiator, it finally caught up to him.

Someone will tell the truth especially if the Leafs don't get far again
My guess has been dubas was trading Nylander or marner
Shanahan makes MSLE money

 

[killer1980]

He was one of the geniuses at Rogers who made the $5.2b hockey deal . He also helped tear down HNIC to make it the POS it is today. Unclear whether he left Rogers on his own but it seems that the writing was on the wall. Exactly what happened to him at the European PGA is open to conjecture. He follows a long list of CEOs that did make the company money but failed to come close to winning a championship. To some that would be viewed as success, unless of course if you are a fan. He is yet another media good ole boy that looks good in a suit and tells the higher ups exactly what they want to hear. Just how good he is? Only time will tell. He does come to the table holding a very decent hand.

 

[Leaf Fans]

He was one of the geniuses at Rogers who made the $5.2b hockey deal . He also helped tear down HNIC to make it the POS it is today. Unclear whether he left Rogers on his own but it seems that the writing was on the wall. Exactly what happened to him at the European PGA is open to conjecture. He follows a long list of CEOs that did make the company money but failed to come close to winning a championship. To some that would be viewed as success, unless of course if you are a fan. He is yet another media good ole boy that looks good in a suit and tells the higher ups exactly what they want to hear. Just how good he is? Only time will tell. He does come to the table holding a very decent hand.

How is a resignation unclear? He resigned to go to the PGA. He won a championship with the Argos.
You are, of course, welcome to your opinion, but you should base it on facts.

 

[killer1980]

How is a resignation unclear? He resigned to go to the PGA. He won a championship with the Argos.
You are, of course, welcome to your opinion, but you should base it on facts.

Everybody involved in the Rogers hockey deal fiasco was gone within a year. I was being kind. Also, didn't realize that the Argos became such a financial success.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Everybody involved in the Rogers hockey deal fiasco was gone within a year. I was being kind. Also, didn't realize that the Argos became such a financial success.

I was actually talking about their championship, but I guess financial success came along with Pelly's time there in the confines of the CFL of course.

 

[killer1980]

I was actually talking about their championship, but I guess financial success came along with Pelly's time there in the confines of the CFL of course.

Of course, like I said, time will tell. Me, I just think he's a slug that the big shots on the board just love. I look at him just as I looked at Dubas, another so called genius whose biggest strength is being able to con rich old fogeys into giving him a job.

 

[The Masters]

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

I get what you mean but the $2m they'd bank off a playoff game is a drop in the bucket for a multibillion dollar franchise

I'm no financial analyst but if the Leafs are worth 2.8 billion after around 300 million in revenue, then a single playoff game is worth a lot for the bottom line (even if they were collecting only 2 million). Now factor what a couple successful playoff rounds could do to the team's long-term valuation in this market.

Do it for the pension fund!

 

[3blizzard4]

Really dont like hearing him say his meeting with Shanahan was "spectacular". Gives me no confidence this guy has the balls to axe someone especially his buddy from Mimico.

 

[The Masters]

Really dont like hearing him say his meeting with Shanahan was "spectacular". Gives me no confidence this guy has the balls to axe someone especially his buddy from Mimico.

he admitted it will take him 4 months to get acclimated. he is in the classroom for those months. firing anyone is HIGHLY UNLIKELY

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Pelley should make reorganizing the front office his priority number one.

In anticipation of Shanahan's departure. Shanahan alone is responsible for laying out this team's goals and direction. If his goal was to win the cup he's allowed a lot of failure to take place.

He's had ten years to build a contending team and did not.

Shanahan's one of the worst President's an organization could have. Because he'll never allow a GM to do their job properly if it conflicts with his own view. Even though his own vision has been inflexibly locked into place for a decade.

In his mind they've already won the cup.

Meanwhile in the real world he's failed to remotely deliver on the lofty promises he made. That should result in termination by way of no contract extension. Treliving and Berube get to stay by saying they can still deliver the initially promised results.

They'll inevitably fail and Pelley can fire them next.

 

[Racer88]

Hiring Pelley is all smoke and mirrors to make us poor long suffering fans think that some great saviour is going to make things better. A way to push the can another year down the road while he takes a year to evaluate (lol) the organization

 

[HamiltonNHL]

In anticipation of Shanahan's departure. Shanahan alone is responsible for laying out this team's goals and direction. If his goal was to win the cup he's allowed a lot of failure to take place.

Another decade of failure.

He has to go.

 

[Niagara Bill]

Boys, boys, boys, play nice.
All will be forgotten and forgiveness when the new Premium Beer glasses àre unveiled at the Concession stands on opening night (with the appropriate $2 extra charge).
Cheers

 

[ITM]

The process of finding a solution to our club's stagnation has to be meticulous and as such, irksome to a lot of the fanbase that want things done in the moment.

This year, certain answers to long-standing concerns will be known:

• We'll know with respect to Marner's playoffs "problems" if its the "coach" or him.
• We'll have a better understanding of who else on the club can play playoffs hockey to the standard Berube sets.
• Potentially, we'll have $22M dollars to augment needs where they can't be acquired by trade.
• We'll either have a starter in one of Woll or Stolarz or perhaps both or none.
• Pelley, despite being Shanahan's hire, will have the perspective he didn't have at his introductory presser, four weeks into his role. As such, he will be able to assess if Shanahan has been "the" problem, OR, if there's something beyond Shanahan's control that needs to be removed, if it can be.

The reality is, assets like Marner, who have a level of control, obligate the process to run its course, however glacial and uncomfortable it seems.

But we still have a modest window to work with. Treliving has been very good for our club. He's walked the fine line set before him and we need to acknowledge certain actions taken while he's been here:

• Firing of Keefe after the season Dubas was fired.
• The hiring of Pelley.
• A Stanely Cup winning coach known for energy and engagement brought in to change our playoffs culture.
• Hiring premier talent scout Mark Leach as our Director of Amateur Scouting.
• Good contracts to Domi, OEL, Stolarz...Tanev notwithstanding in the long term.

But the other uncomfortable truth is this: Shanahan is the common denominator in the positive changes within roughly, one calendar year and a bit.

Hardest gains towards championships are always short and repetitive, on and off the ice.

In another calendar year, our situation will be clearer, and if we continue to take the steps that we have, we have reasons to be hopeful that extend simply beyond the coming of another season and the marketing dollars driving "the passion that unites us all".

As a fanbase, perhaps we're turning a similarly hard corner - albeit in short bursts - and getting used to the feeling of being serious about our organization's aims.

I joked in another thread that, yeah, I've got optimism...for July 1st 2025. But its a hope tied to insight staring at our situation squarely.

So for three more years past this next season, I'm holding on to the insight that says: IF we win. If Toronto wins the Cup, it will be the first in decades, but importantly, it will be a kind of first in the sense that we as a fanbase will experience the end of the drought ONCE. It will be a singular event that will have no equal (maybe in sports) in the league for decades to come and maybe ever.

So yeah, it's been hell for our fanbase. But, like the man to whom the quote is attributed said, we now know more than ever:

"If you're going through hell, keep on going."