I registered here because I was hoping to find a discussion about the finalists for the new Leafs GM.
Personally I am hopefull that they'll find someone who can strenghthen the team, but also worried that the new GM might come in and make some brutal moves that kill them and their future.
Of the four reported finalists, who does everyone think the best choice would be, Neil Smith, Steve Tambellini, John Ferguson, or Bob Nicholson?
I can’t help you there rangkor. I have no idea who would be the best choice. I’d like to hear from Puckster though...
I distrust pretty much everything that comes out of the Toronto sports media. Too many so-called reporters just make **** up. It’s an ever-changing opinion poll that has little to do with facts.
If there is a front-runner among these candidates, I doubt the Toronto Star reporters and their “trusted” sources have any clue regarding the attitude of the GM Selection Committee. Well, I’d say they’ve got maybe a 25% chance of getting it right.
BD the problem with the press in To is that their "insider" "Mole" what ever you want to call Mr Watters has been banished from the "inner sanctum" that is MLSE.
Lately they have had to run around getting their strories, and do what they went to school to learn, now they are running around like a chicken with it's head cut off because they don't have that "source". Now we are seeing the true journalistic talent that gathers in Toronto.
It is sorta kinda funny to sit here and watch the crap that is being reported, one day the ACC is falling apart, then the next day they print something totally out there because their "source" was wrong and they have to save face like that story that came out the other day saying that McCabe was looking for Redden type money, and then 24 hours later having to come out and sheepisly retract his statement.
If we use the experience factor Smith wins hands down, we all know that the pressure to win in Toronto is going to be a tad bit, shall we say intense, he has Managed in one of the worlds most intense media unfriendly cities, yes whomever takes over as GM is going to be scrutinized quite closely so we need someone who will be able to handle that type of scrutiny.
Sorry I don't want a Nicholson as my GM because he has no experience, he would make a good development guy, but as a GM I don't think he would make a good choice.
Tambelini as much as I like this guy I feel that every single move he makes it is going to be slammed because it is assumed that he will be a Quinn puppet, so I wouldn't want my every move scrutinized just because people think that Quinn is pulling the strings from above.
Ferguson would make a fine assistant who would learn plenty under the tutelage of Smith and Quinn, then after Smith has run his course he would slide right into the GM's chair, with him we have a guy who has big league front office experience, and he really does not have a past with anybody currently in the MLSE food chain.
If you want to believe the latest rumour, as of today, John Ferguson Jr. will be the new GM of the Leafs. This is one I actually believe. Is he the best choice for the Leafs? Not in my opinion. Is he the best choice for Pat Quinn? Probably, as he wanted someone junior such as Tambellini or Ferguson that he can control. Of the candidates interviewed, Smith is the one I would have picked and purely for the simple reason he would not succumb to Pat's whims and do what he felt needed to be done. He also has had some success whereas the other candidates have not.
Ferguson has been assistent GM and is the GM of the Worcester Ice Cats who have done quite well. But this is not the AHL and being the GM for the Leafs is one of the toughest assignments a GM in the NHL can have (except maybe the Rangers). Experience and success should have been the most important criteria with a no nonsense approach and "let me do my job without interference" being a close second for the new GM. Smith is the only one who came close to that and that may be the reason he did not get selected as the new GM.
In time I believe Ferguson may become a good GM, but I believe he will have more to do with just contract negotiations rather than in actually choosing the players whose contracts he will be negotiating. That is where Quinn will still interfere with the GM's duties and that won't change until he leaves. A GM needs to hire his own coach to be successful and currently this is not the case. So, while I see some improvement in that we will now have a full time GM and not part time, I suspect the real change that we will see will be after Quinn finishes out his contract.
So Puckster, what you are saying is that the megalomania apparently displayed by Pat Quinn in fact means that he keeps his GM job but with John Ferguson Jr. as his new assistant?
You’re probably right. I await the official announcement.
So, it has been announced. John Ferguson Jr. is it.
It occurred to me that this might be a fairly good decision considering Quinn’s attitude. At this stage, if Quinn got a real boss like Smith, they might lock horns and that would be an even bigger disaster.
Besides, Ferguson might turn out... I say give him a chance.
Leafs GM Decision
Leafs GM Decision
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