Toronto Maple Leafs: Lessons Learned From A Painful Decade
From the 2005-2006 season until the 2014-2015 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs nine of ten years in one of the most painful stretches in franchise history.
During those years, the Toronto Maple Leafs management and coaching staffs made some pretty bad decisions.
There were a lot of lessons to be learned during those years and the five in this post took way too long to be acknowledged.
Under Brendan Shanahan, though, things have changed. The problems of the past are being erased and the Toronto Maple Leafs are on the path to return to consistently being a positive franchise.
This group is on track to become annual playoff contenders and a good off-ice image that will attract – not deter – players from wanting to remain in the city, or come for the first time.
Here are five lessons learned from the most painful decade in Toronto Maple Leafs history.
Next: Kitty-Bar-The-Door Doesn't Work
Kitty-Bar-The-Door Doesn’t Work
This was probably the most painful lesson learned during the Toronto Maple Leafs recent ten year stretch of misery.
You know what I’m talking about. Yeah, game seven.
Midway through game seven against the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs were up 2-1 and were keeping pace with the Bruins at 5v5 in shot attempts. That’s when Randy Carlyle started to switch the game plan.
The Leafs reverted to protect-the-lead mode and struggled to hang on for the rest of the second period. Early in the third, they scored again.
It’s now 3-1 Leafs and the Carlyle-led mission dove deeper into protection. The next three minutes they wouldn’t record a single 5v5 shot attempt. Beating the odds, though, the first shot attempt after the 3-1 goal found the back of the net.
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At 4-1 is where the Leafs went from protecting the lead to full-blow kiddie bar the door mode.
Let’s flashback to the 2-1 point, when the Leafs were hanging in at 5v5 with the Bruins. Remember that? Ah, good times.
For the final 14 minutes and 31 seconds the Leafs would record three shot attempts, with only one hitting the net. Instead of continuing the pace they had to get a 2-1 lead, the Leafs were killing themselves shift after shift.
Possession matters and more often than not means better things for the team who has the better metric. At a tally of 15-3 over the last 14:31 of the third period, the Bruins turned possession into a tie game.
The Leafs spent the majority of the third period essentially telling the Bruins they could have the puck, free of charge, and the hockey gods could do the rest. Well, the hockey gods are a vengeful folk.
What Carlyle did in that game was the beginning of the end for him in Toronto, and he should have been fired on the spot instead of praised for the team reaching the post-season. After seven straight seasons of no playoffs, though, praise was the only option for many.
The moral of the story from game seven is that kitty bar the door doesn’t work and is a poor choice in game plan. Possession works. Sustained possession. If you get a lead playing a certain way, keep playing that way.
Allowing the opposition to take the possession reigns and hoping for the best is a fool’s path, and will almost certainly lead to an undesirable result. Under Mike Babcock, though, there shouldn’t be much concern of this coaching extremist tactic to be employed.
Next: Chasing Big Fish Leaves You Hungry
Chasing Big Fish Leaves You Hungry
What the Leafs have avoided so far – save for the Stamkos rumors – with the new regime has been chasing big free agent fish.
David Clarkson, Mike Komisarek and the failed attempt at getting David Bolland are prime examples of what not to do during free agency.
Often the big fish in free agency are over-hyped, over-paid and under-performing sideshows.
The “best” free agent is a tempting thing for managers across the NHL, but many of them end up disappointed in what they’ve brought in.
The biggest issue with unrestricted free agency is that you end up paying a player for what they’ve done and not what they’re going to do for you during the massive contract you give them.
The way the league is set up you are most likely getting a player at the end of his prime, or already on the decline. You’re essentially paying for the lesser years of a players’ career. Not wise, and not recommended.
Teams that spend feverishly on July 1st end up with less money to feed the rest of the family and everyone suffers.
It’s an important, and painful, reminder of things gone wrong during the pain years.
Next: Savagely Attacking The Players Daily Is Dumb
Savagely Attacking The Players Daily Is Dumb
One of the biggest changes that has been noticeable is the shift in coverage the Toronto Maple Leafs are getting under Brendan Shanahan.
When Shanahan wasn’t around, the star players were getting a media beat-down almost every single day. There was nothing good that they were doing, ever.
Front page covers, featured headlines online, snarky tweets, sarcastic radio banter and, well, anything out of Steve Simmons’ mouth were plagued with negativity towards the cities best hockey players.
Not only does that affect the players themselves – yeah, they’re human and, after a while a daily thrashing takes its toll – but it affects the image of the organization.
The Leafs were one of the least desirable places for NHL players – and you can’t really blame them. Who wants to go to a city where they’re guaranteed to be a media sacrifice?
Things are changing now, with more honest reading coming out of journalists but there’s still ground to be made up.
Attacking players every day hurts the organization, regardless of how thick-skinned and invisible people think athletes should be.
Next: A Loud Front Office Is Poison, So Is A Yes Man
A Loud Front Office Is Poison, So Is A Yes Man
Under Brian Burke the Toronto Maple Leafs were a media sideshow. He spent countless interviews “defending” the players and the organization with ridiculous tone and conversation.
By trying to deflect distraction he only created more. Having the equivalent of Donald Trump in hockey running media sessions only adds fuel to the fire, creating more turmoil around the franchise.
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After Burke was finally sacrificed by ownership for image purposes, not for his actual management deficiencies, Dave Nonis took over. He became ownership’s puppet and danced to any song but his own.
Nonis never appeared confident in any decision he was making, tip-toeing around every question like he was walking on glass. Information also leaked from the organization like a boat made of Swiss cheese in the middle of the Atlantic.
The franchise went from one extreme to the other with the flip of a switch.
With the new management team we’re getting silence, with a sporadic influx of explanation and transparency. There’s a clear goal and message without the non-sense that happened under previous groups.
Shanahan doesn’t have to explain anything, but it’s sure nice when he – or his team – does. After all, speculation is fun and entertaining.
The arrival of Lou Lamoriello signaled the closing of the rumor vault door. What gets out now is very selective. Even when a rumor gets out, the team doesn’t comment. There’s only speculation, not misinterpretation.
Shanahan was hired with a plan in tow and he’s exercising it without any of the side antics that fans and media had become accustomed to, and that’s a good thing. It’s the right thing.
This group is confident in what they do; they aren’t ignorantly over-confident, and they’re accepting of input from the entire staff. Decisions are made in the best interest of the organization, not themselves or how the ownership will view them.
Everyone gets their judgement day, but Shanahan and company seem to take a “cross that bridge when we get there” approach. It’s business as usual for them, everyday.
Next: Hockey Is Becoming Progressive
Hockey Is Becoming Progressive
Years behind their major sports league counterparts, the NHL is a progressive moving sport.
Possession and other metrics that are gradually becoming more accepted across the league are a real thing. They aren’t imaginary and they do have an impact on the outcome of a hockey game.
Under Burke and Nonis anything progressive was non-sense and not required.
Shanahan knows this and that’s evident by some of his hires (Dubas, among others). He also knows that this way of analyzing the game is only one piece of the puzzle; it’s not the be-all, end-all, which is also evident by some hirings (Lamoriello).
There’s a balance that needs to be achieved, especially while the numbers become more accepted across the board, and Shanahan has seemingly found it.
You can’t outrun the inevitable. Eventually, playing bad hockey catches up with you – even if it gets you in the playoffs (Colorado, I’m looking at you).
Goons are gone, skill players are more plentiful. The game has changed and it’s changed for the better. The top six is going to be archaic soon enough, if it isn’t already, in exchange for a top nine.
Head hunting defenders who move a snails pace are irrelevant, while puck moving defenders are the prize catch.
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Today’s game starts with puck movement from the back-end. If you don’t have it, you’re probably not going to like your results.
These are all things that the new group recognizes and is an important lesson to take away from the failures of recent past.
The future is bright in Toronto not only because of the prospects in the pipeline, but also because of the well-rounded people running the franchise.