Is this the move that finally shakes the Toronto Maple Leafs out of their decades-long rut? Or is this a potentially disastrous move for a former NHLer with an impressive career to date?
On Friday, the Leafs announced that league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan is the team’s new president and alternate governor.
The three-time Stanley Cup winner will oversee all team operations, beginning immediately.
In 21 years in the league, “Shanny” netted 656 goals and 698 assists in 1,524 NHL games. He played for the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers, and most notably, the Detroit Red Wings, where he hoisted the cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002.
Never one to shy away from the box, he’s the only player in NHL history to have over 600 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
After his retirement in 2009, Shanahan took the job of the NHL’s Vice President of Hockey and Business Development. In 2011, he became the league’s director of player safety, helping the NHL crack down on illegal plays, inspiring the term “shanaban,” and revolutionizingsuspensions in the NHL.
He now joins the growing list of former fan-favourite NHLers landing management jobs, hot on the heels of the Trevor Linden-Vancouver Canucks deal announced earlier this week.
So why would a guy with such a lauded hockey career take a job with a team whose roster doesn’t contain a single player who was even alive when the Leafs last won the Cup? (For reference, the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup was in 1967…Shanahan was born in 1969.)
So who really wins in this deal?
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While hometown Leafs fans may be happy to see the Mimico-born Hall of Famer return to the city, as far as the NHL goes, Shanahan has no ties to the team.
Detroit and Toronto have been locked in an intense rivalry that dates back to the 1920s, dotted by now-infamous checks, bloody playoff series, and fan beefs.
While the rivalry has simmered after the Leafs moved to the NHL Eastern Conference in 1998, it’s yet to be seen how die-hard fans will receive a former Red Wing great in the front office.
Shanahan has had to make difficult decisions as the NHL’s chief disciplinarian (a skill that will likely serve him well on the Leafs’ – a team that could see some more personnel changes in the near future). As team president Shanny will have a say on the futuresof head coach Randy Carlyle and GM Dave Nonis.
With this being his first front-office job, Shanahan will gain valuable experience that could help him on his way to a general management position down the road.
And the Leafs will have someone high up in the good graces of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – who reportedly pushed for Shanahan’s hiring by the Leafs.
When Shanny was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, Bettman praised him for his work in the department of player safety.
“I think his contributions to the game, based on what he’s doing now, will even exceed what he did in the 21 years that he played,” said Bettman. “He’s making a real mark on how the game is played, making it safer for current players and generations to come.”
Shanahan may bring a sense of innovation to a team in desperate need of a life change. He has proven in his time both as director of player safety and as a player that he doesn’t shy away from new and at times controversial ideas.
During the 2004-05 NHL season, Shanahan masterminded a two-day conference – “The Shanahan Summit” – to bring together players and coaches to create recommendations to improve the game.
“The Leafs need new ideas and a new way of doing business because despite all their resources, the franchise still seems to be playing from behind. They’re not known as a team that gets ahead of the curve or moves a step before anyone else and that perception of hopelessness needs to disappear,” wrote Rory Boylen at The Hockey News.
Shanahan may just be the first step toward ditching the Leafs’ “culture of losing,” Boylen wrote.
With files from The Canadian Press
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