04/24/24
July 23, 2015
Lou Lamoriello new Maple Leafs GM: First, the Leafs lure Mike Babcock away from the Red Wings and now they land Uncle Lou. It's been one heck of an off season for Toronto.
The Leafs since 1987 have 13 playoff appearances and did not reach a Stanley Cup Final.
posted by grum@work at 12:00 PM on July 23, 2015
With Sweet Lou at the helm, the Leafs are now ideally suited to draft a competitive team for the 1998-99 season. Based on the Devils' performance since the lockout, 2012 aside, one might conclude that the game has passed Lou by.
Or it's possible that I'm a Devils fan and am worried that Lou was the only thing keeping them as competitive as they were on a limited budget. And eat shit, Ilya Kovalchuk.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:12 PM on July 23, 2015
First Marty, now Lou...my hockey world is crumbling down around me.
Quit trolling me, NoMich!
posted by MrFrisby at 07:44 PM on July 23, 2015
Screw you, Kerry Fraser!
I'd feel bad* for Leafs fans but Kerry Fraser's fabulous hair in that clip has blinded me to any possible failure on his part.
*not really. 47 and counting!
posted by deflated at 10:43 PM on July 23, 2015
The Leafs have worked to assemble management with a history of organizational success and Shanahan who has been a proven winner throughout his playing career.
But .. The new coach and GM are not walking into a situation where they taking over a squad with historical talent like they did in their previous successful years. The Leafs have nobody that remotely compares to the rosters they previously inherited with current and future hofers Lidstrom, Brodeur, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Chelios, Shanahan and others.
Shanahan, Babcock, and Lou have a major challenge ahead of them with very few if any existing parts to work with. Specifically Babcock - coaches who accomplished more with less have *failed in the same position.
* although Carlyle did receive Coach of the Year votes in the year the Leafs fired him
posted by cixelsyd at 10:34 AM on July 24, 2015
The new coach and GM are not walking into a situation where they taking over a squad with historical talent like they did in their previous successful years.
Don't conflate Babcock with Lamoriello--With the exception of Scott Stevens and arguably John MacLean, Lou inherited somewhere right around jack shit when he joined the Devils in '87. He drafted Shanahan, he drafted Brodeur, he drafted Elias, picked up an undrafted nobody named Rafalski, Sykora, traded for Arnott, and generally built a team from nothing that remained competitive for 25 years.
posted by tahoemoj at 10:42 AM on July 24, 2015
This hire makes me wonder how many general managers have ever been over 70 when hired to take over in one of the major pro sports. He's 72. How long-term can the plan be here, realistically? I can't imagine he'll be doing the job at 80. Maybe they're expecting him to build a management team under him that can keep on trucking when he retires.
posted by rcade at 11:09 AM on July 24, 2015
The Leafs seemed to be strongly moving in the direction of the analytics and "fancy stats". I wonder what Lou's feelings are towards that? Is he too old for that? The league is definitely changing at the moment with smaller, fast, skilled players being more recognized. That could change of course but drafting a bunch of dinosaurs is not going to go well at the moment.
What the Leafs need to do the most in the next few years is draft well and draft often. Since the 1990s I'm to sure the Devils drafting has been anything to write home about and I'm not sure Lou himself is up to speed with the game these days.
It's going to be a good show either way, I'm actually hoping for a complete trainwreck that sees Babcock fired in March despite having the Leafs in first overall, and Lou moving behind the bench then getting blown out in the first round by the Sens.
posted by rumple at 12:20 PM on July 24, 2015
and Lou moving behind the bench then getting blown out in the first round by the Sens.
The first round of what?
posted by tahoemoj at 12:57 PM on July 24, 2015
I'm actually hoping for a complete trainwreck that sees Babcock fired in March despite having the Leafs in first overall, and Lou moving behind the bench then getting blown out in the first round by the Sens.
The Senators beating the Leafs in the playoffs?
Bwaahahahahahahah!
Even when the Senators are a MUCH better team, they still manage to choke against the Leafs.
posted by grum@work at 03:44 PM on July 24, 2015
There's this thing called "playoffs" which Leafs fans may need to learn about.
And yeah I can dream about them losing to the Sens, but in reality, this whole Shanascheme likely works and I hate them more than ever once they win the cup, dammit.
posted by rumple at 04:40 PM on July 24, 2015
and I hate them more than ever once they win the cup, dammit
What?
I can dream
Ahh, right. It's all a dream.
Seriously, the Leafs have assembled what would appear top notch leadership.
Hopefully ownership doesn't succumb to TO media and fans finally give someone more than 6 months to turn a pile of steaming shit into a Hockey team. There's no foundation players, there's no leadership, and the Leafs are only in their first year of having some decent draft picks. The only pieces in place are 2 NHL quality goaltenders and possibly a budding star in Morgan Reilly.
I really doubt this group will be given 5 years it will need to make a playoff appearance. And win a cup? There are at least 15 NHL teams whose management really have their act together, currently have strong teams, good young prospects, and are busy planning for continued success. That type of situation is at least 10 years away for the Leafs.
posted by cixelsyd at 08:46 PM on July 24, 2015
Yes the Leafs have a steep uphill - they are five years behind what smarter clubs realized when rebuilding, and the landscape is only becoming more competitive. It'll take a while before it is easy for them to sign decent free agents at reasonable cost as well, I suspect.
I just posted to the huddle this piece showing some Toronto media has soured on Lamoriello already :)
posted by rumple at 08:36 PM on July 26, 2015
I'd love to see Toronto back on top of the NHL, as long as they weren't going through Dallas to get there.
While Lamoriello was Devils GM from 1987 to 2015, the team won three Stanley Cups and made 21 playoff appearances. The Leafs since 1987 have 13 playoff appearances and did not reach a Stanley Cup Final.