TORONTO (Sep. 14) -- It is no secret that John Ferguson has his supporters and his detractors as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. My pal Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun has been relentless in his view that Ferguson is unfit to run an NHL team and he supports that claim with facts that have merit. I am, and have been, less inclined to make a stern evaluation of Ferguson because I believe he is a decent hockey man in a very indecent situation. He works for otherwise accomplished businessmen who simply cannot come to a consensus about the person in charge of their hockey club; business people who, if they ran their outside enterprises in the same shoddy fashion, would have never been in position to own an NHL team.

As a result, John Ferguson's hockey future -- and reputation -- is more in peril right now than at any previous time. And, John may soon find himself walking a tight-rope between his yearning to guide the Leafs to another level, and his desire to maintain self-esteem. He would derive great satisfaction from the former, but there is no price to be put on the latter. Besides good health, reputation and character are the most critical components in a person's life, and Ferguson's standing in the hockey world is squarely on the line. He has been virtually abandoned by his employers... publicly hung out to dry. Though Leafs' CEO Richard Peddie and the club's majority shareholder -- The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board -- are still very much behind him, there is no longer any voice proclaiming support for the beleaguered GM.

On two occasions since the spring, Peddie unequivocally promised Ferguson a long-term contract extension -- clearly without the consent of others on the MLSE board. Given that Peddie is the "front man" for the Teachers, who own 58 percent of the Leafs, this should have been a promise cast in cement. The Teachers, however, are both spineless and unresponsive in their management of the hockey club, leaving the dirty work to those in their employ, or those with non-controlling shares in the company. Unfortunately for every person that supports the Maple Leafs, this has resulted in one of the NHL's most poorly-administered franchises. Money, of course, is ozzing out of every pore in the company, but indecision has all but paralyzed the hockey operation, and has left Ferguson dangling in the worst possible scenario for a GM -- one with no contract security and not a shred of encouragement or sustenance originating from any layer of ownership.

Otherwise, hiring and directing a pro hockey manager is really not that complicated. In the Leafs' case, what horrifying risk would be associated with providing Ferguson some much-needed confidence and public reinforcement? There is no such thing as job security in the NHL, or any other sport, for that matter. Managers and coaches are routinely sacrificed in the middle of contracts, so even long-term arrangements are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. The Leafs could grant Ferguson a three or four-year mandate to improve the hockey club -- a time frame that is not unreasonable for a still-young GM -- and nobody in the company would have to lose a wink of sleep. Even if MLSE made Ferguson the highest-paid GM in the NHL, it would be completely unaffected by terminating his contract in mid-stream. In other words, all the Leafs stand to lose by giving Ferguson a reasonable deal is money. This is a company that could bleed triple-figure bank notes, non-stop, for six months without feeling the slightest economic twinge. Conversely, the company might actually derive benefit from supplying its top hockey executive with a fighting chance to make decisions that are not fueled by self-preservation. Somehow, this doesn't register.

Instead, MLSE embarrasses Ferguson by trying to provide him with a short-term babysitter, or by meeting with hall of fame executives who would cast him aside in the bat of an eyelash. It assures him and his representative of a contract extension one month, then remorsefully indicates the next month that such an arrangement will not pass board approval. In the midst of all this is utter confusion -- for Ferguson and the Toronto hockey public.

How can a GM with such minimal backing be entrusted with the team-shaping financial and personnel decisions that Ferguson has made in the past two years? From signing all of the club's core players to lucrative, long-term and/or movement-restrictive contracts; to restructuring the Leafs' scouting and executive staffs; to yielding high draft picks in order to obtain a heretofore back-up goaltender. Or smaller things, like being the person to introduce the club's new uniform design. These are not the workings of a GM that is unwanted by his employers. Yet, the Leafs will not come out and say that Ferguson is wanted. Which one is it? And, how difficult should it be to make a call on this issue?

That's why Ferguson is walking the gang-plank right now. Though an influential faction of the MLSE ownership maze is in his corner, no one has the conviction to stand by him publicly. His reputation; his future in professional hockey and his self-esteem are of no concern to those that employ him. Instead, while executing every critical component of the hockey operation, he is the subject of unguarded dishonour from people that want to "help" him. Sure.

It wasn't many years ago that another Leafs GM -- Gord Stellick -- saw the writing on the wall and pulled the plug before he was electrocuted. Here's hoping that John Ferguson never finds himself in the same situation. Sadly, that's all he seems to have control over nowadays.

E-mail howard.berger@rci.rogers.com

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