Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan held a press availability at Air Canada Center on Friday to discuss the state of the franchise at the midpoint of the season in the wake of Monday’s firing of head coach Randy Carlyle and Peter Horachek being named as interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Shanahan did not get specific regarding what steps he and GM Dave Nonis plan to take prior to the March 2nd trade deadline other than continuing to evaluate the club under a new head coach, but did indicate that Leafs management wants to see more out of the current group that recently fell out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot and will not hesitate to make moves if they think they will improve the club.
On the firing of Randy Carlyle :
“We discussed it as a group, usually it is Dave(Nonis) and I, Kyle Dubas, Mark Hunter and (capologist) Brandon Pridham, because whether it is a coaching change or player movement change, a lot of our changes have cap implications.… Shanahan said.
“I think that Dave felt that it was his job to make that call. I agree with him, he is the general manager.…
On the hopes for a change in direction :
“I think that anytime there is a coaching change, there is an opportunity for players to look at themselves.… Shanahan said. “As much as we’ve been accessing guys throughout the season, it’s another opportunity for us to see guys under a different coach and see how they respond and react.…
On the core group :
“It hasn’t been good enough. We have made a change, I think that we’ve seen our team and this group play the kind of hockey we want to play, some very good hockey ….but the fact of the matter is to have success in this league you have to be more consistent and we are not unlike a lot of teams in the NHL that are seeking to have that consistency.…
On the possibility of roster moves :
“One of the things that we had expressed to the players today was while we were sitting, watching and viewing, we’ve seen the good and we’ve seen the bad. At a certain point, you are going to tell us who you are and we are not going to afraid when that time comes if we have an opportunity to make our team better.…
Untouchable players :
“I don’t know how many teams ever proclaim that players are untouchable. I think Dave said the other day and I agree with him, if we ever have an opportunity to make this club better, we will.…
On Management's Plan :
“We have a very strong idea of where we need to go, but again I think that our players and coaches have to worry about one thing and they have to worry our next game. They worry about today and that’s it. I think we in management obviously are concerned with each and every game, but you are constantly looking down the horizon. We certainly have a good feel for what have seen so far, we don’t always share our thoughts and opinions because you can have a plan and that plan can change.…
On the pressure of playing in Toronto :
“We get a lot of coverage here and there’s a great passion here and that’s fantastic. If you’re a hockey player, you want to be somewhere where people care a lot, but the idea that some of these cities that have had some established winning in recent years are not going through their own bits of adversity, it’s a mistake. If you think they are skipping through the streets of Chicago, LA or Detroit, they are not.…
On the coaching situation :
“We’re going to wait till the off-season now. I’ve been pleased with just the early reports from Peter(Horachek). Peter will be one of the people that we will consider at the end of the year, but we’re gonna wait till the end of the year.…
Shanahan stated during his 15 minute press availability that he will accompany the club to Southern California for the beginning of their four-game road trip next week, which could be an indicator that a change of some sort will happen fairly quickly, since his last trip with the Leafs ended in their coach being fired.
ESPN's Pierre Lebrun reports that Toronto is looking to add a forward who can play a strong two-way game in their top nine, while Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says that LA Kings center Mike Richards, who has five more seasons with a salary cap hit of $5.75 Million per season, could be on the Leafs radar.
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