The Toronto Maple Leafs made it official Friday morning that NHL Department of Player Safety head Brendan Shanahan is leaving his post with the league and joining the club as Team President.
The Leafs indicated that 45-year-old Hall of Famer will begin his role with the club immediately and will be introduced at a press conference at the Air Canada Center on Monday at 11am.
In a press release on their website, the Leafs described Shanahan “as an important voice for the game of hockey, not only for his on-ice credentials, but for his leadership qualities off the ice.…
The 45-year-old Mimico, ON native had a hands-on role forming the Competition Committee after the 2004-05 lockout and has spent three seasons in the position previously held by former Leafs GM Brian Burke and Colin Campbell dishing out suspensions and fines.
Shanahan assumes the position last held by Burke and left vacant after his dismissal in January 2013. While a more detailed description of his position with the club will become clearer over the coming weeks, the former Red Wings, Blues and Devils star appears to be part of the longtime plan of Tim Leiweke to place a recognized hockey personality as the face of the franchise, alleviating the MLSE Chairman from any day-to-day involvement with the club.
Shanahan will join the already existing Toronto management team, including GM Dave Nonis, Asst GM’s Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle and senior advisor Cliff Fletcher. Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons indicated that Nonis was aware of Leiweke’s intention to hire a Team President before signing a five-year contract extension last July and the hiring would have occurred no matter what the outcome of the Leafs season had been.
The announcement being made on the heels of the Leafs epic collapse in the final 15 games of the regular season serves two functions. It makes MLSE appear proactive in responding to the club’s decline by adding a personality with Hall of Fame credentials and a championship pedigree, while providing the organization time to make a proper evaluation of the reasons why the club has descended from 9th place overall on March 13th to 22nd overall on April 11th.
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The Leafs showed little signs of life in a dreary 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. The game marked the first NHL start for goalie Drew MacIntyre, who played well in a 33 save effort but did not receive much support from his teammates. The Panthers broke a 1-1 tie with three seconds remaining in the middle frame on a goal by former Leaf first rounder Brad Boyes and broke the game open early in the third with a pair of goals from big center Nick Bjugstad.
The 30-year-old MacIntyre has posted excellent numbers for the AHL Toronto Marlies since joining them halfway through the 2012-13 season and could be as an inexpensive option for the Leafs backup goaltender position next season, as James Reimer is expected to request a trade.
Jonathan Bernier will undoubtedly get the bulk of the work in goal and with the club likely having little room in the budget to add an expensive backup, MacIntyre may be a viable option to play 15 to 20 games on a minimum NHL salary.
Check out the Hockeybuzz Webcast with Eklund, USA Today's Kevin Allen and myself as we discuss the upcoming playoffs and the hiring of Brendan Shanahan.
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