Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Shannahan announced that Lou Lamoriello has been named the 16th General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Other people were interviewed by Shanahan for the vacant Leafs GM post, but Lamoriello was his target. I think that it required some patience, and it required, allowing Lou to get there himself. A source told that team president Brendan Shanahan first broached the possibility with Lamoriello a few weeks ago. The new ownership group has had to tighten its belt to improve New Jersey’s financial situation and, according to Lamoriello, pointed him toward a reduced role.
The Leafs front office’s “give-a-s– meter” clearly swung to the opposite extreme, and they’ve landed a legend to reverse their franchise’s course. That was another issue for Lamoriello down the stretch in New Jersey; now he has reinforcements. “There’s a lot of things that have transpired there….” “The almost three decades, I’ve been with the Devils are times I will cherish and never forget”.
“No one makes any decision without consulting the people that are around them and their supporting staff”, Lamoriello said.
“We recently found it wasn’t working for him”, Harris said.
“I think having Lou in the organization is an opportunity for him to mentor us all”, he said.
Harris said the team would not seek to hire a replacement for Lamoriello and that the organization is comfortable with the “status quo” and having Shero in charge of the hockey operations.
Shanahan said everyone in the organization will be able to learn from Lamoriello. But Lamoriello made it clear during his news conference that he would be making the final decisions with regard to the Maple Leafs’ roster.
What excites me about the hiring is Lamorello has the ability to spot good young talent.
Shero was glowing in his praise of Lamoriello and said the last two and a half months were, “very valuable for me”. Fire Mike? Just the kind of scenario that local hockey media would put to the incoming general manager during his introductory session at the Air Canada Centre Thursday. “He’s a pretty awesome person, and he’s in the Hall of Fame for a reason”. Shanahan was drafted by the Devils in 1987, the same year that Lamoriello started running that franchise. The only man who remotely matches his track record now in the National Hockey League is Ken Holland in Detroit, whose team is chasing a quarter-century’s worth of consecutive playoff appearances. In his 27 years at the helm, the Devils made the playoffs 21 times.
The Devils had slipped into disrepair, and the double-sided coin of being a micromanager is that credit quickly turns to blame deservedly when things go wrong. “But I do think that we were lacking in some experience”.
The Devils have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and in four of the past five, although they did lose the Stanley Cup Final to the Kings in six games in 2012.
