Leafs Name New Coach

[ItalianSpartan 0]

Leafs promote Paul Maurice from Marlies

TSN Article

[Steveo 0]

now they just another 10 peices of the pie and we should be a contender :D

[mrusse01 0]

Another nice move by Ferguson, obviously the brass at MLSE searched the globe extensively to find the most suitable coach for the biggest franchise in the league...what an amazing coincidence that the best available coach in the entire world just happened to be right here in Toronto working for our farm team!

[Eazy_b97 1]

Also interviewed Murray and Crawford.

What do you have against Maurice?

[McCabe24 0]

Solid, can't see anything wrong with the choice. Looking great for the Leafs right now, the staff and roster seems to be going in the right direction. If Sundin can keep performing for a few more years he might just get his Cup. How is our cap situation heading into this off season? I know there aren't many forwards but we could really use of one of the big three available on defence.

[Eazy_b97 1]

They have a ton of cap space, I believe there's like $20 mill tied up in players. If Cola, White and one of Pilar/Harrison/Kronwall all play (which is likely) they'll have even more cash to dish out.

[mrusse01 0]

Also interviewed Murray and Crawford.

What do you have against Maurice?

As if they 'interviewed' anyone else...the whole search process was a sham from day 1. It was insulting to the fans to suggest they were actually entertaining the option of hiring anyone else except Paul Maurice for the job. They just didnt want to do it until the Marlies were done, and Quinn forced their hand by essentially saying he'd go public with the fact that he was being fired if they didnt announce it immediatly.

I don't have anything in particular against Maurice, except his sub .500 coaching record in the NHL, its more my dislike for JFJ and entire way the firing of Quinn was handled. Anyone with half a brain could see the Maurice hiring coming a mile away, as he was Ferguson's 'guy' from the moment he was hired to coach the Marlies. Ferguson just didn't have the support or the cause to fire Quinn, so he was forced to wait until he did.

I hate all the power politics and doublespeak occurs at MLSE. John Ferguson obviously does not have the credentials to be the GM of this team and is acting as a puppet for the higher ups in the organization. I see this as a move whereby Ferguson will be able to influence Maurice moreso than Quinn.

Anyways, I hope it turns out otherwise, because I really do think Maurice is a better hockey man than Ferguson. Ideally I would have liked to see Quinn move up to GM/President, toss JFJ, and bring in Maurice as coach.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Quinn was an awful GM, and having him as president wouldn't have helped the team one bit. He simply wore out in Toronto. I have alot of respect for his record and history, but he just wasn't cutting it anymore. He really should have been fired after the first Philly loss, when he also lost his GM position. He failed to bring the team to the next level on the ice (to the finals). He took an up and coming young team and turned it into an older team on the decline in a few short years. His team's did best when they were forced to play a shorten bench due to injuries. All of the playoff losses were a direct result of either better goaltending or being outcoached, and usually both. He's won 1 play-off series in the past 3 years, and it was one where the team was completely outplayed. Mats was apperantly not pleased with Quinn, Roberts was supposedly upset with him as well. It comes time to move on and move forward. I wish Quinn the best of luck wherever he ends up, he helped the franchise progress forward, but his time ran out.

I don't like the head of MLSE, but Maurice is a solid choice and one who was being groomed from day 1. I'm not upset they didn't interview anyone else at all. JFJ saw his man, put him in place, and made the move. I love it. It's the exact opposite of how MLSE handled the vacant GM position, where they accepted ANYONES applications (literally).

[RadioGaGa 162]

What a great interview Maurice just had with Ron Mclean. Talking about Sundin, Ron asked "How much ice can you give a guy like that if he plays 5-5, PK and PP"

Maurice says "I don't care about ice time, it's ice time versus shifts. If you play 21 minutes on 20 shifts, that's too much". He talked about Sakic & Forsberg playing 20-24 minutes against Carolina once each on over 35 shifts. It's obvious...but I've never heard a coach talk about ice time that way.

IF they spend smart and get the right players, Maurice is gonna do wonders in Toronto next year.

Plus...we'll never have to sit through another "uh, ah, cough...ah..." Post game Press Conference from Quinn. He was horrible on mic.