The fate of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Ferguson is in limbo because the board of directors of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment are divided on the issue and continue to bicker over the next course of action.
Although MLSE has investigated alternatives — TSN reported that former Toronto GM Cliff Fletcher was contacted Monday to gauge his interest in taking over the club on an interim basis — the fight over Ferguson's future has dragged into its ninth month.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is the majority shareholder in MLSE. Other shareholders are CTVglobemedia; TD Capital, a unit of the Toronto-Dominion Bank; and Larry Tanenbaum.
"If it was up to [MLSE chairman] Larry Tanenbaum, there would be a house-cleaning and Scotty Bowman would be brought in," said a source close to MLSE board members. "But the Teachers are still fighting with [Tanenbaum]. Larry wants to win. The teachers want a return on their investment. So if Ferguson is fired, expect somebody to be brought in for the interim only."
Neither Fletcher, 72, nor Bowman, 74, were available for comment on Monday.
Bowman was contacted by the Leafs last summer and engaged in separate interviews with Tanenbaum and MLSE president and chief executive officer Richard Peddie. The 10-time Stanley Cup winner had interest in the job if he was given control of hockey operations and compensated with the same salary as Toronto Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo.
But a day after telling Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday that he'll "cross that bridge" if there was another offer tendered by the Leafs, he told the Detroit Free Press that he was "committed" to the Detroit Red Wings this season in his role as senior consultant.
Tanenbaum was willing to give in to Bowman's wishes. Peddie and the three MLSE board members — Robert Bertram, James Leech and Dean Metcalf — who are with the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan were not.
With only 43 days until the NHL trade deadline, there doesn't appear to be urgency on the board's part. Although Peddie refused to comment, there is no board meeting scheduled this month and Tanenbaum said he would be travelling this week.
In a technological world, decisions can be reached without the decision-makers being in the same room. But wouldn't Tanenbaum want to stick around with his hockey club on the verge of making important decisions?
The Leafs, who play the Carolina Hurricanes at Air Canada Centre Tuesday night, extended their losing streak to a season-worst five games when they suffered a third-period meltdown in a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks last Saturday. Yet, the latest slide went into a third day with Ferguson still running the show.
The Leafs also have dropped 11 of their past 13 games and are eight points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 37 games remaining. If they miss the postseason for a third consecutive season, it will match a period of ineptness that has occurred only once before in franchise history, 80 years ago.
Leafs captain Mats Sundin was asked on Monday why he wouldn't seek for a trade so the team could begin rebuilding. He said he can't control what other people think and that he wants to continue to play in Toronto.
Sundin also was asked if he would ever approach the ownership group to complain about the general manager or coach.
"I never felt my job is to replace the GM or anyone else who is senior of me in terms of responsibility or trying to do someone else's job," said Sundin, who added that he hasn't been approached by ownership for his thoughts on Ferguson or coach Paul Maurice.
"If I was a GM, I wouldn't want a player to go behind my back."
Maurice wants to see changes, but on the ice and not in the front office nor behind the bench.
"The only change that needs to happen is that we need to play better hockey with this group and start winning games," Maurice said. "That solves everything. All problems get fixed with winning. All problems are created by losing. We've done a lot of that lately."
