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The arrival of the circus was duly noted by TSN's James Duthie.
“Barnum & Bailey is sponsoring the show,” he said at the start of the network's Montreal Canadiens-Toronto Maple Leafs telecast on Tuesday.
For those unfamiliar with Harold Ballard, who owned the Leafs (and made them a laughingstock), the circus paid regular visits to the team in the 1970s and 1980s. Ballard, under the big top, would denounce coach, captain or general manager, or all three.
This week, Richard Peddie, the president and chief executive officer of team owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, took over the Ballard role by telling a reporter that it had been a mistake to hire Leafs general manager John Ferguson.
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Like Ballard so many times before, Peddie became the big story. He was all over the airwaves, prattling on about why Ferguson was hired and attempting to explain the context of his inappropriate remarks.
And, like Ballard, Peddie had succeeded in embarrassing an employee, putting him down in public and letting him twist in the wind. There was also a touch of hypocrisy to it, because MLSE, as operated by Peddie, keeps a tight lid on public comments.
For example, it refuses to allow its TV producers to talk to the media. Networks, as a rule, are happy to make their producers available for interviews. Not MLSE-owned Leafs TV or Raptors NBA TV. When John Shannon, now the NHL's head of broadcasting, ran Leafs TV, he was told to stop appearing on the radio – which is where Peddie spent a good amount of his time on Tuesday.
It is assumed Ferguson is finished. Nick Kypreos of Rogers Sportsnet said Ferguson's legs had been “cut out from under him.” TSN's Mike Milbury described him as a dead man walking.
The correct move for Peddie would have been to either give Ferguson a contract extension (which he doesn't deserve) or fire him. Instead, Mr. Dithers went public to wring his hands over Ferguson's hiring, and, most important, reveal his future, which is bleak.
Milbury said Peddie should be sacked, but, as pointed out by many, he won't be, because he makes so much money for MLSE, although it would seem that any reasonably able corporate executive would succeed in an organization that owns a sports club as profitable as the Leafs.
TSN's Bob McKenzie said that, at the very least, a restriction should be placed on Peddie's responsibilities. Let him oversee the arena, MLSE's condominium business and the soccer team (although Toronto FC would probably be better off without him), but keep him away from the hockey team.
What should be done with the Leafs? Dismiss Ferguson immediately, because, as Milbury observed, waiting until the end of the season will delay the rebuilding process by a year.
Hire a club president now and give him complete autonomy. Starting now would give the new boss time to prepare for the trade deadline in February, the draft in June and free agency in July.
It is believed Scotty Bowman would take the job. The first thing he would likely do is go behind the bench. He wouldn't fire coach Paul Maurice, but he would spend time up close to evaluate the players (and Maurice).
Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey did something similar after firing coach Claude Julien. He went behind the bench with Guy Carbonneau, whom he had hired to replace Julien.
Who would Bowman bring with him? Two people with whom he's close are TSN's Pierre McGuire, a former NHL coach, and Pat Burns, a former Leafs coach. Avery retractionThe FAN 590 in Toronto will retract, on the air, its report that alleged New York Rangers forward Sean Avery had ridiculed Toronto Maple Leafs winger Jason Blake's fight with cancer during a trash-talking session at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 10.TSN's NHL doubleheader on Tuesday produced two big audiences: 890,000 for Canadiens-Leafs, second largest of the season for TSN, and 694,000 for Anaheim Ducks-Vancouver Canucks, 15 per cent above the CBC's average for its Western-based second game of the Saturday doubleheader.More than 20,000 watched part of the CBC's Grey Cup telecast on CBCSports.ca, with an average viewing time of 42 minutes. That viewing time was double the online viewing of the 2007 NHL playoffs.NHL audiences on Versus in the United States are small, but growing. Versus is averaging 246,154 viewers a game, up 24 per cent from last year at this time. Over the past year, the Versus distribution has increased to 73.6 million households from 70.8 million.
