Posted - 05/08/2008 : 16:58:44 Quite a long read, originally for school but was to long. Enjoy.
If you had to look back at the previous two seasons, or even three, of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey you could find ample scapegoats to blame the struggles of the Leafs franchise. But there is one man that stands out. He even does credit to the failure of the Raptors pre-Colangelo era. But who is this man? Which person has directly affected the one ice product of one of the most storied franchises in the history of the sport? All (or most) failure can be linked to one man…….Richard Peddie.
Financially the Leafs are flourishing, heck, their doing better then ever before. Notice how I stress financially. The Leafs have now missed the playoffs for three consecutive years, making it the longest streak of missing the playoffs for the franchise since the 1920’s. I can’t blame Peddie for 1920, but right now he should hold the most responsibility for the Leafs one ice struggles.
Richard Peddie is President and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, and in his time in that position for they (MLSE) have tripled it’s value to a whopping 1.5 billion dollars. Of that the Leafs account for $413 of the total sum. Not bad for a franchise that hasn’t won a Cup in 40 years. Compare this to the second wealthiest NHL team the New York Rangers, who rake in $365 million, and you can see that Peddie does his job quite well.
But what jurisdiction does Peddie have to run a hockey team? This guy doesn’t know hockey inside and out, nor does he know what kinds of players to get! But Peddie is smart, and he knows that if he appoints himself GM fans will riot. So instead what does he do? Signs a rookie GM so that he can micro-manage him and control the hockey team. Believe me, this makes sense.
When Peddie first became the CEO of MLSE he had two teams to provide for financially, the Leafs and the Raptors. As time bore on he thought he had gained enough knowledge to run a basketball team named the Toronto Raptors. So to do that he hired a rookie GM, Rob Babcock, and started the micro-managing through him.
This is how it works at MLSE. The GM has to pass all his ideas off to the Board of Governors, a panel of MLSE Executives. What they know about sports is a mystery. But anyways, the GM presents an idea and it passes through the Board. Peddie, the cahouna of the board, obviously has the most authority. What he says, for the most part, goes. So lets say Peddie dislikes the idea of getting Kobe Bryant. He can casually mention to the Board that this isn’t a good idea and that they should reject the notion. And that’s what they will do. Eventually, he vetoes so many trades that the GM has no ability to do anything with the franchise. Team plummets #61664; GM Fired #61664; Peddie looks for another person to micro manage.
Except this time with the Raptors, an established, well educated basketball man takes control of the reigns. His one request….Peddie, get outta my way. Because of that Peddie is left to focus on one other team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Peddie will follow the same schedule as he did with Babcock. Rookie GM and micro manage him. Arrive John Ferguson. Peddie again does his micro-managing dance and the team crumbles. Simple as that.
But to avoid suspicion, Peddie goes out to the media and expresses that the hiring was a mistake, citing that the GM was to young an inexperienced. You knew that from the start, so why hire him? Because you want to micro manage him? Yes!
The Leafs will be bad until one of two things happens.
1). A knowledgeable, experienced hockey man is hired for the Leafs GM and coaching position. Who knows what would happen if Peddie tries his hand at coaching.
2). Peddie gets fired.
One of the two happens and the Leafs will look early 1990’s, except this time with a Cup ring. And the GM to bring the Cup to Toronto will be treated like a king, and will be etched into folklore for centuries. And the only way that happens is if Peddie is out. Period.
