End of Season Presser - Keith Pelley, Brendan Shanahan, and Brad Treliving
Pelley
- Won't make it a habit to participate in team operations conferences, but says this is different - his first public speaking as CEO of MLSE. Relishes the opportunity to be responsible for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Says core of that responsibilities lies in wanting to win. He wants to win. "Good is not good enough" - is the collective view of ownership. They want to win
- Says where we can, there's a desire to provide hockey operations with every resource to win.
- Been here 4 weeks, but is still learning, and evaluating. Says no decision will be made, like the Keefe decision, without a detailed analysis of how to get better
- We need to win. Nothing else matters.
- Impossible to put timeline on a Stanley Cup. Thinks formula for success is great skill combined with chemistry and unity. Got a full glimpse of the chemistry and unity that Brad and Brendan have when the team went down 3-1 in the Boston series (??). CHemistry and unity are the critical components to being successful.
- During the 2023 Ryder Cup, chemistry and unity helped push them to success despite being underdogs against the Americans
- Nothing else matters than winning the stanley cup
- Only been here for 4 weeks - Shanahan is the President of the Toronto Maple Leafs. What he's seen in the 4 weeks, is that the chemistry and unity of the 2 gentlement running the team is very strong. Can only evaluate what he's seen in 4 weeks.
- On being from Toronto and the lack of success - hasn't spent much time in Toronto the past 9 years, but in the last 3-4 weeks has gotten a full glimpse of Leafs Nation. Understands the passion and commitment of the fans. Reminds him of his first game in Liverpool, hearing "You'll Never Walk Alone" for the first time. The fans here not only demand, but deserve, a championship. There's no complacency. We're not here to sell jerseys, we are here to win. Will do everything they can to win. As much as I love the city, and Toronto was my home, the lure for me to come back wasn't Toronto, but commitment to be successful and to win. The fans are incredibly passionate. What he saw at Maple Leafs Square was staggering in game 6. The city is different, than it was 9 years ago. One of the ways is that there's even more Leafs fans, and Leafs Nation is even bigger than it was back then. They deserve 100% of their effort. I believe that's what we are going to do.
- On cap philosophy, and the lack of money available to develop the chemistry & unity he prioritizes - skill is a critical component of success, but if you don't have the chemistry and unity throughout the entire organization, starting from ownership right down to the equipment manager, that's the support that he plans to provide. Will support Brendan and Brad as they try to drive that chemistry and unity.
Shanahan
- Thanks Sheldon Keefe for his 9 seasons with the organization
- Praises the dignity, grace, and professionalism that Sheldon handled the media throughout his tenure.
- Keefe is a great coach, and an even better man. Appreciates that Sheldon took on a lot of responsibility of the lack of success in the playoffs.
- Says accountability is on Shanahan. Playoff results haven't been good enough. That's on him. Players and management know results are unacceptable to everyone, including the fans.
- An analysis is done at end of every season, for ways to be better. In the past, we've prioritized patience. Don't think that's the case now.
- When you see patterns persist, and results don't change, you have to adjust how you look at things
- We will look at everything, and consider everything, this summer.
- Doesn't serve the Leafs in anyway to discuss individual players prematurely. Focus is on finding a new head coach, and that coach will have important voice as part of roster decisions going forward.
- Brad and Keith are new here - but he hasn't been. Seen a lot of persistent patterns that he's seen. There was a time for patience, but everything is on the table now.
- On players saying they were "close" on Monday - Players know that those results are unacceptable, but you always want players to believe. A few days before talking on Monday, they were fighting for their playoff lives. Their belief is understandable, it's their job. Our job is to make them better.
- On the complete lack of scoring in elimination lately, despite having the best goalscorer and the highest paid offense - that's the challenge, and something that we wake up everyday trying to change. There's regular season goals, and playoff goals. I'm a firm believer that playoff goals come from playoff structure, defensive structure, and forcing teams to open up against you. It's happened too often, and thinks they have to question coaching, messaging, and personel. They recognize that when the playoffs come, the goals that we scored in the regular season aren't available. Have to get to the dirty areas, and your powerplay has to be successful. Unfortunately other than the Tampa series, where the PP was good and they won, all the other series, we haven't gotten those results.
- On why the core hasn't been able to push the group over the top - that's the difficult question that we've looked back on. If you were to live in a vaccuum and just view this playoff, you might view it differently and with optimism. But they can't afford to think that way, having seen it year after year. There's a time where right answer is patience, but then there's a time where there's new information and a time to adjust. Says that the desire of the player is there. Doesn't question that.
- On his contract situation, and his need for success - not going to get into his contract. It's not a focus for him. From the day he was hired in 2014, he wakes up everyday with the goal of trying to find a way to make Maple Leafs better. My last contract, his first, was not addressed or renewed until a month before it expired. Wasn't a distraction then, and it won't be one now. Won't discuss any further.
- On any regrets on showing faith in the core - doesn't have regret for showing faith in people. Wouldn't put it that way. When we all come to Toronto, especially at this stage of the team's development, you know what you're getting into. The way our fans support us, especially on the road, is a really important and moving thing to us and our players. Don't want to let them down. If I felt that the players felt differently than how we do, I might have regretted that. So we have to make changes, and make sure those players have all the tools available. You want to help them see things through. I've been in the game a long time. We know how it works. We've all seen the good and the bad, and accept the consequences. But while we are here, the motivation has to be are we getting better.
- On whether he still feels core group can win - gets back to the essence of the opening statement. There's a time where you talk about patience, and then there's a time where you see the same patterns and try to understand why they keep happening. It has become evident that we have to assess all of those things, and assess whether we have to make very difficult decisions.
- On why this assessment is happening now vs earlier - it happens every summer. When you see patterns not change, and when you change lots of pieces around your core issues and hope the results will be different, and when they aren't, you have to be willing to grow and adapt with the information you have. When we are walking into next year's playoffs, we have to feel we are a team that we feel is more confident in getting different results.
Treliving
- Thanks Sheldon - says keeping Sheldon last year was the right call. Really good coach, excellent person.
- This doesn't fall all at Sheldon's feet. Doesn't want it taken that making a change at head coach position, that all arrows point at the coach.
- Couldn't look at past year in a vacuum. Had to take into consideration the totality of Sheldon's time at the club.
- Was his decision to fire Sheldon. Felt strongly that a new voice was needed.
- Doesn't believe churning coaches is recipe for success, but when looking at totality of Keefe's work, change was needed.
- Doesn't think Keefe will be out of work for long - excellent coach.
- Fell short this season. Didn't accomplish attainable goals that they set for themselves. Responsibility for that falls fully with GM. Takes responsibility for everything that happens on the ice.
- Thinks it was an uneven season. The start was tough integrating new players. Goaltending situation was turbulent. Blueline saw plenty of injuries.
- In the playoffs, key players missed time. But felt areas they fell short on were patterns from the past - lack of offense, and special teams. Will look at improving those aspects
- When you go through the season that we've had, everything needs to be looked at and everything is on the table.
- Injury Clarifications
- Bobby McMann - suffered MCL sprain against Detroit. Expected 6-7 week recovery. Anticipation was he would be available for round 2
- Auston Matthews - became really sick after game 2. Was a virus that stuck with him throughout game 3. Suffered a hit in game 4 - presented head issues, as a result of possibly both the hit and illness. Says he was cleared to play on the morning of game 7
- William Nylander - suffered severe migraines before playoffs started. Treated like head / concussion.
- Connor Dewar (hardly knew her) - shoulder injury, getting surgery today.
- Joe Woll - sprained back at the completion of game 6.
- Plenty of good coaching candidates that they plan to explore. Wants to be thorough, but also understands there's other openings that are looking for coaches.
- It's important to step back and not make emotional decisions. Wanted to deal with Sheldon properly, and think through that process clearly. Was an emotional day. Once decision was made, next steps for finding new head coach began yesterday. Won't be hastily done, but there's quality candidates we want to get to as fast as they can.
- On players saying they were "close" - results are unacceptable. But you don't throw a body on the tarmak just to say "we did something". Pays a lot of attention to the meetings with players. They understand that we've fallen short. As Brendan said, there is a time for patience, but we are at a point where we see repeatable patterns, that we have to dig into it more. We think we should still be playing, so results are unacceptable.
- On similar patterns - they are a team that scores in the regular season, but they can't score in the playoffs. One of the things he wanted to do, wasn't increasing total goals but scoring more playoff-style goals. Is it systematic? Play style? We haven't scored enough, and our special teams aren't good enough. We turn the other team's goalie into the 1st star every night. We have to systematically, and via personnel, dig into how that improves.
- Has lots of faith in Woll, but understands concerns about his health - we have to support Joe. Is it luck? Is it a training and recovery issue? Something they have to dig into.
- On the need for a new voice, and what would actually change with this group - have to look at everything. Sometimes, a coach's message may not be getting through even if he's a really good coach. When he looks at his team and evaluates them, they have to find a way to do the hard and unsexy things longer, that doesn't require skill. There's some things in this sport that are not related to skill, that help you win this time of year. You still need skill and talent, but we need a voice that can bring the other stuff out.
- On the cap structure not working - have to look at everything. Doesn't want to look back to when the signings were made. We've got really good players, but it hasn't worked to date. Won't come out to make emotional decisions just to say "look at what we've done". But have to analyze why it hasn't worked. The situation is that they are where they are, with really good players. Have to dig into why the same results happen year after year, and adjust accordingly.
- On the challenges of supporting a highly paid core with other rosters - doesn't think the philosophy was ever to spend a huge amount of cap on a few players. Pandemic changed things. They don't talk about the core 4 internally, and everyone has to feel important. Have to make sure everyone feels important. It can't go on the backs of just the core 4. It's about the Maple Leafs. Salary aside, it's something that he wanted to change when he came. Winning teams have the unique ability of making everyone feel like if they weren't part of it, the goal wouldn't have been accomplished, regardless of contract, pay, etc. Won't be successful here if the guy on top of the food chain doesn't feel the same importance as the 23rd man.
Thanks again for this this.
Shanahan is so frustrating. This d-bag is now saying "coach will have a say in roster decisions" but completely shunned babcock while bending over backwards to dubas and the stupidity that was Sparks, Malgins, Petans, Tyson Barries, Kerfoot, ridiculous overpayments, etc...
How does shanahan even live with himself? then I remember what he did with his teammate's spouse how much faith and integrity does shanahan have to begin with?
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