devo22
03-29-2013, 09:31 AM
Dozens of Toronto based reporters swarmed into the conference room today, eagerly awaiting a press conference of the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Georg Messner, who was appointed nearly a year ago in April 2012, was sitting in front of the reporters, a loose tie hanging around his neck, and admitted defeat in the Leafs' desperate hunt for a playoff spot. Derek Roy of the Buffalo Sabres had provided the final nail in the coffin, scoring into an empty-net to put the finishing touch on a 5-3 Sabres win over the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier today.
"It's over now", Messner said, slowly shaking his head. "We were in the hunt for a long time, but we ran cold at the wrong time."
The Maple Leafs are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind the 8th placed Sabres with 3 games in hand. And while the team still has a theoretical chance of making the playoffs, the GM quickly brushed this idea aside.
"I don't care about math, I only care about hockey", he said with a sour face, cutting the reporter short who had asked the question. "If you're out by 10 points with 14 points still on the table, you are out. End of discussion."
The GM carefully chose his words when talking about the reasons for missing the playoffs again.
"I think we had a good season, generally", he said. "We were right in the mix for 6th, 7th, 8th place all the time. And then, all of a sudden, we fell off the earth. We had that brutal losing streak that effectively killed our chances. That was a tough pill to swallow."
Indeed, the Maple Leafs had a horrible stretch of games in the second half of February and most of March. The Leafs were stuck in a losing streak of 11 games (0-8-3), only getting 3 points over that stretch. The losing streak came somewhat unexpected after the Leafs had a fantastic 7-2-1 record in the previous 10 games.
"I don't know what happened, really", Messner said, again shaking his head in disbelief. "We approached those games the same way we always do. We weren't in bad shape, injury-wise. We didn't make significant trades that could have shaken up chemistry. It was ... I don't know. Some of those games were close, others were blowouts. We allowed 7 goals against Chicago, 8 against Winnipeg and 9 against the Rangers ... I have no explanation. We were not good enough."
Despite the disappointment of having to enter the offseason early, Messner was quick to point out the positives of the season.
"I think we surprised some people", he stated, suddenly in a lighter mood. "There were some so-called experts that didn't give us a chance from the beginning. They thought we'd be a bottom-dweller. It was nice to fight for the playoffs for so long and prove them wrong."
"I think we have a good group here, a good mixture. There are veterans like Vinny [Lecavalier] and Jiggy [J.S. Giguere] who have seen it all. There are guys like Carl Hagelin, Matt Read, Andrew MacDonald and Michael Grabner who are slowly, but steadily becoming real impact players for us. There are young guys like Cory Conacher, Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn who are just starting to realize their potential. There are lots of positives for the future."
With the trade deadline looming, the Leafs, having admitted defeat in the playoff hopes, have clearly positioned themselves as sellers. However, with the rookie GM naively handcuffing the team without any cheese space, this process might prove to be difficult. Pending UFAs Chris Kelly and Zenon Konopka remain the team's biggest bargaining chips.
"We have had discussions with several teams", Messner confirmed. "We will see what is out there. It has to make sense for us."
Speaking about his own maiden year in the league, Messner admitted that some things could have gone better.
"I understand that some fans are disappointed", he said. "I wouldn't expect anything else from them. This is a proud franchise with a proud history and proud fans. They deserve playoff hockey, and we tried to accomplish that. Were there some rookie mistakes on my part? Absolutely. It took some time to get adjusted to the job ... but personally, I'm a lot more happy with my work in the second half of the year. I'd like to have a couple deals back, but I doubt that there's a GM out there without any regrets."
However, Messner also expressed his desire to stay on board as GM for as long as possible. But when asked about the future of Leafs coach Guy Boucher, whose contract is about to expire, Messner was reluctant.
"I can't comment on that right now", he said. "Guy has done some good work for us. We'll evaluate the coaching situation after the season."
"It's over now", Messner said, slowly shaking his head. "We were in the hunt for a long time, but we ran cold at the wrong time."
The Maple Leafs are currently in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind the 8th placed Sabres with 3 games in hand. And while the team still has a theoretical chance of making the playoffs, the GM quickly brushed this idea aside.
"I don't care about math, I only care about hockey", he said with a sour face, cutting the reporter short who had asked the question. "If you're out by 10 points with 14 points still on the table, you are out. End of discussion."
The GM carefully chose his words when talking about the reasons for missing the playoffs again.
"I think we had a good season, generally", he said. "We were right in the mix for 6th, 7th, 8th place all the time. And then, all of a sudden, we fell off the earth. We had that brutal losing streak that effectively killed our chances. That was a tough pill to swallow."
Indeed, the Maple Leafs had a horrible stretch of games in the second half of February and most of March. The Leafs were stuck in a losing streak of 11 games (0-8-3), only getting 3 points over that stretch. The losing streak came somewhat unexpected after the Leafs had a fantastic 7-2-1 record in the previous 10 games.
"I don't know what happened, really", Messner said, again shaking his head in disbelief. "We approached those games the same way we always do. We weren't in bad shape, injury-wise. We didn't make significant trades that could have shaken up chemistry. It was ... I don't know. Some of those games were close, others were blowouts. We allowed 7 goals against Chicago, 8 against Winnipeg and 9 against the Rangers ... I have no explanation. We were not good enough."
Despite the disappointment of having to enter the offseason early, Messner was quick to point out the positives of the season.
"I think we surprised some people", he stated, suddenly in a lighter mood. "There were some so-called experts that didn't give us a chance from the beginning. They thought we'd be a bottom-dweller. It was nice to fight for the playoffs for so long and prove them wrong."
"I think we have a good group here, a good mixture. There are veterans like Vinny [Lecavalier] and Jiggy [J.S. Giguere] who have seen it all. There are guys like Carl Hagelin, Matt Read, Andrew MacDonald and Michael Grabner who are slowly, but steadily becoming real impact players for us. There are young guys like Cory Conacher, Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn who are just starting to realize their potential. There are lots of positives for the future."
With the trade deadline looming, the Leafs, having admitted defeat in the playoff hopes, have clearly positioned themselves as sellers. However, with the rookie GM naively handcuffing the team without any cheese space, this process might prove to be difficult. Pending UFAs Chris Kelly and Zenon Konopka remain the team's biggest bargaining chips.
"We have had discussions with several teams", Messner confirmed. "We will see what is out there. It has to make sense for us."
Speaking about his own maiden year in the league, Messner admitted that some things could have gone better.
"I understand that some fans are disappointed", he said. "I wouldn't expect anything else from them. This is a proud franchise with a proud history and proud fans. They deserve playoff hockey, and we tried to accomplish that. Were there some rookie mistakes on my part? Absolutely. It took some time to get adjusted to the job ... but personally, I'm a lot more happy with my work in the second half of the year. I'd like to have a couple deals back, but I doubt that there's a GM out there without any regrets."
However, Messner also expressed his desire to stay on board as GM for as long as possible. But when asked about the future of Leafs coach Guy Boucher, whose contract is about to expire, Messner was reluctant.
"I can't comment on that right now", he said. "Guy has done some good work for us. We'll evaluate the coaching situation after the season."