Rosie DiManno: Exclusive interview with Leafs president,
Shanahan reveals secrets to success in Leafs’ wild ride
‘I still have nightmares about not getting that No. 1 pick.’ Brendan Shanahan
There is a moment in the now three-year presidential tenure of Brendan Shanahan that he replays constantly in his mind. April 30, 2016: 6-8-5-13. Jackpot. When the balls bounced Toronto’s way at the draft lottery that Saturday night, Auston Matthews became a Maple Leaf in all but formality.
“I still have nightmares about not getting that No. 1 pick.”
Thus began a season of resurrection for a sorry franchise.
There’s nothing to be sorry about anymore.
A 26-point improvement over 2015-16. A return to the playoffs for the first time in four years, only the second time in 12 seasons. A spirited and exuberant firstround series that scared the bejeezus out of the Presidents’ Trophy-decorated Washington Capitals.
But ask Shanahan when he knew that this team was collectively special, not merely background scenery for a blossoming superstar who should win rookie-of-the-year laurels next month, and he points to Jan. 1.
“I thought that the Centennial Classic was meaningful in that it was sort of a disappointing end to regulation time that maybe in the past would have felt like an even bigger dagger going into the heart in overtime. Even the fact that we’d given up this lead and Detroit had scored with a second left in the game, we didn’t hang our heads. We actually came out and really went on the attack looking for the win — and got it.
“You’d always rather get the lead, hold the lead and win eventually. But there was something meaningful about this game. Even though our official (franchise) birthday is actually not until next season, to me there was something in that moment in overtime where we went from 100 to 001.
“The clock officially changed that day.”
In the details, and unsurprisingly, it was Matthews who left his fingerprints all over that game — scoring twice, including the 5-4 OT winner. But Mitch Marner scored, Connor Brown scored, and the Leafs rallied after surrendering a 4-1 lead late in the third. In doing so, they put daylight between Leaf teams of recent-old and the team they were becoming.
There would be relapses, naturally, for a squad that often had eight rookies in the lineup. But not many and never without a buoyant reset.
This week, Shanahan sat down with the Star to review and recollect a season that restored hockey to its rightful place in a city’s heart.
“I’ve always felt that people appreciate passion. In Toronto this year they appreciated that the team had success — I stress some success. But more than that, they never quit. When you pay money to go to a play or pay money to go to a sporting event, really, to watch anybody entertain you, you want to feel that they are passionate about what they’re doing. More than anything that was what our fans got excited about. They liked this team because they felt, watching them play, that they liked each other too, they liked being teammates.
“It seems like that should be the way it always is, but it doesn’t exist with every team in every sport in every city.’’
Shanahan smiles wryly, noting that there are thousands upon thousands of armchair coaches in Toronto. “A lot of people who really love hockey think they were one bad coaching decision away from making it to the NHL themselves. They want to know that the guy who actually got to do what they dreamed of doing appreciates it.”
That’s the symbiosis between a team and a city.
Too often, in recent years, the club was defined by a sense of entitlement, even — in a handful of players — disdain for fans. It wasn’t attractive. It definitely wasn’t fun.
These Leafs brought the fun back. And they were easy to forgive when they put a foot wrong.
“It was fun because the players came together. Certainly there was a lot of focus on our young guys. But I think our veteran guys really got caught up in it as well and really delivered. Especially the veteran guys that were here in recent years and saw that they were rewriting what people in hockey had said about this team for so long. And they got caught up in it.”
What they’d said, of course, is that the Leafs were a fitful franchise, notorious for making the wrong decisions, for lacking the guts to undertake a Ground Zero rebuild, and for always looking for quick fixes that cost them young blood.
Patience, Mike Babcock had pleaded, although patience is not particularly in the coach’s DNA.
There were early clues that 2016-17 might see a quicker turnaround than many had envisioned.
“When I saw them come together in training camp, we all felt — sort of quietly, to ourselves — that we could be better than people were expecting. That it could get contagious. You can get pushed by a coach, but it’s more effective when you’re getting pushed by each other, by your peers.’’
Recall that at the start of training camp, Babcock was not at all sure, for example, that weedy teenager Marner would even make the team. Yet the 165-pound Marner led the club in assists, showed extraordinary skating and creativity on the ice and held up just fine through a full campaign and six playoff games.
“Mitch played a ton last year. A lot of these players coming into the NHL now are better prepared because of all of the international tournaments they play for their countries and the regular season and the playoffs. If you’re a CHL player and you win a Memorial Cup, you play a lot more hockey than 95 per cent of NHL players. Some of these guys played in the World Cup, most played in the world juniors last year. They’re well prepared for the rigours of the NHL.’’
Shanahan resists the invitation to compare Marner to players past, who he might bring to mind. “It’s easy to throw out names, but I would just be repeating what other people said. What’s important is not saying who in history he reminds you of, but rather saying what kind of a history do you want to create for yourself?’’
Because this is Toronto, where hockey anxiety stirs just below the surface and speculation is endless, there were junctures where oh-oh moments seized the city and rumours abounded. Example: Babcock gently calling out William Nylander for playing too soft. That got the call-in shows chattering about a possible trade.
“I didn’t see it as a big deal,” Shanahan shrugs. “I thought the whole city should just relax. He’s coaching. He doesn’t dislike him. It wasn’t punishment. Babs is a phenomenal communicator as to what he wants. There’s no gray. What really impressed me is how, whether we won or lost, Babs would come in the next morning with enthusiasm about what today is about and what tomorrow is about. I think players want that kind of direction. It’s hard sometimes. It’s not easy playing for someone who always demands your best. But I also think it’s hard to play for a coach when you’re not sure what he wants from you. It might be more comfortable playing for certain other guys. But in order to win a championship you have to play for somebody who pushes you to play your best.’’
At this point, Shanahan pulls out his phone and scrolls around looking for a specific photo. He finds it: 14-year-old son Jack wearing a Nylander jersey.
“How could I ever possible trade this player?” he laughs.
The discussion moves to another player who deeply impressed Shanahan this season: Nazem Kadri.
Fans will recall that a year earlier, Shanahan suspended Kadri three games for arriving late to a team meeting. It was a kick in the butt. And look at Kadri now.
“First and foremost, it happened to me,” Shanahan explains. “When I was in my second year in the NHL, I slept in for practice — and got sat out three games. The worst thing they could have done for me was sweep it under the rug. I had my excuses — I didn’t get the wake-up call, my roommate had left early to get treatment, I was a teenager, just 19. Looking back, I think it was ultimately important for me to be more accountable, to grow up. It might have been a small thing, but I was giving my teammates the wrong message that morning. So I see a lot of value in that.
“If I didn’t like Kadri so much, I may have allowed it to slide. I thought at that point in his career it was something that just had to be done. But I don’t think that had anything to do with his emergence this year. I give the credit to Mike and to Lou (Lamoriello) and mostly, honestly, to Nazem. He’s really become a leader on our team.”
While Shanahan happily cites the work of the first-year cadre, he doesn’t speak at length about Matthews. The kid’s generational player bona fides are simply so obvious. He drools imagining what could have been — if the draft lottery balls had bounced more fortuitously in 2015 and the Leafs had scooped up Connor McDavid. But Shanahan is sanguine with the look of the team he’s got and the huge window of opportunity opening up for them in the coming seasons, while simultaneously fretting that the club might take a backward step in 2017-18. Other teams in the conference will improve and some, such as Tampa, won’t be so grievously stricken by the injury bug next year. It could get harder for the Leafs, not necessarily easier.
Making the playoffs, though, acquitting themselves superbly, was a priceless maturing experience.
“I was glad that we went up against an NHL powerhouse, a veteran team, a Stanley Cup contender. I was glad that our guys didn’t face a team that just sort of limped into the playoffs. The Capitals are an experienced team and we took a lot out of them.”
Damn near took them out of the playoffs, which was left to the Penguins.
Next week, Shanahan will be in Paris for the world championship. Then comes the NHL draft in Chicago. Free-agent season. Before you know it, rookie camp will open.
Surprises next season will likely be fewer. You only make a good first impression once.
“I honestly wouldn’t say anything surprised me. I guess you have hopes and expectations and you’re pleased when they’re met.’’
Shanahan is hugely pleased. And proud.
For Shanny too, though he won’t say it: Well done, Mr. President.