TORONTO — No one better get too comfortable here.
That’s the first thing Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan wanted to make clear when he came down from the office tower at Air Canada Centre to address the players directly on Friday morning.
The most powerful voice on the hockey side of the operation is usually its most discreet. But with the second half of the season at hand, and the team just days removed from a coaching change, Shanahan wanted to remind everyone that he’s holding the hammer.
“I wanted to make it very clear that we’re watching and that we’re on it,” Shanahan told reporters. “Whether we’ve seen good things or we’ve seen some bad things, they’re not getting by us, they’re not escaping us, and we’re not going to be a (management) group that is afraid to act if we feel that we’re going to be able to make ourselves better.”
Never mind that it’s nearly impossible for cap-handcuffed executives to pull off significant trades in the NHL these days. It is worth suspending belief for a few brief moments to examine the method behind Shanahan’s unexpected appearance here.
This was a public declaration of impatience.
While elements of that could be gleaned by the decision to fire Randy Carlyle over the phone on Monday night, Shanahan left no doubt about where management stands with a group of players that have once again shown themselves prone to volatility.
It’s a change in direction, to be sure, from the patience general manager Dave Nonis has repeatedly preached during the last few seasons. Shanahan wants his players to know that results are expected now and he won’t sit idly by if they’re not delivered.
“This is another good opportunity for us to see what some of our guys are made of,” he said.
“One of the things we expressed to the players today was while we’re sitting and watching and viewing we’ve seen the good and we’ve seen the bad, and at a certain point you’re going to tell us who you are,” said Shanahan. “We’re not going to be afraid when that time comes (to make changes).”
That can be viewed as an ultimatum of sorts because the longtime NHLer made it abundantly clear that he’s unhappy about the 21-17-3 start.
While conceding that he’s trying to keep an open mind about the second half of the season, Shanahan said that the team’s core players haven’t met expectations. Reading between the lines, it was clear that he holds the biggest names most accountable for the precipitous highs and lows of this campaign.
“I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t seen enough consistency and that’s really what it’s about in being successful,” said Shanahan. “I think most teams in the NHL that have success don’t beat themselves. We are often … our own worst enemies.”
The tough words won’t have come as a surprise to everyone.
In private conversations this week, more than one player said that he viewed the coaching change as the last shoe to drop before trades are made. Even as far back as November, shortly after the team suffered consecutive blowout losses and caused a stir by not saluting the home fans, Joffrey Lupul labelled this a make or break season.
“For this group of guys this is a big year for us,” said Lupul. “A year of us not making the playoffs again is not going to be acceptable.”
Still, the Leafs are in many ways where most expected them to be — just outside of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
How they’ve arrived here is most concerning.
More than 56 percent of the team’s games this season have been decided by three or more goals. That’s an alarming number that lends credence to Roman Polak’s assertion to Sportsnet earlier this week that “I think we have lots of guys that just want to play offence.”
For this team to be successful it has to change.
“The message that we are trying to pound home to our players is that you really have to be a lot more sound defensively,” said Shanahan. “Being where we are in goals against, being where we are in shots against, it’s not acceptable.
“We work a lot on our defence — that’s important — but I think it’s also very important that we have strategies so that our focus is on how to play defence less often. We have to have the puck more.”
This was just the fourth time Shanahan has appeared at a press conference since being hired in April. He said back then that he wanted to take time to evaluate the organization and there’s evidence now that his review is nearing completion.
The next step will come in the form of action.
However, there’s no reason to expect that the Hockey Hall of Famer will now become the public face of the team since he’s mindful of not undermining those working below him.
“I don’t want to smother our players or our coaches or Dave Nonis as our general manager,” said Shanahan. “I want to give (the players) the time and the space and the room to go out and tell us who they are and what they are.
“So far it hasn’t been good enough. They know that.”
Interim coach Peter Horachek is known as an excellent communicator and he’ll be left in the role for the remainder of the season. The final 41 games, starting with a visit by Columbus on Friday night, should be viewed as a tryout for everyone.
Whether or not a new voice behind the bench will have its desired effect remains the “million-dollar question,” according to Shanahan.
“I think that any time there is a coaching change there is an opportunity for players to look at themselves as well,” he said. “I mean there’s that moment when a coach goes and then you know that the spotlight is going to be shined on you.”
By making rare appearances in the dressing room and at the podium on Friday, Shanahan made sure of it.
