Ferguson Finally Fired

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally
axed general manager John Ferguson Jr.
Former GM Cliff Fletcher will replace
him. Toronto is having a horrible year
and is on the cusp of missing the playoffs
for the second straight season.

Ferguson, the son of the
legendary Montreal Canadian John
Ferguson Sr., made numerous and long-
lasting errors in judgment during his
tenure in Toronto, the most prominent
of which were his high-profile free agent
signings, almost all of which have turned
out to be epic, and
costly, flops.

Lavishing
Jason Blake with $20
million over five years
will haunt Toronto for
years to come. While
Blake was coming
off a 40-goal season,
it has turned out to
be an anomaly in his
career. Before _ that
year, even in college,
Blake had never
surpassed the 28-goal
mark. It also didn’t
help matters when
Blake was diagnosed
with leukemia at
the beginning of the
season.

Ferguson
also gave offensive
defenseman Bryan
McCabe a_ five-year
contract for $28.75
million with a _no-
trade clause. Not
that anybody would
trade for McCabe
anyways, since
singing his extension,
his defensive play has
been abysmal, and
he’s been booed out of
the Air Canada Center
on more than one
occasion.

JFJ also
locked up __ busts
Tomas Kaberle and
Pavel Kubina to
lengthy deals. All of
these, plus the poor
play of high-earning
goaltender Andrew
Raycroft, had many
calling for Ferguson’s
head months ago.

H i s
repuatation was further
tarnished after Boston
fleeced him in the deal
that brought Raycroft
to Toronto. Toronto
dealt away first round
pick Tukka Rask, who
has since become
the top goaltending
prospect in the world,
for Raycroft, who
despite a calder-trophy
winning season in

Boston spectacularly A ~ e melee laW NIC TECH Lalo!

collapsed in Toronto.
The only

move that might be remembered in a
positive light during the Ferguson era
was his signing, again to a long-term
deal, of Vesa Toskela. However, the
jury is still out on that one as Toskela,
who had previously split the goaltending
duties with Evgeni Nabokov in San Jose,
had never played a full season and has
become very injury-prone.

Cliff Fletcher, 72, replaces
Ferguson who had previously the reigns
of the club from 1991 to 1997. Fletcher
was inducted into the Hockey Hall of
Fame in 2004, and is considered to be

one of the best
GM’s of. all
time. He was
the architect
of the Calgary
Flames 1989
Stanley Cup
victory, and
has been
known for his
blockbuster,
and highly
successful,
trades.

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January 28, 2008

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