GLENDALE, Ariz. — Brendan Shanahan had a bone to pick on Thursday morning.
He sees the Maple Leafs in the same mould as general manager Kyle Dubas. Period.
“I want to make it really clear that we’re aligned and this is how I see a team should be built as well,” Shanahan, the Leafs president, said during a news conference at Gila River Arena with Dubas seated to his right.
“I think sometimes people want to too simplistically put us in one box as speed and skill, and toughness and grit in an entirely different box. We want to be also tough, we want to be gritty. I think that our interpretation of toughness and grittiness might be different from someone who played in the ’70s or ’80s or coached then.”
Shanahan used St. Louis Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly, who can play a gritty game but also can produce, as an example. Shanahan pointed to O’Reilly winning the Conn Smythe Trophy last spring as the Blues won the Stanley Cup while recording 20 points in 22 playoff games, and just four penalty minutes.
“How we define that to our players about winning battles and being mentally tough, making a mistake and not becoming weak or small because of it (is important),” Shanahan said.
When he met with reporters last week in Toronto, Dubas noted the club’s inability to show resolve when games weren’t turning in the Leafs’ favour.
Shanahan also took umbrage with the idea that with Mike Babcock gone, pressure now is more on Dubas or himself.
“I don’t see this or view this decision by Kyle and the team as a situation where traditionalists might say, ‘You have spent your bullet,’ ” Shanahan said. “That’s not how I view it. I can tell you that’s not how our ownership views it. We’re in this together. We’re making moves and we’re evolving as we see we have to do.
“You don’t set out with an idea or a plan and not evolve or make shifts throughout that plan. I can tell you that as far as the kinds of players we are attracted to, and the way we want to play, we are not doing it right now. But our goals are one and the same.”
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