Kyle Dubas vs Lou Lamoriello; the fantasy vs the reality
It was June 1st 2007, I was going to get breakfast at the hotel I was staying at out by Pearson airport. I am in town to catch a few Blue Jays games and to blow off some steam.
The Leafs aren't really newsworthy in June 2007, but the NHL draft combine happens to be at the hotel I am staying at. I groggily walk into my elevator, and a small stiff, firm postured old man smiles at me. He looks familiar, but I'm pretty hungover and just want some breakfast. I smile back and nod.
Just then, I catch a glimpse of a giant gold and diamond ring with the New Jersey Devils logo on it. Lou Lamoriello was standing next to me, enduring my noxious tequila hangover odour. He never stopped smiling. Even after I asked to shake his hand and could I see his ring.
I have met lots of major hockey people that weekend (Gretzky comes 2nd on my list of greats) but Lou treated me like his grandson home for spring break. Introduced me to people, talked about players working out the whole nine. I spent 3 hours with him that day. It's a personal highlight in my life as a hockey fan.
It's a great story, and Lou is probably my favourite hockey executive of all time. Yes there's a bias there, but I admit it.. let's move on. Here is the interesting part, I don't think Lou was a particularly good GM for the Leafs. His tenure, albeit brief, doesn't wow me. It leaves me with just as many groans as it does smiles.
I'm not here to break all that down, as most of you know all of the details. The internet has put that information right at our fingertips. I have no beef with Lou, just as I have no real quarrel with his replacement Kyle Dubas.
I have never met Kyle Dubas, but I do know that he is younger than me. I don't particularly love everything he's done either, although he has made some moves that made me smile. TJ Brodie, Jake Muzzin and Jack Campbell are a few.
He has also made moves that make me groan. The Kadri trade, for one.. trading a first for a broken Nick Folingo is another. Mason Marchment for some guy who is currently playing beer league as well, but I digress. I am drawing a line here. No NHL executive is perfect, and that being said, Toronto Maple Leafs GM is the hardest front office job in hockey.
The entire online discourse and the divide of Leafs fans everywhere is largely the "Dubasites" vs The "Lamoriello Mafia". You go online, and you can't miss this debate. If you avoid it, please stay in your happy place and don't seek it out.
The issue is sometimes there is solid logic.. sometimes there are facts used. But never is decency displayed here. Each side only cares about their side of the argument and they refuse to budge. It's a war of indignant repetition.
I told the story at the top to show you my love for one man in this great debate. I laid out that I have no such attachment to his replacement. But here is the fun part, I don't care who the Maple Leafs GM is. I only care about the players, the logo, and that elusive success that I live in mortal fear of dying before I can experience as a fan.
I didn't become a hockey fan because of some old man in a suit. I didn't become a hockey fan to crunch the salary cap and recite advanced stats. I became a hockey fan 30 plus years ago because I fell in love with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Lamoriello has a history of success in the NHL. Granted, most of his success came before the salary cap, but regardless of when it happened - it did happen.
Dubas has yet to experience any real success at the NHL level, aside from maybe his affinity for drafting. He may have a Calder Cup to his credit, but for all of his micro successes in the Canadian hockey Mecca, postseason success has alluded him.
That said, Kyle Dubas is a smart man. A smart GM. He has time on his side and he approaches the game differently. Lou's way doesn't work anymore. We're seeing that this season in Long Island. At some point, you have to recognize when the old ways don't work.
In Dubas, the Leafs have a competent, compassionate, charismatic GM who knows what it takes to win at the pro level. There is evidence of that in his Marlies championship.
The most important factor here is that his players appear to he buying in this season. The Leafs, under head coach Sheldon Keefe, are working diligently to build up their "Stanley Cup habits".
Lou was never brought here to be the long-term solution. He was always here to groom the next guy. At the time, we didn't know whether that guy was Dubas or whether it was his colleague, Mark Hunter.
Instead of looking at this for what we want it to be - Lou vs Dubas - we need to be looking at it for what it really was. A means to an end. Lou's time is likely over soon, but the lessons he passed on to Dubas will live on and hopefully lead to a Stanley Cup in Toronto.
