TORONTO -- Brendan Shanahan was brought in to change the culture of the Toronto Maple Leafs. How the new team president plans to do that remains a mystery. In introducing Shanahan on Monday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president Tim Leiweke made it clear that he wasnt happy with the "character" and "culture" of the team. "Im not sure the Leafs have (the right culture)," Leiweke said. "I definitely sense that we lack an identity, and right now were a team that lacks a direction and we want to change that." Its up to Shanahan and general manager Dave Nonis to do it, but no clear direction for the organization was spelled out on Shanahans "first day at work." The 45-year-old Hall of Famer has a plan, and though he and Leiweke didnt get into specifics, plenty of changes are expected. "I have some ideas in my head about direction, but I think that at the same time ... those are subject to change," Shanahan said. "I think that its very important for people, especially in sports, to have the ability to evolve and to make changes." Change could come in the form of firing coach Randy Carlyle, whose vision for winning hockey didnt seem to fit with the Toronto roster. And it could come in the form of many different players being on the ice opening night this fall than were around for Mondays locker clean-out. But Shanahan and Nonis insist the immediate job is to step back and make an assessment of where the organization is as a whole. Even though each man called Carlyle a "good coach," its difficult to point to things like identity, culture and character without at least considering the next step. "You all saw the team this year, I think we didnt have the identity," Leiweke said. "I think Randy tried to create the identity. To the guys credit last year, they bought into that, and they took on Randys identity, I dont think that happened this year." Shanahan, who grew up in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico and previously worked for the NHL as the director of player safety, is expected to shape this teams identity. Its just not clear how he intends to do that. "Dave and I are going to talk about this thing or were going to talk about our team, were going to talk about how we see the best way to play for our team going forward," Shanahan said. "I think that its important for us to assess what we have here, what we have coming up, and I think thats an organizational thing. It would be presumptuous, it would be premature for me to tell you right now where were going to go." Leiweke would like Shanahan to have the same kind of success Masai Ujiri has enjoyed in his first season re-shaping the NBAs Raptors. Hell be given total authority to not only put his fingerprints on the team but completely revamp, if necessary. "This is Brendans team, its his culture, and at the end of the day he makes all the decisions, and were going to support that 100 per cent," Leiweke said. Of course with Shanahan as president, the Leafs power structure is different. All three men at Mondays news conference insisted the working relationship between Nonis and his new boss would go smoothly. "They will work well together and if we have disagreements, the disagreements will be resolved very quickly within the organization," Leiweke said. "This isnt going to tear the organization apart. This is going to make the organization a better place." While Shanahan has the final say, it remains to be seen how the decision-making process will be handled. "Your boss has the final say," Nonis said. "Thats just common sense and its the way things have worked. This isnt a relationship thats going to work that way. This is going to work the way it should work, which is were going to work together to try to find the right answers together." Nonis made sure to point out that, at the end of the day, Shanahan is the boss. And Leiweke made sure to point out that this move was first agreed to last summer and not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Leafs eight-game slide that caused them to miss the playoffs. This is Shanahans team. And while hes a Hall of Famer with three Stanley Cup rings who spent the past five years working in the league office, its difficult to pin down his philosophy, other than to figure general managers like Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings and Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils have influenced him over the years. Shanahan sounded like a Holland disciple on Monday. "You have to hire good people and you have to let them do their job," he said. "I think you need to step in and help them when they need help. ... Its a great feeling to be a player and be a part of a team, I view management as the same thing. Youve got your hierarchy and your leadership and things like that, but its certainly a team." The team Shanahan is taking over finished the season 2-12-0 to go from a playoff shoo-in to locker clean-out two days after a final loss in Ottawa. Major changes could be coming, but Shanahan wasnt tipping his hand. "I do like a lot about this group," he said. "From an outsider looking in, theres some really good pieces that a lot of teams would covet. ... You start by looking for ways to improve in small increments, and if you have an opportunity to make improvements, you make them." That seems to be Noniss philosophy, too, even while saying the team isnt where it needs to be. Last years trip to the playoffs may have masked some bigger issues, but falling apart so spectacularly isnt likely to lead to blowing up the roster. "When you look back if were taking the appropriate time, were going to see some things that were happy with in this group, too, and you dont want to throw the baby out with the bath water," Nonis said. "Theres quality people and quality players here, and if we want to get better, were going to do a good job of assessing those pieces and keeping the ones that we think can help us long-term." Building a contending team for the long-term seems to be the goal for Shanahan and the Leafs. Leiweke, whose earlier talk about a Stanley Cup parade drew plenty of criticism, talked instead Monday about building a group thatll be in the mix. "To me the most outstanding statistic, if you look at (Shanahans) career, is not the three Stanley Cup rings but in 21 years he made the playoffs 18 times," Leiweke said. "He is a guy thats not just a student of the game and a fan of the game, but hes an architect of the game, and thats what we needed here."
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. -- Canadas Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory.With the NHL Draft coming up on June 27 and free agency opening on July 1, discussions between NHL general managers are already heating up towards a busy off-season. Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Farewell to Broadway? Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe reports that the New York Rangers are considering using a compliance buyout on centre Brad Richards. Ricards is 34-years-old and has six remaining on his current deal that carries an annual cap hit of $6,666,667. The former Conn Smythe-winner is unlikely to see out his full contract and, if he were to retire early, the Rangers would be on the hook for the remainder of the deal as per the new CBAs cap benefit recapture penalty. This would effectively mean that the Rangers would be carrying dead money against the cap, something that would cripple any club. Since the implementation of the compliance buyout option, teams have used it for 15 players including Richardss former Tampa Bay Lightning teammate, Vincent Lecavalier. Not so Wild about Vanek? Thomas Vanek is no longer a sure thing for the Minnesota Wild, so says Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The connection to Minnesota for Vanek is obvious.dddddddddddd. Vanek starred for a the 2003 NCAA Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers, winning the Frozen Four MVP and became the first-ever freshman to do so. Still, Russo believes that the emergence of the Wilds young core that helped upset the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs, coupled with Vaneks poor post-season with the Montreal Canadiens means that the team has cooled its interest in the Austrian. Vanek had five goals and five assists in 17 playoff games for the Canadiens. Getting Drafty in here? Josh Cooper of the Tennessean writes that the Nashville Predators could be looking at acquiring a second first-round pick in this months NHL Draft. The Predators hold the 11th pick in the draft, but also have two second-round selections (numbers 42 and 46 with the latter gained from the Detroit Red Wings as part of the David Legwand trade) and could use both of those to grab a second pick in the first round. Poile says that no movement will happen until the actual day of the draft. The last time the Predators had two first-rounders was in 2008, when they selected Colin Wilson and Chet Pickard.
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