THURSDAY COMMENTARY – THE LONG GAME
Photo: Calgary Flames
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)
I hope you’re paying attention!
There’s lots of lessons to be learned in the goings-on of this NHL season; ones that can be used as a parallel in our own lives.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hiring Brad Treliving as their next General Manager this week following the firing of Kyle Dubas just makes too much sense, and is a message to all.
Right from the outset, I thought this was a perfect fit. Treliving – a former Regina Pat – was an assistant GM in Arizona and then GM of the Calgary Flames where his team raised two banners in his nine seasons.
Yet, “Tree” had his detractors in both cities. I foolishly believed what I’d heard in Arizona so I was ready to ignore the critics which followed in Calgary.
When the Flames were sputtering this season and a housecleaning was on the horizon, one hockey guy smirked to me in the Saddledome press box, “Brad’s going to be delivering pizza for his Dad this summer.” (Boston Pizza magnate Jim Treliving).
I didn’t repeat it at the time because it was so utterly disrespectful, but I’ll tell it today because “Tree” is having the last laugh.
Forget about what’s said in the nail salon. What men in the sports business say about each other puts gossiping women to shame!
And Treliving is the perfect fit in Toronto. The pressure cooker of Calgary only prepared him for what he’ll face in Toronto and if the hockey gods have a sense of humour, they’ll deliver a Stanley Cup on Brad’s watch.
But the lesson is, Treliving took his lumps on the way out of town, bit his tongue, and now will make the most of his next opportunity elsewhere.
Do we even need to mention, again, the Paul Maurice-leaving-Winnipeg story? All winter Jets fans snickered at Maurice for the way his time ended in the Manitoba capital but here we are, months later, and “Pomo” is getting his Florida Panthers ready for the Stanley Cup while the Jets have gotten several rounds of golf in already this spring.
Smile, nod, and play the long game. You don’t need to tell your side of the story.
Time will.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, WQEE & Streaming)
I’ve never been a Paul Maurice fan but he’s done a great job for the Panthers, kudos to him for a great job.
Open statement to Winnipeg Jets ownership; Kevin Cheveldayoff has to go, the sooner the better.
This is a good hire. He has a long list to get to in a short time, but he aligns with Brendan Shanahan. It restores the balance of the universe. With regards to Calgary what is there to say? He put his time in with probably the 2 worst organizations in sports, and actually made a mark. Similar to Joe Torre in baseball now he gets to actually see what he can do with a mandate and resources. In addition to his to do list my prayer is he fires all Dubas “to big to fail hires” and gets this… Read more »
Yeh, those Jets that quit skating for Maurice look pretty stupid right now and their market value has no doubt dropped too. Good on them.
There is a reason why Brendan Shanahan is a Hall of Famer. He’s in the legit HOF’er category and it’s the reason why he got Toronto back on track and now poised to go to the next level. In Hockey – you can get away with stuff for a little while and then the fraternity knows exactly who is the real deal and eventually these guys get washed out of the NHL and end up as “pundits.” – Doug McLean comes to mind as a guy that tried to screw Bryan Murray, and the other would be Ted Nolan who… Read more »
Shanahan plus Keefe, hit the road you klowns. There’s a new sheriff in town, Trelivng the name, Brad Treliving. MSE get ur business in order. Clean da house top to bottom and quit kowtowing to Shanahan, his plan is not working.