Thursday, July 23, 2015

Maple Leafs Have a GM



New Jersey Devils President, Lou Lamoriello, who stepped aside as GM in May, when Ray Shero was hired, has now resigned from his post from the Devils...After 28 years and 3 Stanley Cups, Lamoriello is moving on to a much bigger challenege...

Shortly after leaving the Devils, Lou Lamoriello was announced as the the new GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs...He is the 16th GM in Maple Leafs history...In his 28 years in New Jersey, the Devils went to the playoffs 21 of those seasons...Besides being President and GM for the Devils, he also served as Interim Head Coach three times...

Lamoriello also served as GM for Team USA in 1996 when they won the World Championship, and in 1998 for the Olympics...He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the "Builders" category in 2009...

Another accomplishment the hockey world is grateful for, was Lamoriello aggressively going after Viacheslav Fetisov, and spending much time and money communicating with him, and dealing with the Soviet government, to allow Fetisov to come to the NHL, which opened the door for the many Soviet players who followed.

Now, with President Brendan Shanahan, and new head coach, Mike Babcock, Lamoriello adds more legitimacy to the Maple Leafs organization which has been in shambles, and a loser for too long...The culture change in Toronto continues...With Babcock and Lamoriello, the winning can't be too far away for Leafs fans...Right?




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