New Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka had all of the criticisms of his hiring laid out to him by Toronto media on Monday at his introductory press conference.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
If they’d wanted it to be a pleasant experience, the Leafs could have introduced their new GM, John Chayka, another way. Maybe gather everyone in the atrium and then throw him down the stairs. Or bring him in hooded and beat him with hoses. Instead, they fed him to the press.
These things usually go down by the numbers. The toughest questions amount to ‘promise us it’ll be different’; the new guy makes no such promises; everyone goes home confused.
Chayka – who was run out of Arizona and hasn’t worked in hockey for six years – got the roughest ride I’ve ever witnessed at this type of event. From the off, he was questioned about his competence and his integrity.
Chayka didn’t help himself by reading an endless, cliché-filled opening statement. He slipped past the ethical breaches that got him suspended by the league as “mistakes I’ve learned from,” without addressing what those mistakes were or what he’d learned.
But things really went turbo when someone handed Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun a mic.
Cathal Kelly: With Sundin and Chayka officially on board, the Leafs you grew up with are back
Addressing his question, to MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, sitting to Chayka’s left, Simmons said he’d heard from “20 people who work in the National Hockey League.”
“Of the 20 people I spoke with, one was supportive of John’s hiring. The other 19 thought it was a sham, to be perfectly honest. Words were used like con artist, liar, salesman …”
You ever been in a room and all the ambient noise suddenly drops out? Like the forest getting silent right before something terrible happens? This was that.
Chayka’s wife, sitting in the front row, swivelled in her seat and stared in disbelief. A group of Leafs alumni – Wendel Clark, Darcy Tucker and Doug Gilmour – sat up and stiffened, as one might in preparation for violence.
New Toronto Maple Leafs senior executive adviser of hockey operations, Mats Sundin, left, MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley, centre, and new Leafs GM John Chayka had a difficult first day on the job as a trio, facing pointed questions at Sundin's and Chayka's introductory press conference.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
You could see Chayka trying to figure out what to do with his face. Smile? Scowl? He settled on a look of benign bewilderment.
He was too taken by surprise to do what he probably should have done – start swinging back. Instead, he let Pelley defend him (“I’m quite happy with where we’ve landed.”).
Welcome to Toronto, I guess.
The Leafs and MLSE writ large had hockey problems before Monday’s presser, but now they’re in a two-front war. Every move the Leafs make will be filtered through the way Chayka is perceived. So far, that’s an issue.
Pelley worked overtime to paint a picture of Chayka and Sundin as best buddies – an obvious move to cloak the younger man with the esteem in which the Swede is held. That story didn’t stand up to questioning.
“We’ve known each other,” Sundin said. “Not to talk to each other every week or every month.”
By that logic, I’m best pals with my dry cleaner.
Asked afterward if he’d been surprised by the reaction to Chayka, Sundin laughed, “It was tough questions, but he’s a tough guy.”
A little later, speaking one on one in the Leafs locker room, Chayka was still bugged out. He had the wide-eyed look of someone waiting to be slapped again. He’d been tagged in Arizona with a reputation for detachment, and was clearly working to sound less like a lizard person.
However Chayka's hiring works out, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, right, will receive the credit or the praise, Cathal Kelly writes.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
“You’re with The Globe? I read The Globe all the time. For business.”
So that’s a work in progress, but you could hear his confidence returning.
Was that as bad as it seemed?
Chayka talked at length about the “passion” of the fanbase and ended with: “From my chair, it didn’t feel as bad as you said.”
When I put it to him that Toronto is the Moby Dick of the NHL – it has lured many sailors to their deaths – and that he could’ve gone to Columbus instead, Chayka bristled.
“I think there’s a bit of a misconception, to be honest with you. I’ve been contacted on every GM availability since I left [Arizona]. Maybe 90 per cent. Honestly, some of them I didn’t even interview on. It just wasn’t the right fit at the right time for me. Some of them I engaged tepidly. Nothing did I take as seriously as being the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Chayka said. “I appreciate the Moby Dick analogy, but I have no fear of failure.”
Okay, so why this and why now?
“Why. That’s the right question. It’s really important for me to give back to my community. I’ve done a lot of philanthropic work. We donate a lot to hospitals. We donate to our alma mater. I think there’s nothing that I could do that would give back to this community more than to win the Stanley Cup.”
I have heard a lot of reasons that people pursue these jobs, most of them self-deluding, but Chayka is the first guy to call it an act of charity.
Pelley was asked directly why he hired Chayka, with criticisms of Chayka's previous run in Arizona as GM highlighted.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
One is starting to get the appeal of the move from Pelley’s perspective. Had he picked a more acceptable hockey guy, there would be lower downside, but low upside as well. Should the Leafs have won in that scenario, the new GM would get the congratulations.
Picking Chayka creates an all-into-the-middle scenario. This is either going to be the greatest out-of-left-field hire in hockey history, or it’s going to be a total disaster. Pelley will take most of the credit for it, good or bad.
One thing that was business as usual about Monday’s event was the lack of declarative statements. Will the Leafs contend next year? Maybe. Will Craig Berube still be coach? Probably. And what about Auston Matthews? They haven’t talked yet, and we’ll see.
The one thing said by anyone that struck me as clear-eyed and completely truth-telling was something Sundin said later: “You have no idea what it’s like to be a Toronto Maple Leaf until you become a Toronto Maple Leaf.”
On Monday, Chayka became a Toronto Maple Leaf the hard way. And that was still easy compared to what comes next.