Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment announced the appointment of Tom Anselmi to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer of MLSE, filling the role vacated by the retirement of Richard Peddie.
In a press release this afternoon, MLSE Chairman Larry Tanenbaum stated that “Tom’s proven strength in operations has made him a respected leader here at MLSE and across the sports and entertainment industry. His passion for our teams and our fans makes Tom the perfect choice as President and COO of this great organization."
In an interview on Sportsnet Fan 590, Anselmi stated that while MLSE has thrived financially in recent years, that the performance of the teams themselves has to be better.
“I’m proud of a lot of what we’ve done and obviously pretty disappointed with where we’ve been the last five years from a team standpoint…….we got to get our teams back in the playoffs and winning.”
This announcement is likely to be welcome news to the GM’s of the Raptors and Maple Leafs, as it represents a status quo move, rather than a outside hiring who might have been quicker to institute a change in direction with the two franchises.
“Burkie and I have known each other for a long time…..I don’t think our relationship really needs to change” Anselmi said.
But when questioned further about the necessity of the Leafs making the playoffs this season to avoid any radical changes in management, he tap danced saying “I don’t want to speculate on any of that stuff right now….but they’re right, we gotta get back in the playoffs….”
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Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo made it fairly apparent this afternoon in an interview with the Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov that he would prefer that Vancouver trades him and reiterated his preference to return to the Panthers, where he has a home and family lives during the off-season.
"It's been a tough summer, not knowing what's going to happen … with your family and everything,'' Luongo told the Sun Sentinel while changing inside the cramped visitor's locker room a few feet from where the Panthers were skating.
"[The Panthers] makes sense for myself, for my career and my family,'' added Luongo, who has 10 years at $5.33 million per remaining on his deal. "This is a preferred location for obvious reasons, but I'm not shutting the door on other possibilities.''
Luongo, 33, has been linked to the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs, both with glaring needs for an elite goalie. Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon has repeatedly said he's content with his current goalie trio, that includes Theodore, Scott Clemmensen and promising Swede Jacob Markstrom.
"Obviously, I want to start,'' Luongo said. "You're dealt different situations in life. You've got to handle them the right way. I don't know what's going to happen this year. The only thing I could do is work hard and have a positive atittude. At the end, I'm sure everything is going to work out.''
The pining that Luongo is doing publicly is not going to help him get to his preferred destination unless Canucks GM Mike Gillis comes off his tough stance of getting significant assets back for the high priced goaltender.
While keeping his options open, the fact that Luongo is being so overt in his desire to return to Florida has to be a big warning sign to teams like Chicago or Toronto, who might be asked to give up a comparable package for a player with 10 years left on his contract and only wants to play one place.
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