Yesterday the expected news that Brendan Shanahan will not return to the Maple Leafs as his contract is expiring was announced by the team.

Today at 1 pm MLSE CEO Keith Pelley will meet the media.

The official statements about Shanahan are here:

Brendan Shanahan leaving the Leafs
More details tomorrow.
PPP LeafsCathy Squires

I'm posting this:

Maple Leafs’ Shanahan era defined by comfort, not Cups
“We’re not here to sell jerseys. We’re here to win.” Keith Pelley set the bar for the Maple Leafs and Brendan Shanahan in May 2024. He didn’t reach it. Luke Fox digs into Shanahan’s dismissal and the end of an era in Toronto.
Sportsnet.caLuke Fox

Because this is an excellent line:

Already, Pelley was demanding results publicly, with Shanahan sitting on the same dais, sitting a quick outlet pass away.

Even though the second "sitting" should have been edited out. Still worthy.

While all that was going on, the IIHF Men's Worlds quarterfinals were wrapping up with an upset to Team Canada by Denmark, who scored two goals in the final two minutes to first tie and then win the game.

Nik Ehlers, the only NHLer on the Danish team scored the tying goal.

Ehlers is a pending UFA.

Semifinals are tomorrow and are on TSN in Canada, despite what that says below.

Puck Pedia posted a list and explainer for players whose draft signing rights expire on June 1 this year. No Maple Leafs prospects are on the list, but there is an interesting wrinkle this year where CHL players who are moving to the NCAA after two years may or may not see their signing rights extended by two more years to match those drafted out of the NCAA.

Read about that here: https://puckpedia.com/news/nhl-draft-pick-rights-set-expire-june

The Leafs have three NCAA players whose rights end in August, but that's an issue for T25 season.

In the NHL:

Chicago Blackhawks hire Jeff Blashill as new head coach | TSN
The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Jeff Blashill as their next head coach. He takes over from interim head coach Anders Sorensen, who assumed coaching duties after the firing of Luke Richardson in December.
TSNThe Canadian Press

I can't stop laughing at this unintentional(?) juxtaposition:

He did not return to the game. Golly, that's too bad.

That said, uh, Carolina got stomped. This is not a big selling feature for either the idea the Leafs are super bad or that the Carolina system is the best thing ever.

In the PWHL: Ottawa broke a zero-zero tie late in the third with a goal from Jocelyne Larocque. They only had a couple of minutes to kill, and if you can't do that, well.... they couldn't. The Frost scored and sent it to OT where they won it tying the series at one game all.

That's Friday! So happy the Leafs think today is a good day to make news. We'll see what the story is this afternoon on how the secret to success starts in the C-suite.

From The Branches