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In a career filled with good decision making, this may have been his best to date

Scotty Bowman is a very smart man! Why would he want to step into that viper's nest that is the MLG management group? JFJ, Rick Pidde & Co. are just a bunch of inept fools! Detroit suits him just fine! (DC)

Maybe the Laffs brass will wake up. Nobody with half a brain would dive into that mess. What the hell for? Did i just say maybe the Leafs brass will wake up? *Slaps self* Doh!!

Good call Scotty! Stay out of Toronto!! It is not going to do anything for your stellar career!

Hmmm, a no brainer there. When you have got a delusional organization that believes that they can win a Stanley Cup by replacing their players with felons.... (my apologies) I mean liquid challenged, no name and has been players..... it is pretty hard not to fall victim to the organization. However, I still have to give much respect to Bowman for not jumping on the delusional ridden Leaf bandwagon!!!

I thought this issue died several months ago? . . . . . sheesh !! Does fannation recycle these stories to maintain interest?

Yeah when it is slow, I think they do!

A simple "no comment" would have been suffice, Scotty. When guys turn down a job, they usually tell the media "no comment" out of respect to those who were interested in them. Truthfully, Bowman is without peer as a coach. However, as a GM, he has never come close to handling things as well. Check out his records in Buffalo and elsewhere as a GM, quite ordinary. I am a Leaf fan, but to be honest, the organization needs to stay the course and pump new blood into it, not hire old cronies like Bowman or John Muckler. Let's look at this thing objectively. Paul Maurice is known as an excellent teacher and handles young players very well. Are the Leafs winning the Cup in '08? No. So, Maurice and JFJ need to stay focused on developing the Steens, Stajans, Coliacuovos, Pogges, Ponikarovskys, Whites... etc. I know JFJ has taken a lot of heat, but let's see if his patience will pay off. The problem with Leaf fans is they are used to an organization that always traded away its future for washed up veterans in silly quests for the Cup. What they really need is some time to let the kids play. The reason behind great organizations like Detroit have success is great player drafting and development, then they add key free agents. The Leafs have always done it the opposite way and failed miserably.

True, joec, Paul Maurice is known as an excellent teacher but you have to have something to work with and someone in the fold first before you can develop them and that is JFJ's job. (DC)

Who would want to work with the modern-day Mickey Mouse organization? Keep supporting the Buds, you lemmings! News flash: MLSE doesn't care and will never put together a winner.

To all in here,

I want you to know I am not trying to defend JFJ (or MLSE) and all his moves (Kubina?) but I think the one thing he has done right is cling to his few prospects that he has, and resisted shipping guys for vets and bowing to the fan and media pressure in Toronto, like many other GMs in the past. That is all. Sure, the organization has many holes, always has, but JFJ seems to have a semblance of a plan. He should be allowed to see it through.

Unfortunately, though, joec, his patience will have to last longer than his tenure in Toronto will last. They don't make the playoffs this year, he's out, pure and simple. And in defence of Scotty Bowman, the team he put together in Buffalo was bad while he was there, but ended up being a very good team right after he was fired - they were good because of what he had done, he just wasn't given anough time to see it through. But he had great picks to work with, and JFJ doesn't really have that luxury either. The franchise is a disgrace right now - too many hands in the pot. Let your GM run the team, MLSE, that's what you pay him for - keep your nose out of it Peddie, you don't know what your doing. Now i'm not sure JFJ does either, but keeping Peddie out of the way would be the first big step this team needs to take to get better

Good points, Canada. I agree 100% that the real problems are upstairs above JFJ. Peddie is nothing but a power-brokering "yes" man to the Board. I really believe JFJ is not as bad as some people think, he just won't have the time to watch his protected prospects develop. For the first time in a long while, the Leafs have a small stable of NHL-ready youngsters. Instead of peddling them away, I for one woould love to see them continue their careers in Toronto. Too many Fred Modins, Alyn McCauleys, Steve Sullivans, Jason Smiths have been dealt away in the recent past.

As I have said before, Scotty Bowman only goes where he feels he is almost guaranteed to have success. He looked at the Leafs and didn't see a Lafleur (and the rest of the wing of the Hall of Fame called the 1970's Montreal Canadiens), didn't see a Mario Lemieux or Yzerman (and his cast of future Hall of Famers) and said why "would I tarnish my legacy?" Maybe the Leafs should try to recycle Cliff Fletcher.