Tim Leiweke was quick to deny reports earlier this week that he'd be leaving his post as president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs. After all, it was just last summer that he joined up and promised to bring the Stanley Cup to Toronto.
Tim Leiweke leaving Maple Leafs without that promised Cup parade
After just a single season at the head of MLSE, Tim Leiweke is already planning on leaving. Without the Cup.
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Yet just two days later, Leiweke has admitted that this season will be his last, and he’s leaving MLSE by June 30, 2015. We’ll safely assume that parade isn’t coming in 2014-15. Broken promises.
"And I will say it, front and center with the cameras rolling: Could not be more excited about the parade route. And we're going to throw you one, I promise."-Tim Leiweke
Leiweke's confidence was understandable when he first came to Toronto, just a year off winning a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings. He suggested his predecessors with the Leafs were lacking, and that he'd help turn things around, making that promise to bring a Stanley Cup parade to Toronto.
The Leafs have undeniably made some front office improvements this summer, which may or may not have to do with Leiweke. But as an organization, they are the furthest thing from fixed, and definitely not a proven commodity. It’s hard to call Leiweke’s tenure in Toronto a success, and it’s far from the Cup-level confidence he brought to town in 2013.
CBC’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Leiweke’s reason for leaving is that he’s “hungry for a new challenge,” but it seems like leaving actually has more to do with the difficulty of running such an organization. The purchase of MLSE by Bell and Rogers, which are otherwise business competitors, has only complicated things for MLSE management.
Friedman "it's a tough board to work with right now [MLSE]. Ever since the whole thing with Bell & Rogers and the rights that Rogers won"
— Hope_Smoke (@Hope_Smoke) August 20, 2014 Friedman "it's very difficult. I don't know if this is going to be settled without someone pulling a shotgun clause on the other."
— Hope_Smoke (@Hope_Smoke) August 20, 2014 Friedman "they're difficult waters to navigate and it's been difficult for Leiweke to build a consensus between them"
— Hope_Smoke (@Hope_Smoke) August 20, 2014 Running MLSE is undoubtedly a difficult task, and it’s doubtful there are many people in the whole world who can do it effectively. But knowing the difficulty of said job, it probably isn’t smart to swoop in from Los Angeles promising championships. Guess there’s a reason his name is pronounced Lie-wicky.
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