Hayes: 'It was a very uncomfortable start' to Leafs media conference

[0:00] It was a very uncomfortable start, like waving at people that you couldn't see. [0:05] Big crowd. [0:06] Now, that was a light wiki move that has continued throughout the successors of light wiki, [0:13] but that was the original light wiki move. [0:15] Bring down everyone from the ivory towers and come down and clap, [0:19] which to me makes it more awkward because, like, Chayka does his speech. [0:24] He reads his speech, which I'm not a huge fan of a red, you know, but okay, he's nervous. [0:30] You can tell he was nervous, and that's fair. [0:32] He's nervous, and he kind of knows the bullets are coming out, [0:35] and he's kind of got to explain a lot of stuff, but he's reading his speech, [0:41] and then it ends, and then the claps start. [0:44] And I'm like, is it a wedding speech? [0:46] Or it was like, you know, you're at a school gym. [0:48] Were they extras from a commercial? [0:50] Yeah, like, what are we clapping for? [0:51] When that guy stops talking, you clap. [0:53] Yes. [0:54] There's a sign that goes, applause. [0:56] Clap, applause. [0:57] That's what it felt like. [0:58] We need a studio audience. [0:59] We should, actually. [1:00] Maybe we shouldn't be mocking that. [1:02] Maybe we could actually use someone coming in. [1:05] But I thought, yeah, I thought Keith and Chayka were very nervous, [1:09] and they came off as very uncomfortable [1:12] and kind of aware of what the mood in the room was likely to be. [1:16] Matt Sundin looked like a billionaire. [1:17] But I thought Sundin was like, hey, can we order some wine up here? [1:22] Like, let's get some hors d'oeuvres. [1:23] He looked like a million bucks. [1:25] Yeah, he's a stud. [1:26] He looks like a million bucks. [1:27] Totally relaxed. [1:27] Nothing written down. [1:28] No. [1:29] Like, hey, I'm just, let's go. [1:30] Start talking. [1:31] I got things to say. [1:32] And I think he's a really good guy, and he's a really smart guy. [1:35] And he was a fantastic player. [1:38] And all of his experience and all of his knowledge, he could figure it out. [1:42] Like, he'll figure out how to have a positive contribution. [1:45] But the other stuff that was going on in that presser was bizarro world. [1:49] Bizarro world. [1:50] Like, I didn't understand the question when they simply asked about the suspension. [1:54] And it was like, oh, the ownership stability in Arizona was tough. [1:59] And I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? [2:00] I don't know how. [2:01] And I wasn't there. [2:02] I can't speak for the guy. [2:03] How did you not have a follow-up and say, excuse me? [2:06] You didn't even answer the question. [2:07] I didn't understand. [2:08] Well, it gets back to the Geno stuff. [2:10] You get your question in, and they grab that mic, and it's like, it's out of here. [2:13] And they're trying to control the messaging as much as possible. [2:17] And that is something he's got to address, John Chica. [2:19] Like, he had a well-documented tenure in Arizona and exit in Arizona and literally got suspended [2:28] by the league and cost them draft picks for some other funny stuff happening on Combine. [2:33] Yeah, exactly. [2:34] So, you're right, though. [2:35] He didn't answer any of that. [2:37] He just started speaking about stability. [2:39] And, you know, it felt like from Chica and Peli's standpoint, it was, we have to do this. [2:44] Let's get this over with. [2:46] We know it's not going well. [2:48] And let's get out of here. [2:49] Yeah. [2:50] And to an extent, I can understand why that would be the case. [2:54] Also, you can't necessarily predict exactly the line of questioning that is going to come [3:00] your way. [3:01] Yeah. [3:01] You know, it wasn't really a lot about the future. [3:03] It was really more about the past and about the process as opposed to actually laying out [3:09] the vision for the team. [3:11] Yeah. [3:11] Which I think would be frustrating if you're fans because I agreed that I wanted to hear [3:17] from Peli. [3:18] Like, explain how you got to Chica. [3:20] Right. [3:20] You know, explain how of all the resources you have, all the 27 different people you [3:25] interviewed, you go with a guy who hasn't been in the league in over five years and had [3:30] a pretty disastrous tenure, the one place he's worked. [3:34] And I find it very difficult that they hired an up and up firm. [3:39] Okay. [3:40] Yeah. [3:40] And that they would bring this guy to Keith Peli and MLSC's attention. [3:45] Hasn't been in the game for six years. [3:46] The way it ended in Arizona. [3:48] And you're telling me Neil Glassberg brought, like, picked this guy out of a heap and said, [3:54] this is the guy you got to go with. [3:55] There's no way in hell that that would happen. [3:57] I'm sorry. [3:58] It's not possible. [3:59] It's not possible. [4:00] If this is an up and up firm and this Glassberg guy is like the top of his profession. [4:07] And this is what he handed you, the paper that says you got to go with this guy. [4:11] There's just no way in hell. [4:12] Well, that's not what happened here, though. [4:14] Glassberg wasn't directing who they should hire. [4:16] He was supplying them with the candidates. [4:19] Yeah. [4:19] And Peli gave a pretty good shout out to him. [4:21] Yes. [4:22] Now, I do wonder if there's a part of it that's kind of a cover. [4:25] Like, if this doesn't go so well, go talk to that guy. [4:28] Yeah. [4:29] Exactly. [4:29] Go talk to the firm that supplied us with this guy. [4:32] There's so many layers to this. [4:34] That's the one thing. [4:36] Don't you think that the league would have to be involved in this just based on, as you talked about, John Chayka's exit? [4:44] So, I'm sure Gary Bettman and Bill Daly would have had to have been aware that, hey, we're going to hire this guy. [4:51] You know, because there is a checkered past. [4:54] And whether he served his time, all of that type of stuff. [4:57] But I think a lot of things, especially with, keep in mind, this brand. [5:01] This is the Toronto Maple Leafs. [5:02] This isn't, you know, a team that's down south and not as big a market. [5:06] So, it's such a big brand. [5:09] You'd think the league would be at least read in on the thought process of where we're hiring. [5:14] Of course they would be. [5:15] And clearly they were okay with it. [5:16] That's what I'm saying. [5:17] Absolutely. [5:17] They signed off on it. [5:18] But, you know, if they're doing, it depends on who you talk to. [5:21] Whether you talk to 20 people on one side or 20 people on the other. [5:25] Everyone's got a different viewpoint.