Brendan Shanahan finally reveals who decided to replace John Tavares as captain
Brendan Shanahan, the Toronto Maple Leafs' President, finally revealed who was behind the decision to replace John Tavares with Auston Matthews as the team's captain.
Many changes occurred internally in Toronto after they were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs last April.
Losing the seventh game against the Boston Bruins was tough, especially considering the Leafs' recent playoff history and that it was Sheldon Keefe's last game as head coach.
Later in the offseason, other big decisions were made, but perhaps the biggest was naming Auston Matthews captain.
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After five seasons as the Leafs captain, John Tavares stepped down to make way for a younger leader, something he was anticipating, according to General Manager Brad Treliving:
"He understood my thoughts on it. We had a couple of discussions, but from the moment it was raised, he understood. As he said to me, he knew at some point this day was coming."
After the news was made official, one big question remained: how did it really happen for Tavares behind the scenes?
Brendan Shanahan opened up about that issue. He stated that he was the one to discuss the idea with Tavares first.
Read his full declaration here:
"I actually went over to John's house and sat with him in his backyard, and Aryne was there, and really talked to him about this and to gauge his comfortability when this was first being talked about."
Previously on Daily Hockey Dose
POLL |
17 AOUT | 164 ANSWERS Brendan Shanahan finally reveals who decided to replace John Tavares as captain Do you think Brendan Shanahan decided to replace John Tavares as the Toronto Maple Leafs captain in a desperate move to save his job? |
Yes | 102 | 62.2 % |
No | 62 | 37.8 % |
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