Ten years ago today there was one very interesting press conference in Toronto. Brendan Shanahan announced he had found a "rising star" in the hockey world who was to be named a new Assistant General Manager of the Maple Leafs, and it turned out to be one of the most consequential moves the team has made in this generation, kicking off the dawn of a new era and setting up sweeping changes to come over the next several years that still impact the Leafs to this day.
July 23, 2014:
Dubas' hiring initiated a chain of events that altered the course of the franchise, from him bringing in Sheldon Keefe as the Marlies coach, to being appointed Leafs GM himself, and bringing in the "core four" era. We all know the details, and well all remember how it all blew up in what is best described as an angry and messy divorce a year ago.
But for today, I'm interested in what were your thoughts back then? Do you remember the day he was hired, and what you thought would be possible at that time?
Does it feel to you like it's been only ten years? By feel alone, to me it's like that day was closer to twenty years ago than ten. The Leafs have high mileage on the hockey part of your brain.
On the day Dubas was hired in 2014:
Stephen Harper was still Prime Minister
Rob Ford was still Mayor of Toronto
Alex Anthopoulous was still General Manager of the Blue Jays
The Leafs had just drafted William Nylander
Auston Matthews was 16 years old
Snapchat was five years old
Tik Tok was still two years away from launching
The Eglinton Crosstown line had already been under construction for over two years (still not finished)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was #1 at the box office
And this song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100:
