Maple Leafs President Ken Dryden appointed himself GM
yesterday and assembled a "management team" to work with
him, according to Paul Hunter in the TORONTO STAR. Dryden
named former NHL Jets GM Mike Smith as Associate GM, the
"point man" in talks with other GMs. Leafs European scout
Anders Hedberg will now oversee amateur scouting and player
development, and interim GM Bill Watters will become
Assistant to the President and will be involved in
broadcasting decisions. Dryden: "This is not management by
committee. The decisions are mine to make." The Leafs will
retain head coach Mike Murphy (TORONTO STAR, 8/21).
THE WORD: Dave Perkins, under the header "Dryden Flunks
His First Real Test," writes Dryden "was hired and given the
mandate to hire a man to run the hockey operations and
restore the team's competitiveness. He couldn't do it. ...
So far his time spent at the helm has been less than
impressive" (TORONTO STAR, 8/21). Steve Simmons: "All of
this, using the words of Ken Dryden, requires imagination.
It is, in his words, a bit odd" (TORONTO SUN, 8/21). Gare
Joyce, on Dryden's management team, writes one of the
"problems" is that "anybody of quality strives to do more
and thus creates conflict" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/21).
