Shanahan looks to Red Wings’ glorious past while shaping Leafs’ promising future
TORONTO — When Brendan Shanahan was traded to Detroit in the fall of 1996 the Red Wings were engulfed in a 42-year Stanley Cup drought. When Shanahan assumed the Maple Leafs presidency in the spring of 2014, Toronto’s dry spell was at 47 years.
The Wings won their first Cup since 1955 in Shanahan’s first season with the club and added three more by 2008. Shanahan is intent on following a similar blueprint with the Leafs, hoping to restore glory to a long-beleaguered Original Six franchise.
“I’d say with him it seems that he has a very clear path and plan that he wants to follow — in the way the team’s run and the way we want to play and things like that,” said Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk ahead of Sunday’s Centennial Classic meeting between Toronto and Detroit.
“There’s a very clear direction for all that stuff.”