"New era starts now" "They’ll throw a parade for this": NHL fans react as Maple Leafs part ways with president Brendan Shanahan

The Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways with team president Brendan Shanahan on Thursday. This happened days after they lost Game 7 to the Florida Panthers. Toronto had led the playoff series 2-0 but lost Games 5 and 7 at home. The final score in Game 7 was 6-1, the same as Game 5.

The team shared the update on X. The post read,

“MLSE announces changes to Toronto Maple Leafs executive leadership team.”

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Soon, NHL fans started reacting to the news on X.

"The new era starts now," one fan said.

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"They’ll throw a parade for this," another fan joked.

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"Good move but who is the next GM who want to lose in playoffs again ?" a fan asked.

Here are some more reactions from fans.

"Tons of respect for what Brendan Shanahan did AND brought to Toronto. The "Shanaplan" was really only supposed to be a five year process. Instead, it turned into 10 years and got stale. Good luck elsewhere, Shanny! First step to Lord Stanley," a fan shared.

"Your organization is still a tire fire," a fan wrote.

"The Shanaplan wasn't able to break the now 58 year drought. But overall, the Leafs were an excellent team. He won't be out of work for long," one fan mentioned.

Shanahan had been with the Leafs since 2014, and the team has made the playoffs often but struggled to go deep.

Brendan Shanahan's statement following his departure as Toronto's president

In his statement on Thursday, Brendan Shanahan said he was informed he would no longer be president and alternate governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He thanked the MLSE board for their support during his time with the team.

Toronto is where I was born and raised, where my family still lives, and being a part of this historic franchise will always be one of the greatest honours of my life." Shanahan said, via NHL.com.

"While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not. There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job."

Since joining the Leafs, Shanahan has helped build a core team led by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. In Shanahan's 11 seasons, the Leafs made the playoffs nine times but won only two series.

About the author

Ankit is an NHL journalist at Sportskeeda with over 3 years of experience in the writing industry. He has expertise in sports, product, and travel content writing. His interest in ice hockey was piqued after watching Sidney Crosby play and he has been passionately following the game since then. Ankit admires Crosby’s personality and hockey IQ, and when he crossed the 1,500 points tally, Ankit was among the biggest fans to celebrate the occasion.

An Edmonton Oilers fan because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Ankit also admires the Pittsburgh Penguins due to Crosby and the Colorado Avalanche for Nathan MacKinnon. He is also a fan of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.

Holding a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Language, Ankit believes his education has helped him develop a knack for presenting information in a precise and compelling manner. He only sources information from credible avenues and trusted people from his network for his articles.

When he is not watching or writing about the NHL, Ankit loves listening to music and reading books.

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Edited by Ribin Peter