Coach’s Corner: Maple Leafs firings had to happen

Don talks about how the Senators agitate NHL goalies to their advantage, and how the Maple Leafs did the right thing cleaning house.

It didn’t come as a major surprise when Brendan Shanahan and the Toronto Maple Leafs cleaned house over the weekend.

The team fired general manager Dave Nonis, interim head coach Peter Horachek, assistant coaches Steve Spott, Chris Dennis and Rick St. Croix, plus 18 scouts after missing the playoffs for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.

“It had to be done,” Don Cherry said on Coach’s Corner Wednesday on Hockey Night in Canada. “They had to go.”

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One reason Cherry feels the Maple Leafs struggled is that other teams around the NHL didn’t respect them.

“The one thing they didn’t have was respect,” Cherry said. “They’ve got to get respect on that team…You got too many sucks on that team. Everybody knows it.”

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