Brad Treliving isn’t interested in talking publicly about his former club, or the Friday night Calgary Flames matchup in Toronto that has his fingerprints all over it.
Although as savvy with soundbites as anyone in the National Hockey League, the personable executive would rather lay low despite the obvious spotlight he’ll be under this week.
“The teams and players are the story,” said the Flames-turned-Maple Leafs architect.
Fact is, as a Canadian general manager, you’re always the story.
Right now, he’s double-shifting, taking considerable heat from two fanbases.
Several of his most recent acquisitions on both sides of Friday’s tilt are struggling.
Jonathan Huberdeau spent the third period of Tuesday’s win stapled to the Flames bench, as coach Ryan Huska took the most drastic stab yet at dealing with the winger’s struggles.
Nazem Kadri has only recently started to contribute offensively, after a dreadful start that saw the Flames lose six in a row while his plus/minus plummeted to double digits.
The two pricey acquisitions that initially made Treliving the toast of the hockey world two summers ago will be a big part of his legacy in Calgary, no matter how things unfold.
Applauded at the time for signing both former stars to replace Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, their long-term pacts are currently feared to be massive impediments for the Flames moving forward.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the three biggest free agents Treliving stuck his neck out for in the summer have yet to live up to expectations.
He’s hearing plenty about that too.
Make no mistake, he’s a big boy who is unfazed by the criticism.
It’s part of the gig.
After all, it was his fearless approach that made him the easy choice to succeed Kyle Dubas. Which brings us to how he landed in Toronto in the first place.
Treliving never did say publicly why he left Calgary.
Probably never will.
Doesn’t have to.
We’ll say it for him.
His relationship with coach Darryl Sutter was untenable, as the set-in-his-ways coach outright refused to play several call-ups the GM desperately wanted to take a look at last season.
There was no managing the Jolly Rancher, so Treliving fell on his sword after nine seasons, rejecting a contract extension that matched the two-year term signed by the coach.
No one walks away from NHL GM jobs, but Treliving was confident and connected enough to know he could write his own ticket elsewhere.
You didn’t need to read tea leaves to understand the Leafs job would likely open up and be his, if he wanted it.
More pay, power and pressure, not to mention a better team with fewer obstacles dotting the landscape.
It was Treliving’s summer signings in Hogtown that brilliantly illustrated why, in part, he no longer wanted to continue pushing boulders uphill as he did in small-market Calgary, where players generally need to be convinced (and overpaid) to play or stay there.
Not so in Toronto.
Treliving managed to ink free agents Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi and John Klingberg to reasonable contracts as the allure of playing in Toronto trumped beefier offers elsewhere.
No, it hasn’t worked out as of yet, but the rationale behind each signing had Leafs fans plenty pumped in the summer.
Sounds familiar.
Comes with the territory – one day you’re the GOAT, next day you’re the goat.
Known league-wide for his work ethic and passion, you don’t pour nine years of your life into a team and a city without caring deeply about what you’ve built and the people you built it with.
Treliving continues to keep close tabs on the Flames, its prospects, staffers and various other contacts in town.
He had rushed to Chris Snow’s side to say his goodbyes last month, was front and centre at his funeral, and continues to stay in touch with wife Kelsie.
His family’s home is still in Calgary, his cabin is in B.C. and he’ll forever maintain ties to the West, while investing endless sweat equity into running the nation’s highest profile club.
Eventually, one assumes, he’ll have to address his team’s goaltending deficiencies, deal one of his core stars, add depth to the bottom six and get the Leafs over the hump many people have waited for since 1967.
It’s a different set of issues than he dealt with in Calgary, and a heightened level of scrutiny.
Controversies, crises and criticism will come and go.
In the end, he’ll deal with it all the same way – with hard work, plenty of personality and a knack for knowing when to speak and when to say silent.
He’s right — once the puck drops Friday at Scotiabank Arena, the teams and players will indeed be the story.
