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Leafs hire Kyle Dubas as assistant GM, Loiselle and Poulin Dismissed

He's the GM of my hometown team (or was) and I have a lot of good things I can say about him.  Probably the best is that the Soo sort of has a geographical issue for a lot of players, and on top of that the team was floundering for a number of seasons before Dubas was hired at age 25.  He had a bit of a learning curve, but I think as the team stands now is actually one of the more desirable Major Junior spots (and I've read this this summer from OHL scouts).  They had one of the more surprising seasons last year and his hiring of Sheldon Keefe, when no one else wanted to take a chance on him, turned out to be one of the best moves for the franchise in the past 15 years.

Some more info:

@CraigCustance
Kyle Dubas and his staff drafted and developed players/systems based on metrics and maintaining puck possession. This is a really good hire.

@CraigCustance 
Chatted w/Dubas on his philosophy during playoffs: "If you watch our team you'll begin to see it clearly we don't really dump the puck in."

@CraigCustance 
More Dubas on his philosophy: "We want our players to solve problems and make plays with the puck."
Click to expand...

He did a lengthy radio interview earlier in the year on Toronto radio and I wouldn't be surprised if that had a big impact on this.  It got quite a bit of attention from the Toronto media on Twitter.

EDIT: Here is that interview.

Another article from 2013: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/buzzing-the-net/sault-ste-marie-greyhounds-not-secret-analytics-165219673.html
 
Talk about coming out of left field.  Much needed refreshing change. 

Had no clue who he was until the Soo Greyhound connection was mentioned.  I turned to my co-worker who grew up with his father and is friends with the family and all he could say was, "Wow."
 
Mirtle likes the move, said Loiselle and Poulin had no idea the change was coming.

Shanahan and Dubas meeting with media at 1 p.m. Poulin / Loiselle apparently had no idea this was coming. Poulin was on radio this morning.

This is Shanahan's biggest stamp on the Leafs so far and it's a very good one. @kyledubas one of the sharpest upcoming execs there is.
 
Wow. I don't know much about Dubas - though, I like what I've read - but, getting rid of Loiselle and Poulin is a big step in the right direction.

Also, this signals a high change in philosophy:

simmonssteve: What Leafs liked about Kyle Dubas: He is rare combination of a hockey man and analytics proponent. He has been scout agent GM and he's young
 
James Mirtle - Shanahan and Dubas meeting with media at 1 p.m. Poulin / Loiselle apparently had no idea this was coming. Poulin was on radio this morning.

 
bustaheims said:
Wow. I don't know much about Dubas - though, I like what I've read - but, getting rid of Loiselle and Poulin is a big step in the right direction.

Also, this signals a high change in philosophy:

simmonssteve: What Leafs liked about Kyle Dubas: He is rare combination of a hockey man and analytics proponent. He has been scout agent GM and he's young
Click to expand...

The fact he's so young means (if all goes as planned) the Leafs are pretty set at the GM position for a long time.
 
I never really liked Poulin and Loiselle whenever they spoke about the Leafs on the radio. So many times they dismissed the shots against as "low quality" and didn't ever think it was an issue.  "Sure the shots were 50-18, but actual scoring chances were 9-7 for us".  Yeah ok.
 
Further dismantling of the Burke infrastructure.  Nonis must be feeling pretty isolated right now.

I really like this move.  All too often it seems like the good ol' boys are rehashed through sports systems.  I think fresh perspective and ideas are integral to successful organizational renewal.
 
Dont let that door hit ya Claude and Dave. Two useless pieces. This is a good move. I know nothing about the new kid but am glad Shanny is moving and shaking. He gets rid of 3 coaches and hires 2, gets rid of 2 in management and hires 1. Downsizing in a good way.. Clearing some cash to throw at Babcock I guess down the road ;)
 
This is awesome. The fact that Poulin and Loiselle are gone is great on its own, but bringing in Dubas as well is really encouraging.

*high fives Potvin*
 
Another good interview with Kyle Dubas:

http://iphone.tsn.ca/tsnpodcasts/MC_KyleDubas_June24.mp3

Liking the hire.  Finally starting to see Brendan put a stamp on the team.
 
Out with the 'old' in with the new.  Hopefully, Dubas and his analytics will show the Leafs the way to puck possession and an adherence to some semblance of a system.
 
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