Significantly Insignificant said:He compares bringing in Lou to the time when they brought in Fletcher to keep the seat warm. He raises the point that running with Fletcher didn't go so well.
I like Siegel, but that's a pretty weak comparison really.
Cliff was GM for 6 months before Burke was hired, Lou has a 3-year contract.
Cliff's role as GM was to keep the seat warm while MLSE looked for another GM (aka patiently waited for Burke to leave Anaheim). Lou's role as GM will be partly to mentor the inexperienced Leafs front office.
Cliff's mandate was to clean house to make it easier for the future incoming GM to put in place his plan. Lou's mandate will be to follow the pre-existing plan that Shanahan & co. have already put in place.
Cliff was basically the sole voice in the Leafs front office and had total control more or less. Again, Lou's coming into a situation with a staff already put in place and will have to work within that staff when it comes to decision making.
Cliff served as a GM of a NHL team for just a single season in the decade prior to becoming the Leafs intern GM, that's obviously not the case with Lou.
So really, the only common ground is that they're both old.