Leave it to the Toronto Maple Leafs to screw things up even when they're doing the right thing.

The team finally put general manager John Ferguson Jr. out of his misery Tuesday. Ferguson committed to too many long-term, no-trade contracts, signed too many free agents who didn't pan out and despite promising he was going to build through the draft, traded away eight draft picks (including two first and three second-round picks) and the team's top prospect (goalie Tuukka Rask) for Andrew Raycroft, Mark Bell and Vesa Toskala.

He needed to go but the way in which they botched the firing is exactly why nothing will change in Leafland. Forget plummeting to 28th in the league, the Leafs had to wait until their next board meeting to fire Ferguson. Why? Because the board is really who runs the team. In any other city, the president would say 'That's enough' and drop the axe.

JFJ wasn't shot from the grassy knoll. He was lined up for the firing squad and told "We might shoot you tomorrow....or maybe the next day. Or maybe Thursday if our meetings don't go too late." 

While the Leafs waited for the next board meeting, everyone knew Ferguson was a goner. Everyone knew who his replacement would be. That's because the board at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (the parent company) is split. It can't agree on what kind of sandwiches to have for lunch. Maybe that's the why the Leafs are so bad in shootouts. Players probably need board approval to shoot or deke. 

Now the Leafs have hired an interim GM, Cliff Fletcher, and the team has formed a committee to hire a new GM. Why is it nobody can make a decision on their own with this team?

In his first tour as Leafs' GM, Fletcher had a great run. Taking over a team that had not topped the .500-mark in 13 years, the Leafs made a modest 10-point gain in his first season and then improved by 32 the next season, finishing with 99 points (back in the pre-loser point days when that was actually an accomplishment).  

A big part of that improvement was due to his heist of Doug Gilmour from his former team, the Calgary Flames. Fletcher and Gilmour got Toronto within a goal (and to hear Leaf fans moan, a Wayne Gretzky high stick) of the Stanley Cup final. After two consecutive trips to the conference final, it became clear the Leafs were too old to compete for the Cup. Over the next two years they hovered around .500 mark. And that's when Fletcher showed the traits that will now serve him best.

Unlike Ferguson, who held on to fan favourites (Ed Belfour, Tie Domi) too long, Fletcher had the courage to ship out players who had achieved (warranted or not) god-like status. In exchange for GIlmour he got Jason Smith, Steve Sullivan (both of whom Pat Quinn later let walk for nothing) and Alyn McCauley and in a move that brought outrage, traded beloved captain Wendel Clark for Mats Sundin, now the franchise's all-time leader in goals and points.

Now Fletcher will be in charge of getting value for Sundin.

 The committee's task of hiring a permanent GM won't be easy. The divided board already cost the Leafs a chance to hire Scotty Bowman at the beginning of the season-- a situation that would have avoided this whole ugly mess

"Even if you're the biggest jerk In the world," Anaheim GM Brian Burke told TSN in regards to the Leafs' handling of Ferguson, "he shouldn't be hanging in the air and swinging in the wind like this and getting rocks thrown at him in all directions."

Burke may not be the most popular guy in the NHL, but you can be sure many in the tight-knit hockey community share his view on this issue. Which is why you have to wonder how many respected hockey people would even consider working in the dysfunctional situation that currently exists at MLSE.