Transparent Ted Leonis recently did some shopping in the Store of Hopes and Dreams for his NBA and NHL franchises. He picked up a basketball president and a hockey coach.
He hasn’t had much luck shopping in this store, although sometimes he was looking in the bargain basement. In all his trips, Transparent Ted has only come away with one winner — Capitals Stanley Cup champion coach Barry Trotz — and then he let him leave.
On the first attempt to replace Trotz, the owner figured he didn’t need help with his shopping. Just hire the guy who supposedly was really behind the Cup, Todd Reirden. That failed miserably.
Then Transparent Ted, to his credit, finally went browsing in the premium section of the store and hired a coach with a Stanley Cup on his resume, Peter Laviolette, in 2020, and that didn’t work either.
Now he’s left the store with a promising young coach with ties to the organization — Spencer Carbery. I hear he’s high intensity.
He came from the Toronto Maple Leafs, where, as an assistant, Carbery was credited with the success of the team’s power play, helping their power play convert 26.6% of its chances over the last two seasons. He went to Toronto after leading the Capitals Hershey affiliate to 2021 American Hockey League regular season championship and was named the league’s coach of the year.
“We are extremely pleased to name Spencer as our new head coach,” general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement. Spencer is one of the best young coaches in the game who’s had success at every level at which he has coached.”
Success is relative here. Obviously, the Stanley Cup is the ultimate. But after missing the playoffs this past season for the first time after eight straight appearances, success for Transparent Ted is getting back to the postseason where half the NHL lives, because, for the owner, that’s where the money is — home playoff gate revenue.
Success, for the Capitals, is also to help shepherd Alex Ovechkin on his quest to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL scoring record — he is 73 goals away, with three years on his contract — and to do so while competing and bringing in young players.
I’m OK with this. I think we’ve all signed up for the Ovechkin record watch. There’s been too much invested in his time in Washington since he arrived in 2005 to not do everything necessary to give him the chance to accomplish this. This will be a challenge for a minor league coach who is only four years older than one of the biggest stars of our lifetime.
Transparent Ted also picked up a big-ticket item — something he’s never bought before — in Michael Winger.
Winger is the new president of Monumental Basketball, which means he will oversee not only the Wizards, but also the WNBA Washington Mystics and the G-League Go-Go.
“Michael’s vast experience and broad range of executive-level skills will provide stability, accountability and leadership for all of our basketball franchises,” Transparent Ted said in a statement. “His influence on helping to restore and sustain excellence at three different teams aligns with our goal of building championship contenders while his collaborative approach supports our shared services structure.”
Transparent Ted can’t help himself, can he? Collaborative approach? Shared services structure? How about an NBA-level coach? Or a $50 million player who can actually lead a team?
Is Winger going to be able to do either of those things? It’s a reasonable question — not about his ability to do so. He comes with a resume of relative success, turning around the Wizards of the West, the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to ESPN, Transparent Ted has given Winger “full authority to set the course for the Wizard franchise, including hiring a GM-level basketball executive and making decisions on the roster, coach and staff.”
According to the Washington Post, Winger praised Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr.’s “potential.” He should know that Washington basketball fans stopped looking for “potential” in their head coaches about 30 years ago. He said guard Bradley Beal’s presence was a “wonderful canvas to start with.”
Now I can see why Transparent Ted hired him. Winger’s got the language down pat.
I don’t mean to diminish the hire. It was a transformational move for an owner who, after taking over the Wizards in 2010, hung onto to Ernie Grunfeld, the arsonist fireman, for nine years.
But who will get rid of their coach with “potential” and who will trade the $50 million Bob Ross canvas?
You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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