ON THE MARK.

GRETZKY FOR PRESIDENT?  I HOPE NOT.
He was the greatest hockey player of all time, but would Wayne Gretzky be any good as President of the Toronto Maple Leafs?  Well, that depends on his role.  Will he be a front man?  A figurehead?  Or would he actually be involved in the day-to-day operation of the team.  If it's the latter, then I say "no".   What the Maple Leafs need now, more than ever, is stability.  They just elevated Dave Nonis to the role of General Manager (but not President) to replace the dearly departed Brian Burke, who held the dual role.  Coach Randy Carlyle is in his first full year as coach.  The team is fairly young, and the potential for playoff success is there (I know you've heard that before).
    Most importantly, the Maple Leaf brand is now under new ownership, and that could cause the biggest problem that Gretzky could face.  In the past, Gretzky has been a minority owner/coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, and was pretty much given carte blanche, until they started losing money as well as games. Remember, Gretzky spent four years as the coach of the Coyotes and missed the playoffs all four years.  Wasn't that one of the problems the Leafs had with Burke?   With Team Canada in 2002, he was The Great Gretzky, General Manager of our Olympic Hockey team.  He only had to answer to Canadians, which was no problem, especially after Canada won the gold medal in Salt Lake City.   In 2006 in Turin, with Gretzky at the helm, Canada had a lousy preliminary round (3-2) and lost 2-0 to the Russians in the quarterfinals. 
     If he ever took the job with the Maple Leafs (and denials are running rampant as of this writing) he'd have to battle that two-headed ownership monster Bell/Rogers.  Do you think that's something that appeals to him, especially after what he went through in Phoenix?  Hardly.   Think about it, how could Gretzky help the Maple Leafs?   He can't sell more season tickets or suites or jerseys.  He can't command more money for TV rights or commercial time.  He'd probably better suited as Prime Minister of Canada rather than President of the Toronto Maple Leafs.   I can't imagine watching the Leafs lose another game and then see the media go running after Gretzky and Nonis, trying to get a 15 second soundbite or a quote for the newspaper.
     Gretzky has plenty to do with his life, and plenty of time to choose a job in hockey that suits him.  He turns 52 on Saturday, has five kids (2 of whom still live at home) and has his home in Thousand Oaks California up for sale for a cool 14.9 million dollars.  He runs a wildly successful Fantasy hockey camp in Las Vegas every February where 65 campers pony up $11,000 each to skate with Wayne and a number of former NHLers.   The proceeds to to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.   He also owns a winery that sold some 35,000 cases of wine last year,  a clothing line, and is a pitchman for banks, watches, hot drinks, video games and shoes.   Does he really want or need an office at Bay and Front so he can oversee the operations of the Toronto Maple Leafs?  After the way the Coyotes and then the NHL treated him a few years ago, probably not.   Wayne doesn't need the Leafs, and the Leafs certainly don't need Wayne.  Just the thought of Gretzky sitting where Burke used to sit and slamming his fist on the table when the Leafs give up a goal makes me shudder.   That's not the way the Great One should be remembered.