ON THE MARK.

THE WORST FIRING IN MAPLE LEAF HISTORY.
The late Harold Ballard left a legacy of mismangement that's difficult to surpass when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs.   Ballard, like Brian Burke, was the face of the franchise.  He loved getting his name in the paper, loved being the bombastic blowhard that threatened the media and loved taking credit for making the Maple Leafs a profitable team.   They didn't call Maple Leaf Gardens the "Carlton Street Cashbox" for nothing.
    The funny thing is, Ballard would've fired Brian Burke EXACTLY the same way the corporate hacks at Rogers/Bell Media did.  With one exception.  He would've taken away Burke's parking spot, changed the locks on his office door and made sure there were TV cameras present while Burke was fumbling for his keys, trying to figure out what was going on.  That's because Ballard loved great theatre.  He used to appear regularly on the post-game TV show "Overtime", which was during the CHCH-TV Maple Leaf broadcasts in the 1970s and 80s.  His quotes were often outrageous, and he never met a minority he didn't dislike (Swedes, Russians, Women).  Had there been twitter in Ballard's day, he would've made Mark Cuban look like Mr. Goody Two Shoes.  
    Ballard's greatest example of shoddy ownership was his treatment of coach Roger Neilson.  Dubbed "Captain Video" because of his early use of tape to break down plays, Neilson had replaced Red Kelly behind the Leaf bench in 1977 and immediately helped lead his team to a quarter-final victory over the New York Islanders on an overtime goal by Lanny McDonald.  The fact that they lost in four straight to Montreal was a moot point.  The Leafs were back, and Neilson was the guy.    But the following season was a tough one, and the Leafs couldn't get anything going until mid February when they began a four game losing streak and the fans and the media started to grumble  After all, this team had beaten the Islanders last year, and now they couldn't beat the Atlanta Flames or the Minnesota North Stars.  Soon, Ballard was threatening to fire Neilson if the team didn't improve.  After suffering a loss in Montreal during a televised game (Leaf games were only on twice a week in those days) Ballard was tracked down by CHCHs Dick Beddoes, who asked him point blank if he was going to fire Neilson.   When Ballard said "Yes, he's gone", all hell broke loose.
     That was March 1, 1979.  When fans and Leaf players found out that Neilson had been fired, they protested en masse.  How could Ballard fire the man that helped grow the Leafs into a potential powerhouse?  Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull and Mike Palmateer were all in their 20s. They were a team on the rise.  I was a reporter for CKFH radio at the time, and Bob McCown sent me to the Gardens to track down Neilson and Ballard and GM Jim Gregory to get the story.   Instead, we found Roger standing around waiting to be fired.  There was no press conference.  Roger had to tell everybody he had been fired.  I remember chasing him down the stairs at the Gardens after coming out of the Executive Offices.  It was crazy.
     Ballard's decision to fire Neilson was so abrupt, he had nobody to coach the Leafs a couple of nights later.  He figured out too late that you can't fire your old coach unless you've got a new coach ready to take over.  But nobody wanted to take over this team, so Ballard had to go back to Neilson and devise a plan.  His idea was to not reveal who the new Leaf coach would be, keep everybody guessing, and then have Neilson go behind the bench on Saturday night WITH A PAPER BAG OVER HIS HEAD.    Only when the TV cameras zoomed in would Neilson pull the bag off his head, much to the shock and delight of the Gardens faithful.   There was only one problem.   Neilson wouldn't go for it.   He accepted his old job back, but came out sans sac papier.   When he walked out of the corridor and behind the Leaf bench, the Gardens erupted.   The Leafs went on to beat the Flyers that night, and then won their next four in a row.   Unfortunately for Neilson's second tenure, it didn't last long.  After the Leafs were swept by the Canadiens (again) in the playoffs, Neilson got the boot for good.    He only coached two seasons in Toronto, but will forever be remembered as the guy who was fired on a Thursday night and re-hired on a Saturday morning.