Nearly two years after retiring as president and CEO of MLSE, Richard Peddie opened up about his time at the helm of the Maple Leafs, Raptors and eventually Toronto FC. Buster Skrine Jersey For Sale . Speaking on TSN 1050s TSN Drive show, Peddie touched on his hiring of both rookie and experienced GMs and the most memorable relationships and interactions he had with former players and executives. Coming from a business background when he was named MLSEs inaugural president and CEO in February of 1998, Peddie admitted to having to learn on the fly early on. “Its a different mindset,” Peddie said of the difference between sports and business. “Theres really one winner and 29 losers. In business there isnt that. You could have an industry that all had good results, all had bad results or you can have an industry where theres winners and losers. In sports theres only one.” Taking over at a time when both the Leafs and Raptors were enjoying success, Peddie was eventually forced to lead the franchises in a transition period with changes coming in the front office. His decision to hire two rookie general managers is something he regrets. “I shouldve gone more experienced,” Peddie said of his decision to hire John Ferguson Jr. as the Leafs GM. “You DO NOT hire a rookie to run the Toronto Maple Leafs.” In retrospect, Peddie said when he was involved in the hiring process and made a call to the Canucks to speak with Dave Nonis, he should have instead reached out to the man he would end up hiring five years later, Brian Burke. “I shouldve asked permission to talk to Burkie then,” Peddie said. On the basketball side, Peddie was questioning his hiring ?of Rob Bab**** in the summer of 2004 less than six months into his tenure, when the Vince Carter trade proposal was brought before the MLSE board of directors in December. “I had a new general manager that I had started to become really worried about,” Peddie remembers. “Im thinking if I pull the plug on this then Ive meddled, then Ive basically fired the general manager. In hindsight I wish I had. It set back the franchise years.” Being witness to both the rise of “Vinsanity” early on in his tenure, followed by the falling out Carter had with the team and city years later, Peddie was present for nearly all of his career in Toronto. He observed that Carter was a “Mamas boy” whos life was dominated by the family and entourage he surrounded himself with early on. As to why Carter was unable to meet the lofty expectations levied upon him early in his career, Peddie says it may have come down to work ethic and internal drive. “There are guys like Kobe, Jordan – theyre killers and Vince didnt have that,” Peddie said, while also noting that the teams trainers would report Carter having leg issues heading into the off-season, which he would then fail to rehab during the summer months. Following the trade of Carter and the failures of Bab**** and Ferguson, Peddie said he learned from his mistakes and hired experienced, respected leaders. “I went and hired, arguably two of the best general managers,” Peddie said of Brian Burke and Bryan Colangelo. Although Burke was fired from the team prior to the start of the 2013 season, and failed to lead the Leafs to the playoffs during his tenure, Peddie said he still thinks Burke “wouldve brought Toronto a Stanley Cup.” Besides the NBA and NHL teams, Peddie touched briefly on his dealings with Toronto FC, noting that he saw the 2007 expansion franchise serving as a type of apprenticeship for former MLSE COO Tom Anselmi. “I was thinking about retiring and I thought Tom Anselmi would benefit from dealing with a general manager, dealing with the media and I gave him full reign on that one. And we hired badly – weve been through eight coaches. I chalk that up to our lack of football knowledge.” Asked about his successor, Tim Leiweke, Peddie was complimentary saying, “I thought it was a good choice,” noting the former president and CEO of AEG played an important role in bringing an MLS to the city and in the design of Maple Leaf Square. He disagreed however with Leiwekes statements that a culture change was needed inside of MLSE. “I didnt believe the culture of the business side needed to be changed at all, but on the team side we werent winning, so hes focusing on winning,” Peddie said. While admitting to having great relationships and fond memories of Darcy Tucker, Morris Peterson, Charles Oakley and Mats Sundin, Peddie also weighed in on the following: David Stern: “He uses fear. I mean he would go after me a whole bunch of times and he went after owners. Hes really smart, hes very successful and he uses that.” Ken Dryden: “Studious and brilliant. Ken takes a long time to make a decision.” Pat Quinn: “Stubborn Irishman, had great success.” Bryan Colangelo: “Very polished, very experienced, wish hed had more success...Bryan wanted to win and man, he wore that. He liked to pull the big trades and they werent working out.” Tie Domi: “Fighter. I got along very well with Tie, but his temper would flare up even off the ice occasionally.” Isaiah Thomas: “Smiling assassin…Isaiah and I could not work together. I think we made a mistake right off the bat to not make him president of the basketball team day one. I offered it to him two weeks after I joined, but he chose not to take it and we didnt work together very long.” Michelle Carter: “Too involved.” Drake: “Hes legit. He loves the city, loves the team, has credibility with the players. How good can he be with free agents? He could be a tipping point.” Buster Skrine Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston (4) - Explosive, perfect positioning and great rebound control for all five games that led to this series being clinched. Terrance West Jersey . And former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson certainly knows his pain. "Its pretty hard to coach there without allowing some of these things to kind of affect you," Wilson told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in his ESPN.PORTLAND, Ore. -- James Harden snapped out of his slump. Omer Asik stopped LaMarcus Aldridge. But it was rookie Troy Daniels who made all the difference for the Houston Rockets. Daniels, who spent time in the D-League this season and didnt make his pro debut until March 5, hit a 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds left to lift the Rockets a 121-116 overtime victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night and narrow Portlands first-round playoff advantage to 2-1. Harden finished with a career playoff-best 37 points and Dwight Howard added 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets. Aldridge had more than 40 points in each of Portlands victories in the first two games in Houston. But Asik did a good job of shutting him down in Game 3, holding the All-Star forward to 23 points. The Blazers were led by Damian Lillard with 30 points. Portland trailed by as many as 11 points in the final quarter but Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to tie the game at 110. Harden missed a half-court shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Lillards layup gave Portland a 116-112 lead with 3:08 left in the extra period. Jeremy Lin hit a jumper from the top of the key before Hardens fadeaway tie it with 1:51 to go. Aldridge missed a jumper over Howard but Lin missed a 3-pointer on the other end before Daniels nailed his 3-pointer. Daniels finished with nine points in the game, all 3s. Before the game, coach Kevin McHale told Daniels to "be ready," the undrafted signee out of Virginia Commonwealth said. "He competes," McHale said. "He dives on the floor for balls. Hes a tough kid." Batum missed a 3 with 4.9 seconds left and Harden made free throws for the final margin. Only three teams have come back to win after losing the first two games of a seven-game series at home: The last was the 2004-05 Mavericks, who came back against the Rockets. Houston is 0-7 overall when falling behind 0-2 in the first round since the 1983-84 expansion. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at the Moda Center. "We havent done anything yet," McHale said. "Weve won one game. But it feels a lot better than losing." The Blazers hadnt opened a playoff series 2-0 since 1977, when they got the early jump on the Lakers en route to the Western Conference title. Portland wwent on to beat Philadelphia for its lone NBA championship. Tashaun Gipson Jersey For Sale. McHale, who acknowledged before the game that his team was frustrated, tinkered with the lineup and started Asik in place of Terrence Jones. Asik did a good job in keeping Aldridge out of the paint and the Rockets responded by coming out with intensity. "The came out and played as they should down two games," Aldridge said. Patrick Beverleys 3-pointer gave the Rockets and early 19-13 lead before Harden finished off the first quarter with a 3-pointer to put Houston up 35-24. Harden and Beverley each finished the first quarter with 11 points. Harden was the leagues top shooting guard in the regular season, but he was 14 of 47 from the field in his opening two playoff games for his worst two-game stretch of the season. Lillards 3-pointer tied it at 38, but Mo Williams and Robin Lopez each hit baskets to put Portland in front and cap a 16-point run. Lillard led all scorers with 16 points at the half and the Blazers had a 55-54 edge. Harden and Chandler Parsons made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Rockets a 71-65 lead midway through the third period. But Portland -- bolstered by a raucous hometown crowd -- kept Houstons lead in single digits until Hardens 3-pointer made it 90-80 with 10:18 to go in the game. Hardens jumper gave the Rockets a 100-91 lead with 6:21 left, but Lilliard made free throws that closed Portland to within 103-98 before a falling-down jumper and a foul shot to make it 103-101 with 4:05 left. Lillard scored on a layup to put Portland in front 107-106 with 1:59 left. After Harden made four straight free throws, Batum made the 3-pointer to tie it. "I thought we had some good looks down the stretch,Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "Lin Harden and Daniels made their shots. And we didnt." NOTES: Houstons Terrence Jones went to Portlands Jefferson High School, leading the team to three straight Class 5A championships before playing for Kentucky. ... Among the fans in the crowd for the Blazers first home playoff game since 2011 were Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who grew up in Portland. ... The Blazers have made at least eight 3-pointers in the in three straight post-season games for the first time in franchise history. ' ' '
