Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/6/2015 (1929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

THERE is serious speculation Kelly McCrimmon is leaving his Brandon Wheat Kings for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but if it happens, he won’t be selling the hockey team with which he has become synonymous.

McCrimmon, owner/general manager and coach of the Western Hockey League club, isn’t talking right now but he’s got a huge decision to make. He’s wanted to make the leap to the NHL and test out his abilities at the highest level for some time.

COLIN CORNEAU / BRANDON SUN FILES Speculation is swirling that Brandon Wheat Kings general manager and head coach Kelly McCrimmon may move to a position with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

During a conversation at the NHL Draft in Philadelphia last summer, McCrimmon told me it would soon be time to try and make the move to the NHL or forget about it entirely.

My guess is McCrimmon is going to join the Leafs. He’s had a long-term relationship with coach Mike Babcock and he’s very familiar with assistant GM Mark Hunter. He’s also a very confident and driven man; the challenge of the Leafs is compelling to him.

Why not? If it doesn’t work out, he can return to the Wheat Kings and move back into the owner’s office.

McCrimmon would join the Leafs in an assistant GM role alongside Kyle Dubas and Hunter. He would live in Brandon and focus on the WHL in terms of scouting responsibilities. He would also spend considerable time on the road with the Leafs and have a say in all major personnel decisions.

If McCrimmon takes this job, don’t expect Leafs president Brendan Shanahan to name a GM but instead assume some of those roles himself and run the management end of hockey operations by committee.

Selling the Wheat Kings might be on McCrimmon’s radar at some point, but not now. There would be too much uncertainty with a new position and McCrimmon wouldn’t rush the sale of his team. The Wheat Kings are an extension of his family and he’s going to make sure they are well taken care of.

Owning the Wheat Kings as well as having the GM and head coach roles has been fulfilling and profitable. But he’s a competitor and he wants to know if he has what it takes to succeed in the NHL.

Nurtured

The desire to compete with the best minds in hockey, however, will not overpower McCrimmon’s commitment to Brandon and the organization he has so carefully nurtured over the last 20-plus years.

McCrimmon views his Wheat Kings as the WHL’s Green Bay Packers. It’s a small-market franchise that must be operated in a certain fashion in order to keep it competitive on the ice and profitable as a business. Mc-Crimmon isn’t about to hand the keys to anyone and watch in horror from Toronto as his Wheat Kings become the next Belleville Bulls, fading into irrelevance and eventually moving to a different market.

Selling is highly unlikely and only to someone he viewed as competent and committed to Brandon. Any prospective buyer would have to pass McCrimmon’s tests for integrity and hockey acumen.

So, if McCrimmon joins the Leafs management team, expect him to install a president to operate the business side of the WHL franchise and hire a GM/coach to take care of hockey operations.

Depending on how one looks at things, the timing is either perfect or terrible.

The Wheat Kings are going to a very strong hockey team for the next two or three seasons. Would McCrimmon like to be behind the bench steering the Wheat Kings towards a Memorial Cup? Of course.

But as owner of the franchise, having the team on such stable ground would make him comfortable putting another coach in charge.

One could argue if the team were in a downward trend, McCrimmon would never consider leaving and handing off a bag of problems to a less experienced operator.

If he is going to join the Leafs, a decision will have to be made soon. He’ll need to get busy in his new role and it’s an absolute he’d want to be involved in the upcoming draft.

As for the Wheat Kings, his next moves there will be critical and he’ll want to get them right.

If McCrimmon leaves, Ryan Mc-Gill could be an option as the new head coach in Brandon.

McGill coached the last three seasons in Kootenay, but the Ice announced in April he would not be back behind the bench of the WHL club next season.

He was also the Calgary Flames’ assistant coach for two seasons (2009-11), and he was the head coach of the Ice during the club’s run to a Memorial Cup championship way back in 2002.

Former Wheat Kings captain Ryan Craig is believed to be the man McCrimmon eventually planned to bring in as his next head coach, but he’s still playing.

The Wheat Kings are in good hands with McCrimmon and he’ll make sure that continues. The Wheaties are his baby, his legacy in Brandon and what he’s spent his professional life building. McCrimmon won’t risk all that. He’ll protect it.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless