Fletcher set to drop Maple Leafs reins

TORONTO - Brian Burke is no longer the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks, but Cliff Fletcher is not looking over his shoulder.

Nor does he fear for his job.

When he was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the middle of last season, the 73-year-old understood his term in the general manager's position was not permanent.

"At my stage of the career, I'm just enjoying it very much now," he told reporters in Calgary yesterday. "I'd like to see this thing really start to show that we're headed in the right direction.

''As for my future, if I spend my next winter in Arizona, I won't be disappointed."

Fletcher, who replaced John Ferguson Jr., in January, was never supposed to last this long as the general manager.

The idea was for him to keep the seat warm while the National Hockey League team looked for a long-term replacement. But nearly a year later, the search continues, although Burke's resignation from the Ducks yesterday is expected to change that.

"Cliff doesn't want this job long-term," Richard Peddie, president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, told reporters.

"I've really appreciated the job he's done. I expect him to do it a while longer. How much longer I don't know. But his contract takes him to next summer."

Though his time has been brief, Fletcher had made his mark on the hockey team.

In the summer, he hired head coach Ron Wilson to replace Paul Maurice, he traded up in the draft to select defenceman Luke Schenn fifth overall, and he changed the culture of the dressing room by replacing veterans such as Bryan McCabe and Darcy Tucker with hungry youngsters such as Schenn, Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin.

The team is still rebuilding and is likely two or three years away from becoming a Stanley Cup contender.

But there is already cause for optimism. Toronto, which missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, is a faster, harder-working team that is surpassing pre-season expectations so far with its 6-6-4 record.

The Leafs head into tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers in a tie for eighth-place in the Eastern Conference.

"Cliff's come in and I think he's done a heck of a job. A really good job," Peddie said. "We've stayed with our plan and stayed patient and there's some great young kids up there ... we've already made some progress this season."

Fletcher would like to continue to guide the team forward. But he also realizes that when the time is right, he will gladly pass the torch.

"I'm here to get a job done and do it to the best of my ability, which we're trying to do," he said. "We feel that we're going in the right direction. When there's going to be change, there's going to be change.

"I won't be disappointed. But we just can't afford to have turmoil around this team, because it would be counterproductive."