Cliff Fletcher is assuring long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs fans that better times beckon.
``The message is simple,'' says the interim general manager. ``The team is going to get better.
``It's going to be a team starting next October that the fans are going to get excited about and be able to become proud about again.''
Fletcher met with the media Monday. The Leafs missed the NHL playoffs for the third year in a row _ this time by 10 points _ and the players went their separate ways Sunday.
The transformation won't happen overnight, he warned.
``Back when I was in Calgary and we looked up the road at the Edmonton Oilers . . . I had lunch with a rancher one day,'' Fletcher recalled. ``I said, `Boy, we've got to straighten this thing out in a hurry.'
Toronto Maple Leafs - News: Fletcher Looks To Future - 04/07/2008
Fletcher Looks To Future
Fletcher Looks To Future 
