"As painful as it is to go through the valley, we will not look back. The days of making excuses are over. I hate losing but I understand that's what we have to do for two years. We were trying to cover gaps and mistakes with our chequebook, and those days are over."
No, Toronto Maple Leafs fans, those words did not come from Larry Tanenbaum or Richard Peddie or any of the other bosses at the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment who may have suddenly seen the light and taken a vow of rebuilding through the NHL draft.
The speaker was Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, the company that owns the Los Angeles Kings, a team with several parallels with the Leafs, including residence at the bottom of the NHL standing.
As with the Leafs, the Kings have a raft of highly paid and underperforming veterans, some talented young players who regressed this season, a goaltending situation that is even worse than the Leafs', a coach (Marc Crawford) who cannot get his team moving and a general manager (Dean Lombardi) who steps on a land mine with every decision.
Maple Leafs look in mirror, see Kings looking back (Globe and Mail) 
