Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Brendan Shanahan is a very thorough man

10/06/2015 at 9:47pm EDT

Sportsnet's Michael Grange conducted a thorough interview with Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, and it reflects Shanahan's attention to detail:

The leather-bound appointment book lies in the centre of his desk, the edges perfectly aligned. There is a cell phone, parallel with two television remotes, not one a degree out of place.

Around Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan’s office there are some pictures you’d expect from a Hall-of-Fame player turned executive (lifting the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings) and some you might not (shaking hands with Bill Clinton and Stephen Harper).

There are books on business innovation: “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, and on sports innovation: “Big Data Baseball,” by Travis Sawchik.

But the 2015 edition of the brown, plush American Express appointment book takes pride of place. He fills it out himself, in ink, a habit he began when the high school graduate got his first real job, working alongside the league’s Ivy League trained lawyers at the head office in Manhattan. They go four years back now and the 2016 edition is already waiting at home.

He’s aware all this can be done digitally, but he likes the ritual and the permanence of the paper and pen.

“I’m more inclined to write stuff down, log things,” he says. “After you leave I’ll write down we spoke.”

Grange continues, and Shanahan also appeared on Prime Time Sports on Wednesday evening:

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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