John Ferguson, Jr.

John Ferguson, Jr. (born July 7, 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) also known as "JFJ", is the son of John Ferguson, Sr. He served as vice president and general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2003 to 2008. He was replaced in January 2008 by Cliff Fletcher. He currently serves as a scout for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL. [cite web|url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=250131|title=SHARKS ADD FERGUSON JR, GRAHAM TO SCOUTING STAFF|publisher=TSN|date=2008-09-20]

Playing career

Drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 12th round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, Ferguson played four professional seasons at the American Hockey League (AHL) level with the Canadiens and Senators organizations. He was alternate captain of the 1992 Fredericton Canadiens that won the AHL regular season championship. Ferguson was named the team's "unsung hero" in consecutive years (1991, 1992). He played his college hockey at Providence College where he served as an assistant captain, was an Academic All-American and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Business Administration in 1989.

Post-playing career

Ferguson was a player agent responsible for negotiating player contracts, product endorsements and player recruitment. From 1993 to 1996 he was a member of the Ottawa Senators scouting staff as an amateur and professional scout. During that time he also spent the summers of 1994 and 1995 at the NHL office in the hockey operations and legal departments. Following his professional hockey career, he graduated Cum Laude with the degree of juris doctor from the Suffolk University Law School and was admitted to the Massachusetts State Bar in 1996.

Ferguson served as vice president and director of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues, and before that he was assistant general manager for the club for five seasons. In that role he evaluated players at the professional and amateur level and negotiated player contracts. Ferguson was also the president and general manager of the Worcester IceCats and was influential in the negotiation and acquisition of the Blues top minor league affiliate. He is a former chairman of the AHL's Competition Committee and also served on the league's Legal Affairs Committee.

On August 29, 2003, Ferguson became the 12th general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, being appointed at the age of 36. He succeeded Pat Quinn, who retained his duties as head coach after serving in a dual capacity for the previous four season. Leafs President Ken Dryden was shuffled to the post of Vice-Chairman and given a seat on MLSE's board of directors.

During the 2005-06 season, the first since the lockout, the Leafs narrowly missed the playoffs. The 2006 firing of Quinn upset some long time Leaf fans, with many calling for the firing of Ferguson himself. In 2007 Ferguson served as a member of Team Canada management at the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Russia. Serving as a member of team management, he collaborated with Steve Yzerman in selecting Canada's unbeaten gold medal roster, the youngest team to ever win a World Championship.

Entering the 2007-08 season the Leafs had posted a .577 points percentage during Ferguson's tenure, establishing franchise records for points (103), wins (45-tie), home wins (26) and road wins (23) in a season. The club reached at least 90 points and 40 wins in each of the three seasons played. However, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last two of the four seasons under Ferguson. The team was out of a playoff position at the time of his dismissal, near the bottom of the league. Columnists frequently suggested that Ferguson was not prepared for the pressure of an avid hockey market such as Toronto. [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2006/01/24/1409503-sun.html]

After weeks of media speculation, on January 22, 2008, Ferguson was informed his Leafs' contract would not be renewed when it expires on June 30, 2008 and as a result was relieved immediately from his duties as general manager, and was replaced by former Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher. [cite web |url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=227906&hubname= |accessdate=2008-02-07 |title=Ferguson fired, Fletcher named interim GM] Fletcher's attempt to rebuild the team was made further difficult as most of the key Leafs players, Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, Darcy Tucker and Pavel Kubina, all had no-trade clauses given by Ferguson that they refused to waive. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/darren_eliot/02/25/deadline.no.trades/]

At the 2007-08 NHL Season's trade deadline, he provided analysis of the trades as they came in for TSN.

References

External links

* [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2006/02/28/1466308-sun.html "Mystery Man" (Slam.ca column)]
*hockeydb|1650