At that moment, I bet you couldn’t have slipped a dime between Shanahan’s opinions towards Europeans, and Don Cherry’s — they were so similar.
Now, fast forward to 2015. Shanahan wants his Leafs playing puck possession hockey, and he’s collecting European kids like he wants a Russian 5. And a Swedish 6. And maybe a spare Latvian or two [just for parts].
He’s changed.
So, why did he change? What happened to move Shanahan’s attitudes towards Europeans and Russians?
Now, let’s forget being fancy here and just say some things outright.