Music: {allcanada} Maple Leafs' Dubas deflects Epstein comparisons

Thursday, August 28, 2014

{allcanada} Maple Leafs' Dubas deflects Epstein comparisons

Milk Chocolate and More Chocolate Gifts from Chocolate.com

Fresh Made Brownies and More Chocolate Gifts at Chocolate.com

Gourmet Fudge and More Chocolate Gifts at Chocolate.com

Chocolate Truffles and More Chocolate Gifts at Chocolate.com

Dark Chocolate and More Chocolate Gifts at Chocolate.com

ESPN Fantasy Football / Yahoo Fantasy Football

Kyle Dubas is no Theo Epstein.

Joining Sportsnet 590 the FAN’s Mike Wilner in the commentary booth during Wednesday night’s Blue Jays game, the Maple Leafs assistant general manager deflected the comparisons to the Chicago Cubs president most famous for his construction of the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox that ended that franchise’s 86-year championship drought.

“I think that stuff, whenever you fit a certain mould in whatever sport of business you’re in people will try to always equate you to those types of people and obviously Theo [Epstein] is the pinnacle of that – the young general manager that’s figured out a way to break a curse and have great success,” Dubas said.

“Right now I’m just looking forward to learning from Brendan Shanahan and Dave Nonis and our entire staff.”

For a limited time get Sportsnet Magazine’s digital edition free for 60 days. Visit Appstore/RogersMagazines to see what you’re missing out on.

Dubas seems particularly excited to be working with Nonis, giving high praise to the Leafs GM because of the similar paths they’ve travelled.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Dave, who was a very young assistant general manager as well in Vancouver and was the youngest general manager in Canucks history. So he’s worked in two of the most difficult markets as it pertains to media and fan pressure in Vancouver and Toronto, and I’ve really enjoyed learning from Dave so far as well.”

The 28-year-old, a life-long baseball fan, also touched on hockey analytics and the perception that a young hockey executive coming in and revolutionizing a front office, saying the analysis isn’t quite there yet – particularly in comparison to the work seen in sabermetrics.

“Baseball is so much further ahead, even than every other sport. A lot of the things that people have talked about, in terms of analytics and metrics and ways of analyzing the game, are a lot further ahead than any other sport.

“In hockey, right now, we’re really in the primitive stages of it, and I think, because of my age, people automatically assume that this is the same way as it was in all of those other sports where the young guy’s going to change the way you’re going to look at it, when all we’re doing is taking some more information, looking at different ways to analyze the game. It’s not overly progressive quite yet.”

CBS Sports Fantasy Football / Official NFL.com Fantasy Football