BOSTON - John Ferguson Jr. probably wishes he could move his club to Boston for the week. Not that the job security would be any different, just the public scrutiny. Things seem to get messier by the minute in Toronto as the Maple Leafs came into last night's game at TD Banknorth Garden losers of four of their last five, not to mention an abysmal 3-8-2 in their last 13 games. The team is desperately trying to right a sinking ship on the ice and escape the day-to-day drama off of it.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) certainly isn’t hiding its hand, calling the Coyotes on Wednesday to formally ask permission to speak with former executive Cliff Fletcher, who despite being fired last March, is still under contract with the club.

It’s just one of many calls made over the last few months gauging the interest in a very hot seat currently occupied by Ferguson. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is the majority shareholder of MLSE and the in-fighting between the teachers and minority shareholder and chairman Larry Tanenbaum has gripped the ownership group. One source close to MLSE told the Toronto Globe that, “Larry wants to win. The teachers want a return on their investment.”

The players and coaching staff certainly aren't immune to the impact of this melodrama. Head coach Paul Maurice was outspoken with the press, saying it’s a relief for his team to just get out on the ice.

“It gets to a threshold when it’s easier,” Maurice told the Toronto Star. “There’s so much, with all due respect, buffoonery that getting back to hockey is easier. There’s nothing else. You can’t wade into it, into having an opinion of all the things going on, so you just leave it. Just play hockey.”

Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke weighted in with his support for the lame-duck Ferguson on earlier this week.

"Even if you're the biggest jerk in the world, he shouldn't be hanging in the air and swinging in the wind like this and getting rocks thrown at him in all directions," Burke told TSN on Wednesday.

"I don't think Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wanted it this way either,” Burke explained further. "I don't think there's any malice there. (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO) Richard Peddie is a good guy, it's just unfortunate that it's gone this way. I was a lame duck GM for a year, and that's a tough thing to be in Canada. I can say from personal experience that it's no fun."

Fletcher was the GM of the Maple Leafs from 1991 to 1997, coming within a game of the Stanley Cup Final in 1993.

“I’d be very interested in talking to the Maple Leafs, he told the media last summer while the club was looking for an advisor. "Whether they'd want to talk with me is another issue, because they fired me back in '97.”

“But hearing Richard Peddie’s comments, about looking for a short-term person to help the general manager, if they were interested in talking tome then, yeah, I’d want to speak with them.”

The other name that’s surfaced over the last few days is Scotty Bowman. The Hall of Famer told Hockey Night in Canada that he’d consider a job with the Leafs if approached. He later told the Detroit Free Press that he was “committed” to his advisory role with the Red Wings.