Heated exchange between Keith Pelley and reporters over John Chayka hiring on Monday.

Keith Pelley hit with a brutal question during his big press conference on Monday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs held a press conference on Monday to introduce both newly appointed general manager John Chayka and Senior Advisor, Hockey Operations Mats Sundin and to say that the event was contentious would be a massive understatement.

During the question period, president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Keith Pelley was grilled by Toronto sports columnist Steve Simmons over his decision to hire Chayka. Simmons hit Chayka with one of the most heated questions you will ever hear during a media event of this nature, citing over 20 different sources within the National Hockey League as he did so.

“You talk about the due diligence you did on John [Chayka] prior to hiring him and now hiring him, in the past say 3 to 4 days I have been in contact with about 20 people who work in the National Hockey League, many of whom are prominent names that we would all know, and of the 20 people I spoke to 1 was supportive of John’s hiring,” said a fired up Simmons. “The other 19 thought it was a sham to be perfectly honest. Words were used like con artist, liar, salesman, how did you come to a different conclusion than I was able to come to in a very short time?”

Pelley appeared unphased by the question.

“We must have talked to different people,” said Pelley.

Simmons however did not relent and doubled down on the issue.

“The hockey world today is astounded by this announcement,” said Simmons.

Pelley once again reiterated his support for Chayka and defended his decision to hire him.

“We’ve conducted due diligence and it was a deep due diligence and it was a thorough process and we’re quite happy with where we have landed,” said Pelley.

Pelley delivered his remarks while grinning from ear to ear as if enjoying the contentious questions from Simmons, although I’ll let you be the judge of whether or not that smile was genuine.

You can hear and see the surreal exchange in the video below: