General hockeying update:
Apr. 8th, 2007 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcherWatching Hockey Night in Canada last night went from elation, to multiple cardiac arrests, to ecstatic, to arrest, to ecstatic again. Man, I love the playoffs.
Toronto's alive - JUST! - and now we just need the Devils to...well, be the Devils, and shut the Islanders down, or at least force them into an OT loss. (OT loss - even on points, but Toronto would have the edge in wins.)
I am a little disappointed that Nashville ended Colorado's attempt to squeak into the playoffs, though. Having their game against the Flames tonight be another Win Or Go Home battle would have been pretty cool.
As to Montreal - hell of a game, Michel Ryder can die in a fire, and honestly, this is a pretty clear example of why Montreal needed to do something at the trade deadline. To be a team that was as high as 4th in the East (and threatening Buffalo for first!) and then sliding from late december all the way out of the playoffs has to be maddening, and it's pretty clear that guys like Kovalev and Samsonov weren't going out there to get it done. I don't know if making some trades would have changed that, but at least shifting the chemistry of the locker room around a bit might have made a big difference.
And then, on the home front...
Reading the paper, it appears the pitchforks and torches are out for Doug MacLean.
Not only are the McConnells and the other minority owners meeting this week about "Doug's Future", but the columnists in the Dispatch have pulled out all the stops.
It's bad when a commentator like Brett Hull calls Columbus a team where "Players go to die."
It's a death sentence when the local paper runs 3 separate articles, all about why MacLean needs to be fired. Particularly when one of them was a report written by 5 NHL scouts, all of them outlining major problems with the team that the GM should be able to fix, and others include words like "cover-my-own-tail-at-all-costs mentality", "Strip away the BS and here's what we're left with: The Blue Jackets' record is the worst in the NHL the past six years. They are the only team in the NHL that has never made the playoffs. Attendance is dropping so fast, I think I saw one of the regular ticket scalpers working the drive-through window at McDonald's.", and "For nine years, MacLean has controlled the franchise and, on the hockey side, he has served with no great distinction."
The last article? Simply a list of all the potentially available GM's in the NHL, and what it might take to hire them away from their current teams.
I really, really, really hope that the Jackets ownership is paying attention to the way their team is being covered in the media. National disrespect can be tempered by local support, but when the locals also pull out, it's clear a big change needs made.
We're fine on coaching - Hitchcock's the guy, I think, to really work this team into a playoff contender. But MacLean's proven he cannot get it done, year over year, from when he was both Team President and GM, to his current "consolidation" to GM over the past few seasons. I don't care how much you like the guy - it's time for him to go.
Toronto's alive - JUST! - and now we just need the Devils to...well, be the Devils, and shut the Islanders down, or at least force them into an OT loss. (OT loss - even on points, but Toronto would have the edge in wins.)
I am a little disappointed that Nashville ended Colorado's attempt to squeak into the playoffs, though. Having their game against the Flames tonight be another Win Or Go Home battle would have been pretty cool.
As to Montreal - hell of a game, Michel Ryder can die in a fire, and honestly, this is a pretty clear example of why Montreal needed to do something at the trade deadline. To be a team that was as high as 4th in the East (and threatening Buffalo for first!) and then sliding from late december all the way out of the playoffs has to be maddening, and it's pretty clear that guys like Kovalev and Samsonov weren't going out there to get it done. I don't know if making some trades would have changed that, but at least shifting the chemistry of the locker room around a bit might have made a big difference.
And then, on the home front...
Reading the paper, it appears the pitchforks and torches are out for Doug MacLean.
Not only are the McConnells and the other minority owners meeting this week about "Doug's Future", but the columnists in the Dispatch have pulled out all the stops.
It's bad when a commentator like Brett Hull calls Columbus a team where "Players go to die."
It's a death sentence when the local paper runs 3 separate articles, all about why MacLean needs to be fired. Particularly when one of them was a report written by 5 NHL scouts, all of them outlining major problems with the team that the GM should be able to fix, and others include words like "cover-my-own-tail-at-all-costs mentality", "Strip away the BS and here's what we're left with: The Blue Jackets' record is the worst in the NHL the past six years. They are the only team in the NHL that has never made the playoffs. Attendance is dropping so fast, I think I saw one of the regular ticket scalpers working the drive-through window at McDonald's.", and "For nine years, MacLean has controlled the franchise and, on the hockey side, he has served with no great distinction."
The last article? Simply a list of all the potentially available GM's in the NHL, and what it might take to hire them away from their current teams.
I really, really, really hope that the Jackets ownership is paying attention to the way their team is being covered in the media. National disrespect can be tempered by local support, but when the locals also pull out, it's clear a big change needs made.
We're fine on coaching - Hitchcock's the guy, I think, to really work this team into a playoff contender. But MacLean's proven he cannot get it done, year over year, from when he was both Team President and GM, to his current "consolidation" to GM over the past few seasons. I don't care how much you like the guy - it's time for him to go.
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you may appreciate this, though because of certain things i must HISSSSS at your icon.
Date: 2007-04-08 01:25 pm (UTC)Re: you may appreciate this, though because of certain things i must HISSSSS at your icon.
Date: 2007-04-08 01:43 pm (UTC)However, much as I admire/respect the job the Sabres as a team have done this year, I denounce Buffalo because of the absolutely atrocious behavior their fans have shown when visiting other cities - including Columbus. Rudest fans I've -ever- seen, by far.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 02:38 pm (UTC)Also: he's not in the list of possibilities (for good and obvious reasons), but if the Jackets even think about poaching Ray Shero, it'll be grounds for posse formation. ;) Just sayin'.
Also also: if the bottom falls out of local support for the Jackets, there is that nice, brand new, big empty arena in Kansas City. ;) Though I assume the Jackets are locked in where they are by contract for quite a while. (Couldn't find any specific info on this.)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 02:44 pm (UTC)I'd actually rather see the Jackets go after Pat Quinn, Don Maloney, or Dave Taylor, but we'll see.
To move to KC, I think McConnell would have to agree to sell the team - the man's an Ohio fixture, and I don't see him moving the team out there under his ownership. If anything, I suspect Nashville or the Florida Panthers are more likely to move to KC - both of their arena leases are up earlier...
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Date: 2007-04-08 03:15 pm (UTC)For what it's worth, I agree with you about Nashville in particular - I know their owner has been making noises about being unhappy with the crowd size at games.
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Date: 2007-04-08 03:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 04:28 pm (UTC)That place is a natural home for Professional Bull Riding. Versus has cameras in there either way!
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Date: 2007-04-08 05:55 pm (UTC)The '95 team was less about Jacobs Field (which didn't hurt) than a rebuilt farm system, good scouts and a real GM>
The Dispatch is right, it's time for MacLean to go. He may be a great guy, but not as head coach or GM of an NHL franchise. Surely there is an assistant who might want a chance to build his own office. Columbus could have a good franchise, and under Hitchcock they've shown signs of being competitive. But they need more if a Stanley Cup is ever to rest in Nationwide Arena.
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Date: 2007-04-08 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-08 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-09 12:58 am (UTC)They are, in fact, the only team in the NHL to have never made at least one postseason appearance, and that's not a good record to hold.
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Date: 2007-04-09 04:41 am (UTC)Ahem. Lexicdys-ness aside, I agree that something needs to change. As long as it doesn't involve poaching anyone from the Pens coaching staff, of course.