Tribute Appreciation Thread: Jim Rutherford - THANK YOU!!!

[Ugene Magic]

I know we all razz, JR to no end, but 'he brought about light in a very dark tunnel' back in 2014 and changed this team/franchise forever...

First: I want to apologize for said razzing. I understand if you "hold a grudge against us , spoiled, rotten, and just devious fans."



We do appreciate your efforts and true professional manner in which you portrayed yourself, each-and-everyday, these last 6/7 years..

Jim: The 2015 2016 & 2016 2017 seasons, will go down as arguably the best b2b run in team history, with you drawing up the blueprints along, with the support team behind you. It only took a year for you to turn a non cohesive team of misfits and turn them into the model team that won those championships that NHL teams follow your model since. You're set in stone here as "a player & GM" forever..

HHOFAMER: Jim Rutherford...

May your family and you, HAVE MANY GREAT DAYS!!!, ahead of you.

Thank You!!!!!

HFBOARDS PENGUINS

Click to read more...

 

[Empoleon8771]

JR took a team that was spiraling and threatening to waste 2 all-time great players and made them into the only back to back cup winner in the salary cap era. Dude was one of the best GMs in Penguins history and I definitely think he'll be remembered as such by Penguins fans.

Unfortunate way to see him go, but his decisions led to Crosby and Malkin solidifying themselves as all-time greats. Regardless of any other issues you may have with him, he's the biggest reason why Crosby and Malkin got those 2 other cups.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Totally agree. Thanks JR!

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Blurst of Times: The Jim Rutherford Story.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I agree completely.

 

[Tom Hanks]

There was probably some anxiety from fans when he first came here.

He definitely wasn’t boring and was the right GM at the right time. He earnt all the accolades he got.

He deserved a drink from an oversized cup.

Stay thirsty my friend

 

[BHD]

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I wish him the best. And all of the PF Chang's, Pleasure Bar (Italian restaurant -- get your mind out of the gutter), and warm cookies that he desires.

 

[Turin]

Wish he retired after 2017 instead of letting the abuse Sid and Geno took in the playoffs get to him. He had the best 24 month stretch of GMing I’ve ever seen in any sport. Taking the 2014 Pens and turning them into a league-changing force of speed in a year was a literal miracle. Godspeed old man.

The retiring thing is of course hindsight because I believe they would have won again in 18 if not for injuries.

 

[BHD]

Remember how negative this place was every offseason before he arrived? It's your prerogative if you want to focus on his mistakes, but you're missing the most important thing: he got them back to winning again. He oversaw a turnaround that lead to back-to-back Cups, and maybe a three-peat.

@Big McLargehuge said it best in the other thread:

Those Cups? Those were tangible results most fan bases would kill for, and underselling JR's role in those Cups would be somewhere between folly and ignorant... I'll always remember the success and the misery that preceded that success.

A freakin' men.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

This place was pretty down on Jimbo's hiring. I don't follow his former franchise very closely, so I'll admit that I bought into that negative view of him from the get-go.

To be fair, he made a lot of dumb deals, but he also brought two Cups. Certainly makes him better than his predecessor. Godspeed, GMJR.

 

[dogthateats]

Seems like a cool guy

 

[Jaded-Fan]

People forget that he brought the Penguins, not into the 21st century but it was even worse than that. I don't even think that Shero knew how a computer worked. I go a little far there, but not by much.

JR brought analytics with him to the Pens and it made a world of difference.

 

[Ugene Magic]

This place was pretty down on Jimbo's hiring. I don't follow his former franchise very closely, so I'll admit that I bought into that negative view of him from the get-go.

To be fair, he made a lot of dumb deals, but he also brought two Cups. Certainly makes him better than his predecessor. Godspeed, GMJR.

You had to know the insight of the Canes and the struggles JR had to endure with an ownership that had on and off commitment spending to that of a daily/yearly light switch. I'm rather shocked he stayed for 20 years. Here, he had no such limitations.

 

[Gurglesons]

Despite not being a fan of the majority of his work here, he brought 2 cups. Forever respect for that.

 

[EightyOne]

Couldn't pick a better GM to come in at the time he did

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Great person who changed the direction of this team. He put all his chips in every year and that mentality got us 2 championships. Can’t take that away, ever. Thanks GMJR.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

I know we all razz, JR to no end, but 'he brought about light in a very dark tunnel' back in 2014 and changed this team/franchise forever...

First: I want to apologize for said razzing. I understand if you "hold a grudge against us , spoiled, rotten, and just devious fans."



We do appreciate your efforts and true professional manner in which you portrayed yourself, each-and-everyday, these last 6/7 years..

Jim: The 2015 2016 & 2016 2017 seasons, will go down as arguably the best b2b run in team history, with you drawing up the blueprints along, with the support team behind you. It only took a year for you to turn a non cohesive team of misfits and turn them into the model team that won those championships that NHL teams follow your model since. You're set in stone here as "a player & GM" forever..

HHOFAMER: Jim Rutherford...

May your family and you, HAVE MANY GREAT DAYS!!!, ahead of you.

Thank You!!!!!

HFBOARDS PENGUINS

Thanks for the classy thread! I will be forever grateful to Rutherford for not letting the Crosby/Malkin era end with below expectations when it comes to Cups. I think most of us thought we would get 1, 2, or even 3 more Cups after they went to back to back Finals and won the Cup in 2009. After 6 frustrating years and the team old and slow around the core it looked like they might never win another Cup.

Rutherford was hired and came in and changed the locker room in his first year by adding some heart to the team with trading for Hornqvist. One year later after brilliant trades for Kessel, Hagelin, Daley for Scuderi, and others they win the Cup and go back to back Cup Champs. Those 2 Cups cemented the Crosby era as one of the better core's of the modern age and I don't think it happens if Rutherford wasn't the GM.

I said before anything good that happens from this point is just icing on the cake. I am completely content with 4 Cup appearances and winning 3 Cups. Doesn't mean I don't want another one from this core but if it doesn't happen I can't complain. I only have to look at teams like the Leafs to realize I could of never seen a Cup in my lifetime if I was a Leafs fan. Having witnessed 5 in person and at the games both as a season ticket holder and road trips to Detroit, Carolina, Tampa, and others I couldn't have had a better team to route for. I just look in my own city at the Pirates to remind me every day how lucky I am to have the Pens to route for.

Again, thanks Ugene Malkin for making the thread.

 

[Turin]

We’re going to miss having a GM who generally is honest to the public and has brass balls when it comes to getting the right players, I think. He was infinitely more entertaining than Shero.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Posters like KIRK and myself begged for a river boat gambler GM and had enough of Shero’s patient, hand sitting style.

If you told me in the depressing, desperate summer of 2014 JR would rescue Crosby and Malkin from the dark hole their careers were careening towards, win b2b cups and then go mad...

I would have taken that deal 10-10 times.

I’ll always remember this guy fondly and right next to CP as the best GM this team ever had.

He came in like a boss and went out like one to IMHO.

 

[Peat]

That back to back win was just awesome fun and seemed impossible at times. I'm very spoiled as a fan to have basically started there.

And that's what he'll always be remembered for.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

JR took a team that was spiraling and threatening to waste 2 all-time great players and made them into the only back to back cup winner in the salary cap era. Dude was one of the best GMs in Penguins history and I definitely think he'll be remembered as such by Penguins fans.

Unfortunate way to see him go, but his decisions led to Crosby and Malkin solidifying themselves as all-time greats. Regardless of any other issues you may have with him, he's the biggest reason why Crosby and Malkin got those 2 other cups.

I want to echo this sentiment as well.

 

[Darren McCord]

This is how a feel about JR now. He just stuck around a bit to long.

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

Thanks for two Cups. Wish he’d left sooner but banners live forever and glad his health isn’t why he’s leaving. Plus without those two Cups my engagement story is lame.