Confirmed with Link: Caps clean house: McPhee gone, Oates gone

[Fallschirmyager]

Having a Monday. Is the press conference still on at 4:30?

 

[Langway]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/george-mcphee-4-28-14

As far as I know, the "rumors" have been suggested by one person and without any kind of substantiation. Oates undermining him doesn't mean he wasn't his pick (I suck at pronouns).

The undermining sure seemed mutual. McPhee ducked 'talking about individuals' when asked questions about Ovechkin & Oates because he didn't want to say anything negative. He praised Hunter and Boudreau in other responses. Oates not 'making it work' was part of why GMGM was fired so maybe that's all it is. Still, Ted trumping up Oates 'knowing the market' always raised a red flag for me.

Maybe it's not true...it's just very believable given all that's out there when it comes to ownership influence. If he was their hire then firing him now rather than waiting suggests they are prepared to change at some level at least. They could certainly use a clean slate from top to bottom and the sort of reset GMGM hinted at being necessary two years ago.

 

[Halpysback*]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/george-mcphee-4-28-14

The undermining sure seemed mutual. McPhee ducked 'talking about individuals' when asked questions about Ovechkin & Oates because he didn't want to say anything negative. He praised Hunter and Boudreau in other responses. Oates not 'making it work' was part of why GMGM was fired so maybe that's all it is. Still, Ted trumping up Oates 'knowing the market' always raised a red flag for me.

Maybe it's not true...it's just very believable given all that's out there when it comes to ownership influence. If he was their hire then firing him now rather than waiting suggests they are prepared to change at some level at least. They could certainly use a clean slate from top to bottom and the sort of reset GMGM hinted at being necessary two years ago.

This. In professional sports circumstantial evidence is generally the best you'll get, with everyone having to manage the hell out of their careers and all.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

What kind of sad patsy stays in a situation like that for 17 years of his adult life? It strikes me as a reach.

Raises hand.

I'd do it for half McPhee's salary.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Raises hand.

I'd do it for half McPhee's salary.

I can see the appeal, but seriously, if you were able to elevate yourself to the level of creampuff NHL executive you could leverage that into a real job elsewhere if you tried.

 

[nhldiedinthe90s*]

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/...right-says-mcphee/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

"“Obviously I did something right because we won a lot of division titles and everything else."

30 teams in the NHL. League-mandated parity. Zero stanley cups. In 17 years. And he's waxing poetic about Division Titles. You'll win one or two of those with a trained monkey as a GM 17 years deep into the job. There's only 30 teams for god sakes, do the math.

And the next line he gets real, with what ownership hired him to do as a GM:

" The building’s full."

And that's all the owner wanted; that and playoff revenue. He couldn't get the latter this time so he's gone.

17 years of mediocrity.

 

[txpd]

What kind of sad patsy stays in a situation like that for 17 years of his adult life? It strikes me as a reach.

you don't think McPhee has had a good job for the last 17 years? As a radio station program director I was pretty good. I turned around bad radio stations and made them ratings winners and got fired a lot. a lot. I was always a winner but I did things my way and in the end that is not what ownership wanted.

I can tell you many times ive wondered if I had done it their way might have had a better and longer career?

McPhee had one of 30 jobs as an nhl gm. the team was largely good. if the job description was to do what ownership wanted him to do, trade for jagr and so on, its a job where you have a boss. when you have a boss, you do what they tell you to or look for another job.

I can tell you that I do understand what its like to know that getting another job in my field means I have to move again.

I bet, I could be wrong. but I bet McPhee has had a better job for 17 years than any of us have had.

 

[txpd]

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/...right-says-mcphee/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

"“Obviously I did something right because we won a lot of division titles and everything else."

30 teams in the NHL. League-mandated parity. Zero stanley cups. In 17 years. And he's waxing poetic about Division Titles. You'll win one or two of those with a trained monkey as a GM 17 years deep into the job. There's only 30 teams for god sakes, do the math.

And the next line he gets real, with what ownership hired him to do as a GM:

" The building’s full."

And that's all the owner wanted; that and playoff revenue. He couldn't get the latter this time so he's gone.

17 years of mediocrity.

I think its really easy to bash a gm for never winning a Stanley Cup. the vast majority of gm's in any sports league never win one. look at david poile. he was good enough at his job and highly thought of enough that he was named gm of the USA Olympic hockey team. he's been working as a gm since rod langway was young. he has zero cups. I wouldn't call him mediocre. no would I say that about McPhee or the Caps.

oh....and the building being sold out for 7 years or something is a pretty big deal.

 

[kicksavedave]

Raises hand.

I'd do it for half McPhee's salary.

Thank heavens no one will ever ask you to. Not even for 25%.


As far as Ted hiring a coach before he hires a GM, thats exactly how Dan Snyder ended up with the immensely unqualified Jim Zorn as his HC. He hired an OC first, then no coach worth squat would come work for him, so he promoted Zorn. Its the sort of clueless approach to building an organization, where roles are all upside down and responsibilities are clouded. In a good organization, would would see where the right people are in the right roles and the roles are well defined and the people in those roles have the power to execute their duties.

Hiring a coach first subverts that. Hiring a GM and telling him which parts of the core are off limits subverts that. Asking a GM to fit his roster building approach to a coach he inherited but didn't choose subverts that, but then Ted may just not quite get how much a coach and GM being on the same exact page matter.

I'm praying this doesn't happen, but I fear it will.

 

[kicksavedave]

I think its really easy to bash a gm for never winning a Stanley Cup. the vast majority of gm's in any sports league never win one. look at david poile. he was good enough at his job and highly thought of enough that he was named gm of the USA Olympic hockey team. he's been working as a gm since rod langway was young. he has zero cups. I wouldn't call him mediocre. no would I say that about McPhee or the Caps.

oh....and the building being sold out for 7 years or something is a pretty big deal.

If Poile has been a GM since the early 80s, and hasn't won a Cup, but how many other GMs have one multiple Cups, what grade would you give Poile vs his peers? Again he's not being compared to you, or me, or NBTW. He's compared to his peers.

For both McPhee and Poile, I'd graded them slightly above average. Good enough to stick around, not good enough to win championships. If slightly above average is acceptable to you, thats fine. Its not why we watch sports though, IMO.

 

[kicksavedave]

I just read, since expansion in 67, only 21 GMs have won Cups. Once you find one capable, you never let him go. Hanging on to one that is incapable for 17 years was ridiculous. Poile is the same way. Owners who keep those guys hanging around want to fill seats, not win Championships.

 

[g00n]

Cooper rumors + Oates subverting McPhee harder than Nolan subverted Regier

Oates definitely acted like a guy who thought he was reporting directly to his boss' boss and could do whatever he wanted, including tell his boss what to do.

 

[g00n]

I think its really easy to bash a gm for never winning a Stanley Cup. the vast majority of gm's in any sports league never win one. look at david poile. he was good enough at his job and highly thought of enough that he was named gm of the USA Olympic hockey team. he's been working as a gm since rod langway was young. he has zero cups. I wouldn't call him mediocre. no would I say that about McPhee or the Caps.

oh....and the building being sold out for 7 years or something is a pretty big deal.

Half the league sells out now.

 

[Klargplutte]

Half the league sells out now.

Yeah and more then half the league makes the playoffs , selling out ensures that Ted wants spend to the cap every year.

 

[usiel]

Finally watched GMGMs exit press conference. Very classy. Very positive on the prospect pipeline being improved.

 

[kicksavedave]

Finally watched GMGMs exit press conference. Very classy. Very positive on the prospect pipeline being improved.

He wouldn't talk about Oates, but had praise for Dale and Bruce. Pretty telling.

 

[usiel]

He wouldn't talk about Oates, but had praise for Dale and Bruce. Pretty telling.

Oh yeah that seem pretty deliberate. Makes wonder who really picked the coach.

I think Oates can be a decent coach but needs a good amount more seasoning. The handedness fascination and messing with the goalies were the worst. Puzzling lineup choices/selections also. Yeah the Caps were tight against the cap but still.

 

[Hivemind]

Oh yeah that seem pretty deliberate. Makes wonder who really picked the coach.

I think Oates can be a decent coach but needs a good amount more seasoning. The handedness fascination and messing with the goalies were the worst. Puzzling lineup choices/selections also. Yeah the Caps were tight against the cap but still.

Agreed on all counts. Right now Oates can still be a useful assistant coach to work with the forwards and powerplay. Maybe a head coach again at some future junction, once he learns that he can trust other people sometimes, and loosens the reigns on the goaltenders and micromanagement of players. I like that he's process oriented, but he was often letting the tail wag the dog.

 

[Capsman]

LOL, Leonsis can't win. First he's accused of being too hands off and not having a spine, now it seems he might have been too hands on in picking Oates over GMGM's objection. Sounds a little Redskn'esque. Perhaps Ted has been spending too much time with Snyder?

Reading McPhee's interview, 'we were a little thin..." this year. Ya think, George? Why do you think that is?

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I don't think 40 years of seasoning would make Oates a good head coach. He just doesn't have the personality for it.

 

[g00n]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...george-mcphee-you-cant-teach-people-to-score/

McPhee continues to be delusional even as he walks out the door.

“What sells tickets is entertaining hockey and we’ve always tried to play that way. We play an exciting brand of hockey. Because I don’t think hockey should ever be boring,” McPhee said. “I think we can keep playing that style. What you just have to be mindful of is you have to look after the goal, after your own end. And we didn’t do that quite good enough this year, but that’s the way you win.

Obviously pitching himself to future employers with most of his comments, but this is particularly galling considering how bad the Caps were in 5 on 5 scoring (bottom 3rd of the league), and the fact that HE built the defensive roster.

His "you can't teach people to score" comment is also right in line with his skill fascination, which he's admitted to, and his failure to build the defense. If it were as simple as loading up on skill then any fantasy hockey buff could look at stats and put together a team full of studs guaranteed to win the Cup. If anyone can be taught to play defense then true top pair defensemen wouldn't command the price they do.

It's clear GMGM never build the defense or went after the Prongers or Charas out there because he didn't believe they were special, talented or necessary. Amazing.

Get the **** out of town, jackass.

 

[NoMoreChoking]

McPhee has been nothing but class since he got fired and people here still are raging at him.

He admits to what he did, takes all the blame.

Give it break already. It's over. New era now

 

[g00n]

McPhee has been nothing but class since he got fired and people here still are raging at him.

He admits to what he did, takes all the blame.

Give it break already. It's over. New era now

Yeah, hahah, it's been 4 days already. 17 years is nothing compared to that.

 

[Liberati0n*]

It's clear GMGM never build the defense or went after the Prongers or Charas out there because he didn't believe they were special, talented or necessary. Amazing.

That doesn't make any sense. Those are the skilled defensemen whom he would go after under that philosophy. He's also right that in saying you can't teach people offensive skill, but you can teach them defense. The problem is he never set things up so that teaching would actually occur, and that's even more of a failure if he considered it a goal.

 

[g00n]

That doesn't make any sense. Those are the skilled defensemen whom he would go after under that philosophy. He's also right that in saying you can't teach people offensive skill, but you can teach them defense. The problem is he never set things up so that teaching would actually occur, and that's even more of a failure if he considered it a goal.

It makes perfect sense. It shows that he believed defense was a secondary skill that anyone could learn, so the rest of the league was wasting money on top defensemen. He believed cheaper players could be coached up to be as good as the top players, so he rarely ever made a serious bid for defensive talent. His stated philosophies and observed tendencies bore this out.

It's also false that scoring can't be taught or learned. 100% false. People may be born with tendencies or tools that can more easily be transformed into talents but just about anything that is still physically possible can be taught and learned.

Defense may be EASIER to teach to more people because it requires less practice and less precise hand-eye coordination, but like offense there are elite levels that are typically part talent and part instruction.