Chuck Fletcher & Management Discussion Thread

[DANOZ28]

off mn wild website the CF podcast. http://wild.ice.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=25&iid=55895

 

[Nharris31]

I realize that. I was a little fired up listening to him though. I like GMCF, but I hope he's just blowing sunshine to the media and has different plans. I wouldn't advocate for 'wholesale' changes, even that would be difficult considering NMC's. But I think its fair to say this team needs a shakeup.

Like I said earlier he is laying out what stats bare out. If you your into advanced stats you will agree with him. If you you don't like advanced stats your going to completely disagree with him.

 

[BigT2002]

Like I said earlier he is laying out what stats bare out. If you your into advanced stats you will agree with him. If you you don't like advanced stats your going to completely disagree with him.

See for me, it has nothing to do with stats. My personal opinion is that he is "okay" with the team bowing out in 5 games in the playoffs by playing up feel good stories like Most Points Tons of Goals Career Years Koivu Selke type stuff. I don't care about that stuff. Fans pay really good money to go these games and support this team through thick and thin because we keep hoping the next year "is the year" every offseason. This is one of those times that I am sitting here wondering if they have missed their window with this current core.

Do players like Zucker, Coyle, Nino, Brodin or Granlund even want to sign long term here? What are the chances they succeed here as opposed to going to the Rangers? Capitals? Ducks? Sharks? Eventually they will be UFA's. And if Fletcher gambles on short term deals with Nino and Granlund he could lose them a lot quicker than most of would like to see them go.

Meanwhile we, as fans, don't know how the next batch of prospects will play. Can Tuch become that "scorer" to supplement Nino, Granlund and Zucker? Will Kunin/EK play the role of Center on the Top 6 and Bottom 6 respectively? Will the Russian even want to come over or will he stay in the KHL?

Because the future to me does appear to be a little bit of an unknown I'm concerned when I hear the GM believe that everything is right in the air. He already put the team into a hard spot with some inflated contracts, but nonetheless, not addressing properly the key players they went after appears to be what could be a downfall. He either overpays for a role-player or a player from the East that has never played in the West and expects the same point production. We will certainly see what this offseason does AND what next season is. Fletcher is clearly coming back. My inkling is this is his last chance to make that deep run.

 

[DANOZ28]

im disappointed CF would say everything is wonderful after another 1st rnd exist. an article pointed out the wild are now 3-12 in there last 15 playoff games. i wish he would take responsibility for that.

 

[keppel146]

I'm willing to wait a bit and see how this group of prospects pans out. if not then he gone.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Fletcher has put himself in a tough spot.

To move forward, the Wild need to transition off Suter, Parise, Koivu, Staal, and Pominville and somehow bring in dynamic young 1st line talent. Yes, the younger players should be better, but I do not see the problems of the Wild being fixed by flipping some RFAs for another team's RFAs.

But he cannot do that because he has made his bed with the "leadership" core.

Wild are basically a poor-man's San Jose.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

It's easy for us to ask for honesty when it's not our job on the line. I don't blame Fletcher at all for not pointing out all the faults and problems. Zero reason for him to do that because once he does, he points the finger at himself. I don't think I would do that either in his place.

 

[keppel146]

Fletcher has put himself in a tough spot.

To move forward, the Wild need to transition off Suter, Parise, Koivu, Staal, and Pominville and somehow bring in dynamic young 1st line talent. Yes, the younger players should be better, but I do not see the problems of the Wild being fixed by flipping some RFAs for another team's RFAs.

But he cannot do that because he has made his bed with the "leadership" core.

Wild are basically a poor-man's San Jose.

praying for kaprizov.

 

[DANOZ28]

dickie , last night on kfan lou nanne basically agreed with you that CF's primary job is to sell tickets and even if he knows there are issues lou said he should keep them in the locker room. i dont agree with that but i guess his job is head salesman.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

dickie , last night on kfan lou nanne basically agreed with you that CF's primary job is to sell tickets and even if he knows there are issues lou said he should keep them in the locker room. i dont agree with that but i guess his job is head salesman.

Yeah, I'm not saying that I love it either and even feel a little guilty for admitting how I believe I would handle it. More than anything, I understand it.

 

[roon]

It's easy for us to ask for honesty when it's not our job on the line. I don't blame Fletcher at all for not pointing out all the faults and problems. Zero reason for him to do that because once he does, he points the finger at himself. I don't think I would do that either in his place.

Well - then he lacks integrity....and so does anyone who would do that same thing.

Nothing I can't stand more than someone who won't publicly admit fault because it means they might get fired. Grow a pair.....you screwed up and you need to own that, anything else is just being a coward.

 

[BigT2002]

It's easy for us to ask for honesty when it's not our job on the line. I don't blame Fletcher at all for not pointing out all the faults and problems. Zero reason for him to do that because once he does, he points the finger at himself. I don't think I would do that either in his place.

He has no problem admitting the Barker trade was terrible and owned it. The issue is, to me, Fletcher panders to everyone the typical "Next year, this team will be better because _____ will be in Iowa soon, or ____ will be trying out to take a crack at the Wild." I'm tired of that aspect.

Take for instance right now: Chicago is blowing up coaching staffs in both Rockford and Chicago because they were just swept by a Nashville team that only lost out to the #3 seed by 5 points. They scored 1 ES goal and 3 goals total. The Wild didn't exactly fare too much better in relation to ES goals at the very least. The hawks are also in cap constraints than the Wild. They've also consistently had late 1st round picks. Yet....they seem to replenish around that core much quicker and with better players than Wild.

Yet their GM is saying he needs to do better. He will make sure it never happens again in his own words. And started planning actions to either wake up the right people or put others on notice. However, what is Fletcher doing?

"Well look on the bright side?! We're all still friends!"

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Well - then he lacks integrity....and so does anyone who would do that same thing.

Nothing I can't stand more than someone who won't publicly admit fault because it means they might get fired. Grow a pair.....you screwed up and you need to own that, anything else is just being a coward.

Big difference between being asked if you screwed up and saying yes vs. no (which almost all of us would agree, you say yes and deal with the consequences).

But in this example, he would be on his own, falling on his own sword. That's just dumb.

 

[Nharris31]

See for me, it has nothing to do with stats. My personal opinion is that he is "okay" with the team bowing out in 5 games in the playoffs by playing up feel good stories like Most Points Tons of Goals Career Years Koivu Selke type stuff. I don't care about that stuff. Fans pay really good money to go these games and support this team through thick and thin because we keep hoping the next year "is the year" every offseason. This is one of those times that I am sitting here wondering if they have missed their window with this current core.

Do players like Zucker, Coyle, Nino, Brodin or Granlund even want to sign long term here? What are the chances they succeed here as opposed to going to the Rangers? Capitals? Ducks? Sharks? Eventually they will be UFA's. And if Fletcher gambles on short term deals with Nino and Granlund he could lose them a lot quicker than most of would like to see them go.

Meanwhile we, as fans, don't know how the next batch of prospects will play. Can Tuch become that "scorer" to supplement Nino, Granlund and Zucker? Will Kunin/EK play the role of Center on the Top 6 and Bottom 6 respectively? Will the Russian even want to come over or will he stay in the KHL?

Because the future to me does appear to be a little bit of an unknown I'm concerned when I hear the GM believe that everything is right in the air. He already put the team into a hard spot with some inflated contracts, but nonetheless, not addressing properly the key players they went after appears to be what could be a downfall. He either overpays for a role-player or a player from the East that has never played in the West and expects the same point production. We will certainly see what this offseason does AND what next season is. Fletcher is clearly coming back. My inkling is this is his last chance to make that deep run.

Well that's the risk you when you support sports team.Would you like for your job performance to be Based on Five Days or a Full Year? How long did it takes the Sharks to make the Finals how long did it take the Blues to make the western conference final?

 

[123TripleDoge]

Well - then he lacks integrity....and so does anyone who would do that same thing.

Nothing I can't stand more than someone who won't publicly admit fault because it means they might get fired. Grow a pair.....you screwed up and you need to own that, anything else is just being a coward.

lol. You're taking a routine thing way too seriously

 

[DANOZ28]

omg , so a bunch of coworkers wanted to head out for happy hr and we decide on mcgoverns. who do you think is sitting at the front table as i walk in? fletch , i so had to bite my tongue. i sure would have enjoyed expressing my frustration. so would you have said anything?

 

[TaLoN]

Fletcher isn't saying losing in the first round is okay... not sure why anyone is taking that away. what he's saying is that this team doesn't need to be blown up, and was just trying to put things in perspective.

You cannot compare our situation to the Hawks. The Hawks were completely NON-competitive in their series and lack any semblance of depth.

The Wild were VERY competitive in their series. Blowing up the roster and starting over would be a long drawn out process to get back to where we are right now even.

We just had our first season with the new coaching staff. The roster WILL change, no doubt about it... it MUST change due to both Expansion and the Salary Cap. All he is saying, he's not going to go into a full rebuild after the Wild just had their most successful regular season in history. He's going to try to improve the team from where it is now, now blow it up and start over.

 

[thestonedkoala]

You cannot compare our situation to the Hawks. The Hawks were completely NON-competitive in their series and lack any semblance of depth.

Yeah, the Hawks have actually won a Stanley Cup or two...

 

[TaLoN]

Yeah, the Hawks have actually won a Stanley Cup or two...

3 seasons removed from the last one now, and a very different roster... so even though, yes they have won 3 cups in recent times, that has little to do with their situation right NOW.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

omg , so a bunch of coworkers wanted to head out for happy hr and we decide on mcgoverns. who do you think is sitting at the front table as i walk in? fletch , i so had to bite my tongue. i sure would have enjoyed expressing my frustration. so would you have said anything?

lol.....good call on leaving him alone. I'm sure he has enough other rubes giving him advice.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

3 seasons removed from the last one now, and a very different roster... so even though, yes they have won 3 cups in recent times, that has little to do with their situation right NOW.

You could also make a strong case that they just ran out of gas mentally and physically. That's a lot of hockey for that core group over the last few years. It was bound to happen.....maybe a little uglier than expected.

 

[BigT2002]

Fletcher isn't saying losing in the first round is okay... not sure why anyone is taking that away. what he's saying is that this team doesn't need to be blown up, and was just trying to put things in perspective.

You cannot compare our situation to the Hawks. The Hawks were completely NON-competitive in their series and lack any semblance of depth.

The Wild were VERY competitive in their series. Blowing up the roster and starting over would be a long drawn out process to get back to where we are right now even.

We just had our first season with the new coaching staff. The roster WILL change, no doubt about it... it MUST change due to both Expansion and the Salary Cap. All he is saying, he's not going to go into a full rebuild after the Wild just had their most successful regular season in history. He's going to try to improve the team from where it is now, now blow it up and start over.

IDK. Russo was pretty hard on him during KFAN yesterday based on his comments. But said off the podium he was a lot more "changes are coming"

 

[TaLoN]

IDK. Russo was pretty hard on him during KFAN yesterday based on his comments. But said off the podium he was a lot more "changes are coming"

Yes, Russo was hard on him because he's selling papers. Changes are coming because changes are inevitable.

 

[Nharris31]

IDK. Russo was pretty hard on him during KFAN yesterday based on his comments. But said off the podium he was a lot more "changes are coming"

Change we're going to come no Matter what happened.

 

[BigT2002]

Yes, Russo was hard on him because he's selling papers. Changes are coming because changes are inevitable.

Sell what papers now though? Seasons done. His season is done. Even said it: he's already bored because no more articles to write.

And yes, I'm one of his biggest critics and always will be. I find his writing style to be adaquete but as the years have gone on, it's gotten more pompous in its analytical approaches. But for the sake of arguments because I'm bored lol, I take his side.