Former Coyotes employee during Chayka's tenure speaks out

[0point1]

Saw this post on Reddit and wanted to get your guys thoughts on it...

reddit.com/r/Coyotes/comments/otq59b/my_experience_in_the_chayka_regime_from_a_staff/

I am a former salaried member of Chayka’s direct staff. I wont give my name, or position title, but all I will say is that I was one of the few who worked Analytics in-house (not Stathletes) during Chayka’s tenure with the team. I primarily focused on goalies, and helped bring Kuemper to the valley. I just want to finally share my years of hell under Chayka, my first hand experiences of the incompetence with which things were run, and why I am happy for the future.

Few select quotes:

Not being told about morning meetings (I eventually found out was on purpose), and then being absolutely berated by Steve Sullivan afterwards for not being there (so that I would stay late and do other work)

My roommate in Tucson was a beloved former player and scout, and was constantly treated like shit for not meeting the fake standards set by Jake Goldberg. He eventually left for a different franchise.

Seems to be Craig Cunningham they're referring to which breaks my heart.

John Chayka was a terrible judge of character, who relied heavily on the likes of Jake Goldberg, Brad Rossen, Steve Sullivan, and Lindsay Hofford. John himself was a decent guy, but his judge of character was dogshit, and he surrounded himself by (excuse my language) shit heads who were yes-men in front of him, but contradicted him (and even talked shit) behind his back. Not too shocking to see why we were shit in the draft.

It’s normal in pro hockey (completely normal), but how these guys talked about players was revolting. We had a player who was genuinely hurt, and the response was “if he doesn’t want to play tonight, we can end his career here and now.” At the end of the day, doctors were ignored; video staff were ignored; scouts were ignored. It was the Chayka and Goldberg show, and it led us to where we are today.

Click to read more...

 

[Edenjung]

Good that he came forward.

Basically he asures what we have thought since a long time ago.


Also they played that guy really, really dirty.

Come on, why did they not tell him from the moment they offered him the job that he has to relocate?
God damn it. Thats a dirty move.


And it gets worse as i read through it.
Yikes, what the hell was going on?

 

[LittlePipes]

Well, that explains a few things. Geez.

 

[RemoAZ]

Saw this post on Reddit and wanted to get your guys thoughts on it...

reddit.com/r/Coyotes/comments/otq59b/my_experience_in_the_chayka_regime_from_a_staff/



Few select quotes:


Seems to be Craig Cunningham they're referring to which breaks my heart.

Wow. Thanks for bringing that. Sounds like a guy in way over his head (which many of us thought) and a shit supporting staff. Thank God he ran away and everything blew up. Don't forget the owner gave this guy an extension! Funny that nothing close to this got in Strange's hit piece.

 

[awfulwaffle]

His dream was to work in professional hockey, and he gets stuck with the Arizona Coyotes incompetent group under Chayka, and treated like absolute dog crap. I get the feeling that these kinds of things wouldn't be flying while Armstrong is here. What a completely toxic environment, makes sense why we have basically blown everything up at this point.

 

[Jakey53]

It comes out in social media and you guys right away believe it. Two sides to every story, if there is even a story here.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Does go some way to explaining how Chayka could ever believe Tocchet was a good head coach and the toxic relationship between Phoenix and Tucson.

 

[Bondurant]

Beer story sounds like a rib this kid took too seriously. There is enough nuance that I suspect most of what was written is true even if the narrator is a bit melodramatic.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Saw this post on Reddit and wanted to get your guys thoughts on it...

reddit.com/r/Coyotes/comments/otq59b/my_experience_in_the_chayka_regime_from_a_staff/

I'll take it with a grain of salt, but it's good to see someone countering the Chayka Spin Machine that Katie Strang got suckered by.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

It comes out in social media and you guys right away believe it. Two sides to every story, if there is even a story here.

This story and Katie Strang's differ in that the former has actual first-person receipts and quotes, while the other is all hearsay. So I'm inclined to believe this one - even if it is posted on social media rather than fed to a reporter.

 

[cobra427]

This what happens when you hire a young inexperienced unproven manager. I didn't like the Chayka hire from the start for this reason. We now have adult supervision in BA.

 

[Jakey53]

This story and Katie Strang's differ in that the former has actual first-person receipts and quotes, while the other is all hearsay. So I'm inclined to believe this one - even if it is posted on social media rather than fed to a reporter.

You have proof this story teller is indeed a former employee.

 

[Mosby]

No doubt the team around Chayka was trash. Remember Armstrong fired that scumbag Lindsay Hofford even before his introductory press conference to announce him as GM.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

You have proof this story teller is indeed a former employee.

The story teller says the subreddit moderator can vouch for him. Beauty is, you get to believe him or not. Up to each individual.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

No doubt the team around Chayka was trash. Remember Armstrong fired that scumbag Lindsay Hofford even before his introductory press conference to announce him as GM.

Not to mention that Steve Sullivan got unceremoniously dumped too with barely even a press release.

And yes, Jakey, I believe he's a former employee for several reasons, but specifically because there are corroborations in the replies from people who worked with him. This is more than what we got from Strang.

 

[LuckyNumber11]

I’ll believe it as it fits my narrative of what I believe happened under Chayka

 

[KG]

If Steve Sullivan was a raging dick that is disappointing. He’s supposed to be the expierenced former player to back up the new GM and instead he created a toxic work environment.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

If Steve Sullivan was a raging dick that is disappointing. He’s supposed to be the expierenced former player to back up the new GM and instead he created a toxic work environment.

It certainly would explain a whole heck of a lot, though.

 

[SniperHF]

It was always a mistake when they opted not to bring in that much rumored experienced assistant GM to help Chayka, after the Tippet faction was shown the door. Sullivan did have some experience but wasn't exactly what the original idea was. The original pitch was they were going to bring in an old hand to play old school to Chayka's new school.

That Cunningham left the organization quietly one offseason did seems suspicious.

I still think the first couple years Chayka's performance is largely defensible. It's that doubling and tripling down that cost us the next couple seasons. If the org was mostly Yes-men, I could see that being part of the reason why that happened.

 

[moosemeister]

I know a few people who work(ed) for the coyotes

it was a shit show for a while haha. The culture change needed to happen outside the locker room too

 

[The Feckless Puck]

It was always a mistake when they opted not to bring in that much rumored experienced assistant GM to help Chayka, after the Tippet faction was shown the door. Sullivan did have some experience but wasn't exactly what the original idea was. The original pitch was they were going to bring in an old hand to play old school to Chayka's new school.

That Cunningham left the organization quietly one offseason did seems suspicious.

I still think the first couple years Chayka's performance is largely defensible. It's that doubling and tripling down that cost us the next couple seasons. If the org was mostly Yes-men, I could see that being part of the reason why that happened.

From the Reddit narrative, we can put together an idea of what kind of organization Chayka put together. It looks like a collection of opportunists and shitty people who came in to set up their own little fiefdoms and grab power out of the vacuum left by Chayka's lack of people skills and organizational oversight. If you think about it that way, the Strang "expose" makes a whole lot more sense - these a-holes wanting to salt the earth after Meruelo and Armstrong came in and laid down the law.

I had wondered why Craig Cunningham left with so little fanfare. If even 1/10th of the truth is in that Reddit post, it makes me furious that they would do a guy like that wrong.

As for Steve Sullivan, the fact that his dismissal was announced with a two-sentence blurb speaks major volumes for me, just based off my own PR experience. You don't generally release something that terse without the person in question doing something majorly wrong.

One thing is for certain - the description of Chayka's organization, along with Goldberg, Hofford, and Sullivan, in the Reddit post absolutely paints a much clearer picture of how the draft combine malfeasance could have happened. And, strangely, it makes me more inclined to believe Chayka when he says he had little to do with it, even though as GM he rightfully had to fall on his sword for it.

It also appears that Ahron Cohen was collateral damage in the subsequent purge, which is too bad because I think, of all of the Chayka-era execs, he was the smartest and had the most loyalty to the franchise and the market.

 

[SniperHF]

even though as GM he rightfully had to fall on his sword for it.

Or attempt to flee to New Jersey.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

As for Steve Sullivan, the fact that his dismissal was announced with a two-sentence blurb speaks major volumes for me, just based off my own PR experience. You don't generally release something that terse without the person in question doing something majorly wrong.

Also speaks volumes to the fact that while he was interim GM here there was talk about how liked and respected he was around the league and how he would get an opportunity if the coyotes didn’t hire him full time. Fast forward and he seems to be out of the league completely. What would have changed that?

 

[XX]

Also speaks volumes to the fact that while he was interim GM here there was talk about how liked and respected he was around the league and how he would get an opportunity if the coyotes didn’t hire him full time. Fast forward and he seems to be out of the league completely. What would have changed that?

Sullivan and Tocchet seemed to both be addicted to playing the media game. Played it so much they played themselves out of jobs.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Or attempt to flee to New Jersey.

Run Awaaaay!