George McPhee III

[Serial_Derecho]

Not sure what thread this best belongs in, but Vogel posted a really interesting chat-wrap with McPhee:
http://dumpnchase.monumentalnetwork.com/2014/05/01/seventeen-years-in-the-rear-view

With respect to this past season, [then-Caps coach] Adam [Oates] wanted to change the way the goalies played, which ran entirely counter to [former Caps goaltending coach] Dave Prior’s philosophy on that. Looking back, it seems like the clash between Adam and Dave last season ended up hurting the team a bit.

“You can’t change people. You can help them, but you don’t want to change their styles. Dave was a big loss for the organization. That was really one of the toughest decisions I had to make because I really didn’t want him to go. I tried to referee it the first year, but when it was clear over the summer that the two of them weren’t going to get along, and the head coach wanted to do what he thought was right to win. So you throw your support behind the head coach, because that’s what you’re supposed to do. But it was a big loss for the organization.

“Dick had mentioned to me before the season that the thing he was worried about was how the guys are when they come back from the Olympics. And I said, ‘We need a big year from the goalies.’ It’s time for the goalies to have a big year for us, and coming back from the Olympics, how is it going to be? We didn’t get the big year from the goalies, but that doesn’t mean that Braden Holtby isn’t going to be a hell of a goalie, because he is. He is a good goalie. He’s a character guy who doesn’t wilt under pressure and he battles. He is going to be a good one. But that hurt us this year. It hurt us a lot.â€

The decision to go with three goaltenders in December, was that more your decision or Adam’s?

“I honestly can’t remember how we got to that. But Grubauer was playing so well, and I don’t mind keeping a guy here when he is hot. And he was playing great. But I remember going into New York in January and I thought it was time for him to go down. He was struggling. I actually saw it in the pregame skate in the morning that it was time; he was wilting. It happens with young guys. He was wilting and I had a really bad feeling in the morning skate that he was going to have a tough time in the game and he did. But it was after that game that I walked into the coach’s office and said, ‘Enough. This kid is going down. No more three goalie stuff.’ And it wasn’t open for debate. There just aren’t enough netsfor three goalies.â€

Makes me despise that pompous ass of a coach even more!

 

[strungout]

Good god I ****ing hate Oates.

Worst coach this team has ever had.

I know I hated Cassidy with a passion....but this guy takes the cake.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

It gets worse the more we learn, doesn't it?

I'm starting to feel bad for GMGM if Oates really was a Patrick/Leonsis hire.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

How about this nugget from the Vogel article on GMGM in regards to getting Jagr?

he said, ‘It’s my team, it’s my money, and I want to do it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’â€

 

[Liberati0n*]

It gets worse the more we learn, doesn't it?

I'm starting to feel bad for GMGM if Oates really was a Patrick/Leonsis hire.

Yeah. I'd really like to hear more about Oates' role in other personnel decisions. GMGM needed to get at least another defenseman before this year and didn't, but...still...things could have possibly looked a lot different under Cooper.

 

[Halpysback*]

I've changed my mind. GMGM back in, Oates/Patrick/Leonsis out. Oates is just too horrible.

Surely there's gotta be a way to kick Leonsis out. The crips fired their owner and they're in the playoffs. A non-playoff even more mismanaged team should be able to do it.

 

[strungout]

How about this nugget from the Vogel article on GMGM in regards to getting Jagr?

he said, ‘It’s my team, it’s my money, and I want to do it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’”

Finally!!! I knew it. I ****ing knew it.

People tried to this day to put that deal on Mafki...and he didnt even ****ing want it. Completely derailed that mini re-build he was doing after the Cup run. (not the pieces they gave up....but the team make up in general)

Good on you Mafki.

 

[Liberati0n*]

How did you go about setting up your own staff?



“Just trying to find the best human talent I could find. I knew [director of amateur scouting] Ross [Mahoney] from Vancouver and trusted that he would find good people. It took a little while to put the staff together and it took more than a little while to get good. It was a great learning process because we didn’t draft very well early on. One of the things I’m most proud of is learning to draft well with the same people that weren’t drafting well. We changed a lot of the things we did but we didn’t change people.â€



How was that achieved?



“Just changing how we did things and making sure that I had their backs and they could do what they thought was right. But it was more systemic in how we were doing things. How do we conduct interviews? How do we conduct meetings? What’s the mandate in terms of what we’re looking for in players? How do we put our list together? All of those things.



“We were learning as we went, and we kept reviewing drafts and saying, ‘We’re not good enough. We’ve got to be great at this.’ And we kept changing things – and we still refine things – until we got to where we needed to be. I really believe this is one of the best drafting clubs in the league.â€

That's interesting. I think the story here has always been that he got a bigger budget to bring in new people after the lockout.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

If he doesn't get another job this season, dude needs to write a book. I want the dirt.

"The Business of Sadness: Life under Ted Leonsis"

 

[strungout]

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

 

[Liberati0n*]

The Business of Sadness is perfect. Awesome.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Finally!!! I knew it. I ****ing knew it.

People tried to this day to put that deal on Mafki...and he didnt even ****ing want it. Completely derailed that mini re-build he was doing after the Cup run. (not the pieces they gave up....but the team make up in general)

Good on you Mafki.

Here is the entire Jagr part:



Why do you think the Jaromir Jagr trade and subsequent signing didn’t work out?



“I said at the time, ‘This is the right player at the right time for us.’ But I wasn’t sure that it was the right player at the right time for us. We were building our organization with bricks and when we did that, we suddenly went to siding or a different material. We got on a different bus. It’s always about team construction and we weren’t really constructed the right way to absorb him. And it wasn’t a great period in his life. He had lots of things going on. He wasn’t in a good place. He wasn’t excited to be here. It was really difficult for him to be traded out of Pittsburgh, and I think it took him a long time to recover from that. He’s learned a lot, now.



“But I remember telling [majority owner] Ted [Leonsis] at the time, ‘Ted, I’ve seen this movie before.’ We traded three young players for Alex Mogilny when we were in Vancouver and it didn’t work out. And halfway through the season we were wishing we had those three young players back: Mike Peca, Mike Wilson and a [first-round] pick that turned out to be Jay McKee. I remember telling him that and he said, ‘It’s my team, it’s my money, and I want to do it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ The good news is we didn’t give them anything.

Its a very good read, IMO. The entire "transcript" that is.

 

[txpd]

we wondered how he stayed so long. he handled his job as best he could when he had control and did what the boss wanted well enough that the boss was happy with those moves. when the boss's moves failed, he was not blamed for it.

to me, this is an example of George McPhee treating his job like a regular job. being in the job being so much more fun than not being in it.

now....look at the famous "if you were in the game..." quote and consider all the mess dumped in his lap as his responsibility when he it was somebody else. takes on a different meaning.

 

[Blades of Steel]

This team is a ****ing mess, it will never win a ****ing thing. The curse isn't Washington D.C. Its the ****ing owners of these teams in Washington D.C.

 

[Serial_Derecho]

The Dave Prior thing really irks me. How many times have we heard Mcphee and Ted say "We treat people right"? I wonder what Prior would have to say to that.

 

[txpd]

The Dave Prior thing really irks me. How many times have we heard Mcphee and Ted say "We treat people right"? I wonder what Prior would have to say to that.

Prior being treated right and replaced for not wanting to coach his boss's program are two different things.

I totally disagree with what Oates wanted to do. But if McPhee was going to stand behind Prior, he was going to have to fire Oates.

 

[Chokingdogs]

I remember telling him that and he said, ‘It’s my team, it’s my money, and I want to do it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ The good news is we didn’t give them anything.

LOL

i hope he's saying that with the passage of time, not how he felt when the trade was consummated.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

“I was proud of what we did in the room that day. And then once we got everybody going you could see that we had a heck of a team. Fedorov might be the best player I’ve ever worked with, of all the great ones we’ve worked with, because he had absolutely everything. The only thing he wasn’t then was young. But talk about being able to play both ends of the rink, and play with speed and size and make plays. That guy had everything. He had everything. He was just the best all-around player.â€

This right here really stands out to me. What if? What if Fedorov hung around for a couple more years to mentor OV. To show OV how important it is to play at both ends of the ring. To be the total package.

Why didn't Fedorov hang around? I don't remember the specifics and Vogel didn't continue with the Fedorov topic. But GMGM's comments on Fedorov is telling. "the best player I've ever worked with...". That includes the generational talent in OV.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Finally!!! I knew it. I ****ing knew it.

People tried to this day to put that deal on Mafki...and he didnt even ****ing want it. Completely derailed that mini re-build he was doing after the Cup run. (not the pieces they gave up....but the team make up in general)

Good on you Mafki.

Put that deal on GMGM? SInce when? It's been common belief for a long time that McPhee was fullfilling Leonsis desire to get a star.

Honestly though, so what, it IS his money. They got Jagr for JUNK, for literally JUNK. Who knew Jagr would go mental and drop down to 79 points after a previous 121 point season? I'm OKwith an owner any time wants to go, "Hey Mr GM, I think this BUSINESS needs a name to draw better, find me a start who fits". Now, whether or not Jagr was mismanaged when he got here, whether he was just a nutjob by then who alienated teammates showed little to no heart, or what...I don't know what it was, but he sucked. Maybe McPhee didn't even get a chance to build around the guy before he wore out his welcome, or McPhee didn't even try. That move will always be on Leonsis for me, but it cost the franchise nothing more than $ and junk players at the end of it all.

 

[Liberati0n*]

Put that deal on GMGM? SInce when? It's been common belief for a long time that McPhee was fullfilling Leonsis desire to get a star.

Honestly though, so what, it IS his money. They got Jagr for JUNK, for literally JUNK. Who knew Jagr would go mental and drop down to 79 points after a previous 121 point season? I'm OKwith an owner any time wants to go, "Hey Mr GM, I think this BUSINESS needs a name to draw better, find me a start who fits". Now, whether or not Jagr was mismanaged when he got here, whether he was just a nutjob by then who alienated teammates showed little to no heart, or what...I don't know what it was, but he sucked. Maybe McPhee didn't even get a chance to build around the guy before he wore out his welcome, or McPhee didn't even try. That move will always be on Leonsis for me, but it cost the franchise nothing more than $ and junk players at the end of it all.

Seriously...how can you make posts like this and then go on to criticize the team's management? Do you even know why you "thought" GMGM was bad?

 

[strungout]

Put that deal on GMGM? Since when? It's been common belief for a long time that McPhee was fullfilling Leonsis desire to get a star.

There were plenty of McPhee haters at the time and even after the fact that tried to say Ted had nothing to do with that move. I'm too lazy too look it all up on here...but I recall having those debates on here with people.

 

[g00n]

“I was proud of what we did in the room that day. And then once we got everybody going you could see that we had a heck of a team. Fedorov might be the best player I’ve ever worked with, of all the great ones we’ve worked with, because he had absolutely everything. The only thing he wasn’t then was young. But talk about being able to play both ends of the rink, and play with speed and size and make plays. That guy had everything. He had everything. He was just the best all-around player.â€

This right here really stands out to me. What if? What if Fedorov hung around for a couple more years to mentor OV. To show OV how important it is to play at both ends of the ring. To be the total package.

Why didn't Fedorov hang around? I don't remember the specifics and Vogel didn't continue with the Fedorov topic. But GMGM's comments on Fedorov is telling. "the best player I've ever worked with...". That includes the generational talent in OV.

I'm pretty sure the Caps didn't want to pay Federov what he was asking and weren't communicating?

 

[g00n]

There were plenty of McPhee haters at the time and even after the fact that tried to say Ted had nothing to do with that move. I'm too lazy too look it all up on here...but I recall having those debates on here with people.

I had begun to sour on McPhee in the years leading up to the firesale. Jagr was a head-scratcher for me. I think people only really found out it was Ted's doing years later well after the "experiment" was clearly a bust. The trade was suspect from the start, but the extension (all Ted, I believe) was horrible.

And contrary to what the other guy said, it did have a lasting effect on this franchise. Hell, where we are now with a team that's spun itself out around our prize we got for sucking after that rebuild is a result of that trade. Jagr's money wasn't off the books for years. Ted wouldn't spend for quite some time. GMGM became afraid of big name FAs, and may even have crafted his theories about skill vs defensemen based on the newer budget and rebuild strategies.

I'd say this franchise will still be feeling the effects of that Jagr deal until the day Ovechkin packs his stuff and heads back to Russia.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Why didn't Fedorov hang around?

Because the Caps are short-sighted idiots. They should have moved heaven and earth to keep Fedorov.

Sadly the sentiment that Semin's 20 goals at 2RW= Brouwer's 20 goals at 2RW was probably at play and they felt that Fleischmann's 50 points at 2C = Fedorov's 50 points at 2C.