- Aug 25, 2006
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Again assumptions from you in that first paragraph. You have no idea if he was or wasn't trying to get that particular 1C. He also needed to fix his goaltending. Everybody on earth kept saying they would never win until they get a proper goaltending. They started to win not when they got their 1C (ROR) but when Binnington started to go God-mode for them. There are lots of reasons that could be brought up why they couldn't fill their 1C hole. Just because there are other 1Cs moving around it doesn't mean that:That's not a bad point in general, but I just don't think it jibes with this particular case given what Armstrong did for so many years. He wasn't hunting that 1C who could've put them over the top years ago; he was p***yfooting around with cheaper non-solutions and focusing on other positions, while capable 1Cs moved to other teams.
...and that's why my biggest lesson from Winnipeg's failure is to not wait too long to get started on solving problems. Chevy failed because he waited far too long to start trying to address their holes...and to a lesser extent because they never really committed to getting 100% solutions; instead, settling for short-term half-measures...leaving them with just a swing or two at the cup with all of the pieces in place. Pieces that they never gave enough time to, to settle in, because Chevy relied on TDL rentals instead of getting solutions in, in time for camp.
That's why I wanted to get started last summer and give ourselves as many swings at the cup with the necessary personnel as possible.
- the player was a good fit for them.
- the player was available to them.
- the player was available to them at the same price as the the team that got him.
- paying the price to acquire that 1C would not have created another hole somewhere.
- etc.
Lots of reasons. I was told yesterday that it would have been easy to get Hayes last year. Heck McDavid would be easy to get if we would offer Mack and 3 1sts. You guys assume that the price you hear is what it is and that price is the same for everybody. It is not. You guys take what Hench say as gospel. Heck I love Hench and I trust that what he shares is truly being passed along to him by his contacts. However have you guys ever thought that maybe he is being fed a specific rumor or most likely his contact is being fed that rumor for a reason. My point is...you guys don't know what is going on in the background. Most of your arguments are based on assumptions.
You really need to apply for Sakic's job if it is that easy to acquire these last pieces to go over the hump because it seems with you at the helm we would have quite a few more Cups. Forget about all the GMs that could never make that final step and win it all, they were just bad GMs I guess. Forget about all the GMs that have made what they thought was the right move to get over the hump, I guess they didn't know what they were doing because what?...they weren't the player YOU thought they should go after.
News flash: It is extremely hard to win the Cup. GM's moves or lack thereof doesn't mean they are wrong because you don't agree with them. You could be wrong too you know.
/rant over