News Article: Is Bob Nicholson the right person to choose a new Oilers GM?

[McBeastMode]

Is Bob Nicholson the right person to choose a new Oilers GM?


The right question to ask: Is Bob Nicholson the right person to choose a new Oilers GM?..

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[Paralyzer]

No. I think Katz is a better choice.

 

[MikeGrier99]

The O.B.C. think tank is going to pick the next GM. They failed the last 3 times, you know what they say, 4th time's the charm!

 

[FunkyChicken]

No. The fact that he let Chia carry on for as long as he did is a pretty large tell.

 

[ThreeOfAPerfectPair]

I'd rather HFOil make the pick.

 

[Garbo Man]

Katz should just make Yzerman an offer he can't refuse like 100 mill a year for like 3 years so he can work his magic and turn this shipwreck into less of a shipwreck

 

[elmeroil]

I don't trust him.

 

[Drivesaitl]

No.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

“Nicholson has to look at people from good organizations and he’s not making this hire in a vacuum. You can bet Kevin Lowe, the former Oilers GM, will have input. It won’t be Nicholson making the call by himself.”

Stauffer and those who say there is no input from the OBC are so full of shit.

Lowe involved in the hiring of the new GM alongside Nicholson.
You know W Gretzky will have his say, as he always does.
K Gretzky now answers to C MacTavish according to the Org Chart.

We are soooooo f***ed. Sooooo f***ed.

 

[BlackDogg]

Not a chance. It'll be the forensics guy from CSI.

 

[McDrai]

I think he would be better at selecting the right burgers

 

[rickysusedsht]

No he should be canned with the rest of them. It's clear to me he is in over his head .

 

[McJadeddog]

The O.B.C. think tank is going to pick the next GM. They failed the last 3 times, you know what they say, 4th time's the charm!

Exactly. Nothing has changed with the firing of Chia, except the public face of the colossal collective failure known as the OBC. Nothing will change until these clueless idiots are shown the door.

 

[rboomercat90]

There really is no good option here. By the time the organization had hired Nicholson, Lowe and Mactavish had already proven they didn’t have the skills to make good hires. That presumably was the reason he was hired. That he then went out and hired a guy with out doing a search for the best candidate and hired somebody just by name recognition or because he had worked with him in Hockey Canada is the same way the other two operated. He may be good at making Katz money but he’s got no skill for the actual hockey side. So if not him making the hire then it’s one of the other idiots.

Which disaster do you prefer? It’s no wonder Gary Bettman felt the need to step in and try to convince fans the Oilers are well run and well owned.

 

[Spawn]

The one thing that was very evident was that what Peter built in Boston, it was really Keith on the amateur side of the game that had built it.”

What the f*** is Nicholson talking about?

The Bruins won the cup in 2011, and then made it to the cup finals in the summer of 2013.

Keith Gretzky didn't join until late summer of 2013... He literally didn't have a single thing to do with the Bruins success.

There is no doubt Nicholson doesn't have a f***ing clue. Our only hope is he somehow lucks into someone who can simultaneously navigate the mine field that is cancerous OBC members while also making smart roster decisions and make good trades.

 

[Soundwave]

The problem is if you keep hiring new people it's simply human nature to come into the job with the "ok, let me evaulate and sit back" approach, and by the time that's happened it's 2020 already.

At least Nicholson has a large catchet of contacts. I suggested in the other thread for example that he could also pick Steve Yzerman's brain about what to do even if they can't hire him.

Contacts like that are valuable.

 

[rboomercat90]

The problem is if you keep hiring new people it's simply human nature to come into the job with the "ok, let me evaulate and sit back" approach, and by the time that's happened it's 2020 already.

At least Nicholson has a large catchet of contacts. I suggested in the other thread for example that he could also pick Steve Yzerman's brain about what to do even if they can't hire him.

Contacts like that are valuable.

The mistake you always make in your posts is assuming these guys have the ability or capability of being the same type of executives other teams have. You assume he’d be interested in talking to somebody like Yzerman to get his thoughts. I’m not convinced he could come up with an idea like that. I have even less confidence that even if he did, he’d be capable of actually learning anything from him. That’s the type of pickle I think we’re in here.

Just to add, I thought Nicholson would be a good hire for this team because of his contacts. I don’t believe that means much these days.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I think he would be better at selecting the right burgers

Can’t even do that right.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

The mistake you always make in your posts is assuming these guys have the ability or capability of being the same type of executives other teams have. You assume he’d be interested in talking to somebody like Yzerman to get his thoughts. I’m not convinced he could come up with an idea like that. I have even less confidence that even if he did, he’d be capable of actually learning anything from him. That’s the type of pickle I think we’re in here.

Just to add, I thought Nicholson would be a good hire for this team because of his contacts. I don’t believe that means much these days.

Exactly. Everyone who is anyone at the NHL level has “contacts”. Even if they didn’t at this level calling to interview so long as it’s a promotion is the norm. It’s not like this is the CIA trying to infiltrate Russia FFS.

 

[Patch101]

Doesn't matter what we think. Its ganna happen.
So meh. Lets hope he has learned.

 

[rboomercat90]

Exactly. Everyone who is anyone at the NHL level has “contacts”. Even if they didn’t at this level calling to interview so long as it’s a promotion is the norm. It’s not like this is the CIA trying to infiltrate Russia FFS.

The reason I thought Nicholson’s “contacts” would be so important was because I believed Kevin Lowe was so toxic nobody with talent would come to this team. He had alienated the NHLPA with the Comrie situation and Christmas Day practice. He alienated GM’s with offer sheets. Another thing that didn’t help was that a lot of league executives were guys he played against. Let’s face it, those guys weren’t popular with with opposing players back then. They were arrogant. These are the reasons, I suspect, Kevin Lowe stopped being a GM.

I had hoped Nicholson coming here would push those guys out and set us on the path to becoming a regularly run organization. It didn’t happen so it doesn’t really matter who he knows if whatever guy he brings in here is expected to operate under Oilers culture.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Unfortunately Bob is part of the problem as the problems with this organization go higher up.

 

[Del Preston]

What the **** is Nicholson talking about?

The Bruins won the cup in 2011, and then made it to the cup finals in the summer of 2013.

Keith Gretzky didn't join until late summer of 2013... He literally didn't have a single thing to do with the Bruins success.

There is no doubt Nicholson doesn't have a ****ing clue. Our only hope is he somehow lucks into someone who can simultaneously navigate the mine field that is cancerous OBC members while also making smart roster decisions and make good trades.

KG joined the Bruins in July 2011. But your point still stands. Keith's first two years with Boston were as an amateur scout and not much came out of their 2012 and 2013 drafts.

Nicholson has taken some veiled shots at Chiarelli since the firing. I think he's pissed at how much he screwed up four years ago and what a disaster Chiarelli turned out to be.

 

[McFlash97]

KG joined the Bruins in July 2011.

But Nicholson has taken some veiled shots at Chiarelli since the firing. I think he's pissed at how much he screwed up four years ago and what a disaster Chiarelli turned out to be.

Shots at Chiarelli ?

He just took a shot at the character of 97 , and 29 and water quality in Edmonton apparently from what I heard.

The world was screaming for Chiarellis head last summer, this senile old prick stepped up and advised everyone about Chiarellis amazing plan...and gave that dumb GM more ammunition to f*** the Oilers up the a**

 

[Del Preston]

Shots at Chiarelli ?

He just took a shot at the character of 97 , and 29 and water quality in Edmonton apparently from what I heard.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I read the Keith Gretzky quote as Nicholson trying to shift the success the Bruins had from GM Chiarelli to Keith. In the Terry Jones article a couple days ago Nicholson came right out and said he deserved blame for giving the job to Chiarelli four years ago instead of doing an interview process. There seems to be some regret on his part now.

I put it to Nicholson straight up: “How much of this do you have to wear? And where did it go wrong?”

There was no tap-dancing, waffling and shifting or sharing blame.

“There’s no question,” Nicholson said. “It was my decision to hire Peter Chiarelli with Todd McLellan and I had the lucky rabbit’s foot to get Connor.”

“This time I want to be completely sure about what the characteristics of a general manager that we need to have going forward so I can stand up in front of the Oilers fans and tell them: ‘This is the person’ and why that person is the best person moving forward.”

“When it comes to the general manager, we have to get someone who will believe in where we’re going and make sure it’s someone who can communicate within the coach to the players area but also manage all the components of the hockey operation.”

JONES: Nicholson vows to get it right for Edmonton Oilers this time