Confirmed with Link: Leafs hire Lindsay Hofford

[Stephen]

This guy was a coach until 2006-07 and has been with OHL for over 10 years, this guy is experienced, even though he has been in scouting for # of years but coaching is passion

The team is going to benefit from his vast experience in both coaching and scouting with OHL

At a minimum he'd also be able to shed some light on Marner vs Strome for us in the meantime and tell us how Marner compares to ex-Knights like Patrick Kane...

 

[hullsy47]

Why not hire the "OHL" boys. Hiring the "NHL" men (JFJ Jr, Burke, Nonis) didn't work out very well. Fresh faces who have experienced some success is the way to go. After all, anyone with NHL experience seems to have little to no interest in a team like the Leafs.

your gonna see more fresh faces around the NHL too.no reason hard working men and woman shouldnt get promoted if they put in their dues .
gees it took gord kirke and richard peddie a year to find burke /nonis fiasco .so kudos to shanny for looking a bit outside the box ,cant hurt and its pretty obvious that scouting player development is going to a priority . now lets get rid of some of the old boys club involved at TSN and sportsnet ,enuff sour grapes cause u cant land a cushy job
if shanaplan works as well as we hope ,more good young hockey minds will be hired around the NHL ,id grab DJ SMITH if i could too .he was big part of windsor spitfires memorial cups and his oshawa club is just big mean and dedicated .

 

[SprDaVE]

Can't hurt. This gives us 3 top end OHL scouts and talent finders in Hunter, Dubas and now Hofford.

I was hoping he'd do more then just the OHL though.

 

[horner]

I like Dubas / Hunter, but I'm a little worried about becoming the soo/London old boys club.

Here are some of the players from the last 3 yes, to play at least a couple of gms in the NHL.

Horvat, Tierney, Zadorov, Anderson, Griffith, Tinordi and Namestnikov.

Untill last yr we had only drafted Kadri from the Knights

No this is a good thing.

We now have an incredible pipeline that not a lot of teams have.

The Knights know how to develop and find NHL players.

 

[deletethis]

Yep, switch one old boys' network for another younger one. Connected hirings are the way of this industry.

Remember that every time you hire someone you don't know personally, you're taking a big chance. That guy could be great and get along with everyone or he could be an incompetent or spend his time plotting to take your job.

 

[paulhiggins]

I'd laugh if after all that OHL stuff they chose Rantanen in the draft.

 

[SprDaVE]

I'd laugh if after all that OHL stuff they chose Rantanen in the draft.

It's not like we'd limit ourselves to the OHL anyway?

 

[Hockey Crazy]

I like Dubas / Hunter, but I'm a little worried about becoming the soo/London old boys club.

To be fair... An old boys club typically refers to ex players who don't really know about managing a team. These are guys being promoted through the ranks as former coaches, gms and scouts.

 

[theIceWookie]

We are becoming an OHL boys club for sure. It's like this Mgt team has decided they will only work with OHL friends.

And it begins. Already trying to create problems.

I'd say London has done a damn good job drafting over the years. Hunter knows the talent hofford has. He has an ability to hire him through a personal relationship. I see no reason why it has to be a bad thing.

If the person didn't have a good record it would be a different story.

 

[theIceWookie]

Can't hurt. This gives us 3 top end OHL scouts and talent finders in Hunter, Dubas and now Hofford.

I was hoping he'd do more then just the OHL though.

He's going with what he knows.

Maybe they'll do the same thing for the other leagues. Bergman heads up Europe, hofford heads up the OHL, ad then they have a guy inthe US and the two other chl leagues .

 

[SprDaVE]

He's going with what he knows.

Maybe they'll do the same thing for the other leagues. Bergman heads up Europe, hofford heads up the OHL, ad then they have a guy inthe US and the two other chl leagues .

Seems like they want to reduce the number scouts considerably. I don't think the amount of scouts matters that much as long as you have good talent evaluators.

So it does look like they are going with a system of 1 or 2 scouts per region, and then having Morrison, Hunter and the management rounding off the talent evaluation.

 

[Super Mega]

Knights are in the mix every year and always seem to have a well drafted team. Thats not something you generally see in the OHL as teams generally have a 2-3 year "dynasty" than need to turn over. The Knights just seem strong and competitive every year.

So I am not surprised to see the leafs poach, even without the shanny/hunter knights connection.

Also watching the Soo this year you really see the team Dubas built - the depth is incredible and the coaching seemed decent.

I guess what I am saying is I am ok with the leafs just poaching those 2 organizations as I feel they are both at near the pinnacle of the OHL.

Hopefully we can expand to some west coast guys and euro next.

 

[Brewsky]

Why not just buy the London Knights?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Can't hurt. This gives us 3 top end OHL scouts and talent finders in Hunter, Dubas and now Hofford.

I was hoping he'd do more then just the OHL though.

Don't forget Wes Clark. Clark and Hofford are scouts specifically. Dubas and Hunter won't be conventional scouts. They are always going to have their ears to the ground, but Dubas will likely be scouting more for ATO talent for the AHL. The thing is, both are also excellent player developers also, so I think they'll be able to determine whether or not someone is not only talented enough, but will develop well enough to reach their potential. They may even get a say in how those guys in the OHL develop.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Why not just buy the London Knights?

Might as well... We might as well buy the Orlando Solar Bears and move them to Markham or Mississauga. Or buy the Brampton Beast. A team in the OHL that we have influence upon and another minor team in the ECHL we have an influence upon. We are rich enough and there are more opportunities to make money. People want more winning in the GTA, who says it has to be in the NHL.

 

[NotSince67*]

How many amateur scouts do we need realistically?

CHL = 3 (one per league)
NCAA = 1
USHL = 1 (these two can support each other)
Sweden = 1
Finland & Czech = 1
Russia = 1

That's a team of 8 guys to do it up right IMO.

IMO I would venture to say that it's by region rather than by League. So your "OHL" scout is an Ontario scout. With the empty OHL schedule mid-week, he scouts CCHL, OPJHL, and other Jr. A leagues. Perhaps on occasion he'll watch the Silver Stick, OHL Cup and MArlier Winter Classic, just to get a feel of the MM AAA players. He'll scout USHL and NCAA while in the Michigan and Pennsylvania areas, as well as Upstate NY.

Your "WHL" scouts are scouting the NCAA near the border, BCHL, AJHL, Minnesota HS, USHL.

I'm sure you get the point. Guys would have areas to cover rather than being tied to specific leagues. There also would be a crossover scout(s) who would cross-reference the different reports from the various regional scouts.

 

[cupcrazyman]

I like Dubas / Hunter, but I'm a little worried about becoming the soo/London old boys club.

How dare they hire people with winning track records !

 

[FreeBird]

Can't hurt. This gives us 3 top end OHL scouts and talent finders in Hunter, Dubas and now Hofford.

I was hoping he'd do more then just the OHL though.

Actually they scout Midget players who can play in the OHL, however they would have knowledge of players in this draft and future drafts having scouted them in Bantam and Midget.

 

[Ovate]

Hofford was going to be hired by an NHL team anyway, and because we had Hunter, we got him.

Hiring people with connections is only a bad thing if they're only hired for their connections.

 

[Sonofamitch]

Looks good to me. The more the better. I think Marner is becoming a more likely pick closer we move to the draft.

 

[npalazzo19]

Lindsay used to be my power skating instructor when I was younger and man can this guy teach and coach. I learned a lot off him. My father was telling me how all the parents use to hear news about him and NHL teams talking to him to get him on board and then one day the Hunters approached him and he took the job in London when the Hunters bought the team. He can defiantly analyze talent and there is a reason Hunter brought him in. He knows the Ontario area and then amount of talented players already playing and coming into the league, it's a win win for us. Good luck Lindsay

 

[dubey]

How many amateur scouts do we need realistically?

CHL = 3 (one per league)
NCAA = 1
USHL = 1 (these two can support each other)
Sweden = 1
Finland & Czech = 1
Russia = 1

That's a team of 8 guys to do it up right IMO.

All of them

We will be the only team with OHL scouts

 

[TOGuy14]

I like Dubas / Hunter, but I'm a little worried about becoming the soo/London old boys club.

When people get promoted they often look to bring with them people that helped them be successful at the last level.

I am sure Hunter and Dubas know which people were essential to their past success and I see no problem with them coming on board with us as well

 

[Teeder9]

I like this move. Hofford is a talent

 

[Muston Atthews]

Fair point, but when you consider the London Knights have been the OHL's version of the Chicago Blackhawks with 2 OHL titles this decade, there are worse old boys clubs to have...

The Soo aren't a bunch of slouches either...