Legacy of Pierre Lacroix

[jghockey]

In my opinion, Lacroix was one of the top 7 GMs during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

[agentblack]

To this day, I still find it amazing/small miracle that Lacroix didn't have a bigger haul from the 1998 Draft. The Avs owned 1st rounders from Boston, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Washington; In 1997, those teams picked 1-2-3-9 but all managed to improve drastically the following season.

I will credit him with not being afraid of pulling a blockbuster. Allegedly the Devils had an okay trade offer for Rob Blake as a rental in 2001, but the Avs topped it and got a Cup as a result. Similarly, Lacroix was persistent in his pursuit of Ray Bourque in 2000 when it seemed like he'd end up in Philadelphia.

omg from 99 to 01 were the funnest years , every TDL it was yadda yadda big name and all these teams being rumored and then seeing
the Avs logo pop up on ESPN for Fleury, Bourque, and Blake, it was ridiculous

 

[agentblack]

there was a behind the scenes reason for the chris simon trade right? i have no recollection but was it money? a feud with crawford or teammates? creating a spot for eric?

man, that is a what if. legit heavyweights who can score 10+ ES goals don’t grow on trees. if simon is still there in 1997, maybe those detroit games go a different way. maybe those next few seasons go a different way...

I often think of this. I have dreams of this. haha. I mean the Avs got straight jumped street brawl style in Detroit. The fans, players, org were gearing up for it so much they made posters with Claude's face on it "Screw Lemiuex"
But in all honesty knowing what we know about Simon , esp in his later nastier years he probably would have legit killed someone in that Fight Night game.

Im not sure what the reasons are behind the trade, back then i think some critics looked at him as say how can this goon keep up with the likes of Sakic and Forsberg? But then him going to WSH and scoring a bunch made it hurt more.
And to add insult to injury the Avs for years tried to replace him in really sad pathetic ways....

ultimately leading to Scott omgicantbeievewedraftedhiminthefirstround Parker

 

[feffan]

Lacroix is one of the most entertaining GM:s off all time. He´s one of the reason most of todays deadlines are dull. Because the kind of trades he did is what one hopes (and in his time got used to...) for come april.

That said, I think he is overrated because of what team he "stumbled" upon. The core was there and the pool was so deep that trades could be made. If anything, I´m in the corner that many other GM:s would have equaled a few more Cups for the franchise. You can´t say a GM that did a lot of spectacular trades and came away with 2 Cups was bad. But to me others could have done better.

Most points in that already stated in this threads. Many of his trades where to cover up from past mistakes. The Sundin trade is one of the worst made during the 90´s to me. He "fixed" it in the end by getting Claude. But Sundin on thoose teams (as discussed in the Sundin-thread...) would have been ridicilous! Of course, the Roy/Keane for Rucinsky/Kovalenko/Thibault is one of the 90´s greatest. But that sums up Lacroix. He was a gambler and got away with 2 Cups. A GM I love to have in the game, but not my type of GM to have run my team.

 

[Ivan13]

Very good GM.

Had 3 solid pieces on the team when he got there, was able to snag a 4th/starting goalie (who happened to be the best in the league/best in history) who was outstanding come playoff time. Then he made the right moves and added the right players, it was gutsy trading Sundin but it opened up space for Foppa to develop into the star he would become, his drafting was actually very good - it was more noticeable on the 2001 team - and getting two of the best defensemen in the league at back2back trade deadlines was nothing short of impossible.

That 96-2003 Avs core/team was fun to watch.

3? The man had Sakic, Foppa, Foote, Sundin, Nolan, Ricci, best young goalie in the game, Deader, Gusarov and the past regime drafted Drury and Hejduk for him. He took over a team that was loaded to the gills. Alos, trading Sundin had little to do with Foppa flourishing,

 

[ShelbyZ]

I often think of this. I have dreams of this. haha. I mean the Avs got straight jumped street brawl style in Detroit. The fans, players, org were gearing up for it so much they made posters with Claude's face on it "Screw Lemiuex"
But in all honesty knowing what we know about Simon , esp in his later nastier years he probably would have legit killed someone in that Fight Night game.

On a related note, I also wonder how much crazier that game might've gotten had Bowman delayed Mike Knuble's NHL debut and dressed Joe Kocur...

 

[agentblack]

3? The man had Sakic, Foppa, Foote, Sundin, Nolan, Ricci, best young goalie in the game, Deader, Gusarov and the past regime drafted Drury and Hejduk for him. He took over a team that was loaded to the gills. Alos, trading Sundin had little to do with Foppa flourishing,

I love revisiting the 93 and 95 teams. So much talent and promise that just went poof ...nowhere. There were some indepth vids on the tube that highlighted the 93 Nords specifically like in parts lol, i gotta track em down.

 

[double5son10]

there was a behind the scenes reason for the chris simon trade right? i have no recollection but was it money? a feud with crawford or teammates? creating a spot for eric?

man, that is a what if. legit heavyweights who can score 10+ ES goals don’t grow on trees. if simon is still there in 1997, maybe those detroit games go a different way. maybe those next few seasons go a different way...

Simon held out to start the '96-97 season. I also don't think he and Crawford got on very well. There was a pretty well known incident where Crawford berated him to tears in front of the whole team for taking a bad penalty in game 2 against the 'Hawks.
I've wondered the same thing. I think about Shanahan pasting little Rene Corbet or Kocur mugging Eric Messier. Would've been interesting to see Simon turn around smear someone like Maltby, or a non-com like Kozlov all over the ice in retaliation. He was nuts enough.

As to the OP, I thought Lacroix was a mixed bag. As long as he wasn't trading w/ Calgary he made some very good, team altering trades. Drafting, outside of '98 when he had loads of 1sts& 2nds, was pretty meh. I never liked any of his coaching choices; Granato was the worst. He seemed kind of lost/disinterested after the new CBA, but ultimately hard to argue with a guy with two Cup rings.

 

[TheAngryHank]

He was a good GM I guess during the no cap era.There was an arms race going on in the West at the time wuth Dallas / Detroit /Colorado. Good times.

 

[Hasbro]

Big Fat Snake Eat Lacroix.

 

[NYR94]

I think he was an excellent GM for Colorado. Recognized that he had a very talented team and wasn't afraid to make trades to acquire big name players to try and push them over the top. Must have been exciting as a Colorado fan to watch a team with Sakic, Forsberg, Roy etc. and know that the team would likely add another big name player at the deadline to get even better.