News Article: News & Notes XXXVI: We're not leaving

[ndp]

So now we've had the head of the Canes community outreach who was also the lead of the Canes Foundation as well as the head of our social media presence who runs and produces the team's podcast and website both turn in their resignations within 10 days of the TDA signing.

This signing wasn't worth it. It really wasn't.

If Sundheim goes I'm going to go ahead and take that as a sign the ship is rapidly sinking.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I think for roles like Smith’s, Dundon wants to flat out pay significantly below market value. His whole “there are plenty of people who consider working for a Big 4 professional sports franchise a major perk” thing.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

M Smith is going outside of sports. It is easy to assume that a RTP company would be offering more for his services than TD. More money in those businesses.

or now that he has a kid, maybe he wants something with a schedule that better matches the needs of his family.

instead we start drawing all the negative lines to TDA or TD being cheap cuz, Canes fans, man.

Y’all jump farther than the long jumpers I watched over the last week.

 

[hblueridgegal]

Buy, Strip, Flip is often how Private Equity rolls.

I am sure the recent events contributed to these exits, too. What's transpired this summer has made these folks jobs so much harder to do. So much good work essentially down the drain. Couple that with the regular demands of the job and I am guessing..less than a market rate of pay, can't blame them.

 

[ndp]

M Smith is going outside of sports. It is easy to assume that a RTP company would be offering more for his services than TD. More money in those businesses.

or now that he has a kid, maybe he wants something with a schedule that better matches the needs of his family.

instead we start drawing all the negative lines to TDA or TD being cheap cuz, Canes fans, man.

Y’all jump farther than the long jumpers I watched over the last week.

I don't necessarily think it's due to the TDA signing. But as I posted a few days ago I've heard from a family member who works in PR, and community outreach in the area that there are quite a few FO folks within the Cane's organization shopping resumes around. She said Dundon wants those roles filled with intern types or entry level employees, in other words he's being cheap on FO hires. It's not surprising to me at all, subprime guy doing subprime guy stuff.

It does suck to see Michael Smith leave, I had a really great conversation with him a few years ago during a preseason game. We scored some seats right by one of the tunnels and him and Sundheim stood there and watched most of the game. I mentioned who my cousin was and that they had done some work together at Marbles, and that I really liked the work him and his team did on all the social media, web presence and community outreach stuff. We talked about the excitement of having new ownership and being a team full of young talent.

I wish him nothing but the best going forward.

 

[HisIceness]

I'm getting worried that we're going to see some "tell-all" article about the front office and ownership of this team pretty soon, and it won't be pretty.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

M Smith is going outside of sports. It is easy to assume that a RTP company would be offering more for his services than TD. More money in those businesses.

or now that he has a kid, maybe he wants something with a schedule that better matches the needs of his family.

instead we start drawing all the negative lines to TDA or TD being cheap cuz, Canes fans, man.

Y’all jump farther than the long jumpers I watched over the last week.

I think you're wrong, and the reason is simple.

People work for sports teams, at a discount, because it's fun. I know, because I did. And you're right: when I left the Bulls, I doubled my salary. But longtime employees stayed year after year, because they loved it.

So when the org starts nickling and diming everyone, and then when the org makes decisions that enrage the fans, and part of your job is to defend those decisions to those enraged fans -- well, I imagine the fun/money ratio of the job changes pretty quick. And there's no better indication of that than a bunch of longtime employees bailing at the same time.

 

[Stickpucker]

I'm getting worried that we're going to see some "tell-all" article about the front office and ownership of this team pretty soon, and it won't be pretty.

worried or excited for that tell all?

TD doesn't seem like someone overly appealing to work for unless you're trying to build your resume a bit.

 

[MinJaBen]

I'm getting worried that we're going to see some "tell-all" article about the front office and ownership of this team pretty soon, and it won't be pretty.

Ha! Like there is a big enough audience of this team to greenlight that. Maybe a tell-all messageboard or twitter post, but that's about it.

 

[CandyCanes]

I'm getting worried that we're going to see some "tell-all" article about the front office and ownership of this team pretty soon, and it won't be pretty.

Front office maybe. But it does seem across the NHL a lot of guys think our hockey ops are top notch, helps with Brindy leading the way

 

[Lempo]

Ha! Like there is a big enough audience of this team to greenlight that. Maybe a tell-all messageboard or twitter post, but that's about it.

Only a question of how epically you manage to f*** up.

If you run an exotic animal park under the moniker of Joe Exotic, on initial look you shouldn't qualify but, at tops, for a minor channel warm-hearted young adult pet show, but, you know.

 

[Svechhammer]

Ha! Like there is a big enough audience of this team to greenlight that. Maybe a tell-all messageboard or twitter post, but that's about it.

If you don't think an article like that would be a huge hit north of the border, I don't know what to tell ya. It would be chum in the water for those 'hockey doesn't belong in the south' sharks.

 

[bleedgreen]

I don’t think this has anything to do with TDA and more to do with how we do business in general under TD.

 

[MinJaBen]

Only a question of how epically you manage to f*** up.

If you run an exotic animal park under the moniker of Joe Exotic, on initial look you shouldn't qualify but, at tops, for a minor channel warm-hearted young adult pet show, but, you know.

Joe who? I'm not much into pet shows, but I do occasionally watch the Westminster Kennel Club dog show to see the herding breeds.

 

[raynman]

Joe who? I'm not much into pet shows, but I do occasionally watch the Westminster Kennel Club dog show to see the herding breeds.

Tiger King on Netflix. One giant clusterf*** of a train wreck docuseries. Not a single likeable person or personality but incredibly hard to turn off.

 

[MinJaBen]

I don’t think this has anything to do with TDA and more to do with how we do business in general under TD.

In general, I agree with you. But as @Navin R Slavin was pointing out, these kind of folks who like this work will often put up with some lower pay because they have fun. I think the scrutiny of the TDA signing makes that calculus change.

 

[MinJaBen]

Tiger King on Netflix. One giant clusterf*** of a train wreck docuseries. Not a single likeable person or personality but incredibly hard to turn off.

 

[hblueridgegal]

Such an interesting turn of events since the Chief Strategy Officer arrived on the scene.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

Such an interesting turn of events since the Chief Strategy Officer arrived on the scene.

Who is that?

It is definitely an interesting turn of events. Smith leaving makes it less of a one-off and more of a “thing.”

I hope it doesn’t continue.

 

[To Be Determined]

I think you're wrong, and the reason is simple.

People work for sports teams, at a discount, because it's fun. I know, because I did. And you're right: when I left the Bulls, I doubled my salary. But longtime employees stayed year after year, because they loved it.

So when the org starts nickling and diming everyone, and then when the org makes decisions that enrage the fans, and part of your job is to defend those decisions to those enraged fans -- well, I imagine the fun/money ratio of the job changes pretty quick. And there's no better indication of that than a bunch of longtime employees bailing at the same time.

what made you decide to leave the bulls? if you don't mind me asking, anyway.

i wouldn't just ignore the dude having a kid two weeks ago, though. i actually took a pay cut when my son was a baby to take a job closer to home. all it did was cut 1.5 hours of driving each day (from 2 hours to about 25 minutes) out of my schedule but it was totally worth it. (and, yeah, the gas savings took care of most of the cut.) i can see him wanting a 9 to 5 instead of the crazy (but absolutely fun) schedule with the canes.

 

[The Faulker 27]

M Smith is going outside of sports. It is easy to assume that a RTP company would be offering more for his services than TD. More money in those businesses.

or now that he has a kid, maybe he wants something with a schedule that better matches the needs of his family.

instead we start drawing all the negative lines to TDA or TD being cheap cuz, Canes fans, man.

Y’all jump farther than the long jumpers I watched over the last week.

It could honestly be all of these and more factors at one time.

 

[hblueridgegal]

Who is that?

It is definitely an interesting turn of events. Smith leaving makes it less of a one-off and more of a “thing.”

I hope it doesn’t continue.

Canes Hire Matt Turney as Chief Strategy Officer 6-10-2021

Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has hired Matt Turney as Chief Strategy Officer, promoted Shaun Nicholson to Chief Financial Officer and promoted Justin Marcarelli to Controller.
As chief strategy officer, Turney will focus on the execution of strategic initiatives and operational improvements. In conjunction with his role with the Hurricanes, he serves as CFO of Dundon Capital Partners. Prior to joining the organization, he was a Senior Associate at Citi within the Mergers and Acquisitions Team. A Dallas native, Turney graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in finance with a specialization in alternative asset management.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I don’t think this has anything to do with TDA and more to do with how we do business in general under TD.

I think you're right that it likely has more to do with our general business style. The TDA factor may be greater than 0%, though.

One thing to consider is that this organization has had a pretty clearly-defined public character over the past several years, and the people who are leaving en masse were the architects of that. They didn't exactly create "Bunch of Jerks", but they were the brains behind the marketing of it. They didn't create the Hockey is For Everyone initiative, but they took it to the next level with hands-down the league's best Pride Night programming. They don't personally run the social media account, but they fueled the content and the cultural attitude behind it.

Let's set aside the matter of why they are leaving. The fact that they are leaving means there will be new architects and a new vision. The TDA signing was a watershed moment for that change, a break from prior perceptions of the brand, and on top of that we're moving forward without guys like Dougie and Petr. The next chapter is probably going to feel a bit different than the last one.

It might be fine. I'm not hitting a panic button over a shuffle in community relations. But it's one of those things where, if the plan is to replace these guys with a bunch of entry level types... well, you get what you pay for. Community relations have been a major strength for several years now, and the trajectory appears to be a sharp fall-off.

 

[Lempo]

Prior to joining the organization, he was a Senior Associate at Citi within the Mergers and Acquisitions Team.

 

[Daeavorn]

Abby and Shane will be next, mark it.