Confirmed with Link: Rick Dudley Leaves Canadiens to Join Carolina Hurricanes

[Habaneros]

The quote from the above post, is worth reprising:

“I’d say in the last few years I gravitated more to the amateur side of things and did a lot of amateur scouting and a lot of work with Shane Churla and Trevor Timmins,” Dudley said in a conference call. “The pro side there has Eric Crawford and Scott Mellanby and a couple of other people, and they did the heavy lifting on the pro side for the most part. I did some; when there was a specific need for a report Berg would ask me to look at a player and I would do that.

“But for the most part, I’m extremely proud of the work that’s been done on the amateur side in Montreal and I’m proud to say I was a part of that. I think in the last couple of drafts, I think you’ll see in the next couple of years that they’ve added several players that are going to help them, help them a lot.”

This is the most telling quote and one that assigns the sources of responsibility for all the pro player procurement gaffes of the last 2-3 years. The fact that those who made recommendations about Alzner, Ott, King, Martinsen, Streit, etc. were allowed to continue with the organization, is the most disturbing aspect. We now know for a fact that these decisions belonged mostly to Crawford and Mellanby, with some participation by Dudley. While Dudley is minimizing his role on the pro scouting side, it's equally disturbing that if he had any sense of how awry the Habs' pro intel was, that Bergevin only deemed it necessary that he intervene only on those pro players he was specifically instructed by Bergevin to look into.

This organization is in shambles, it committed a ton of blunders and yet there doesn't seem to have been any rapid response by management to stop the bleeding. Instead of that, the same people who advised Bergevin continued to pile on useless advice that led up to the Alzner signing.

The pro scouting side is now the biggest boat anchor -- Crawford and Mellanby need to be brought to account otherwise, Dudley's departure will have been too easy, too little and too late.

who is the " couple of other people"

 

[Runner77]

who is the " couple of other people"

Got to be from among these mug shots ...

Hockey Operations

 

[Habaneros]

Jun 29, 2013 - Ron Delorme is no longer in charge of the Vancouver Canucks amateur scouting. Eric Crawford will have final say on who the Canucks draft.

2014 draft
Canucks have selected left wing Jake Virtanen sixth overall, centre Jared McCann 24th overall, goaltender Thatcher Demko 36th overall, defenceman Nikita Tryamkin 66th overall, defenceman Gustav Forsling 126th overall, centre Kyle Pettit 156th overall and defenceman MacKenzie Stewart 186th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Right wing Linden Vey from the Los Angeles Kings was also acquired in exchange for Vancouver’s 50th selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Dudley will be on with Nilan today on TSN690.

 

[Laurentide]

There is no question that the Habs' draft playbook has just migrated to the Hurricanes thanks to Dudley making his way there.

And the whole secret agent garbage that Bergevin has been spewing, only makes him look dumber than he is. What exactly are other team's looking to find out -- how well he can manage a season? How well did last year's plan work? If you're going to make brash statements about protecting your ideas, how about doing so after you've actually proven something or coming off a successful season where you shocked the hockey world? The way Bergevin is talking, it's as if he's sitting on the next Moneyball strategy. It's cringeworthingly hilarious and meme-worthy.

Totally agree with your take about the formal meetings -- it's impossible that the scouting staff and senior management individual like Dudley, have not kept a running list that they've updated together. How else are they going to adjust their travel schedules and upcoming scouting assignments if they don't have an idea of a target group of players they're most interested in? What a pile of bunk. "Yeah guys, let's keep it a big secret. We'll discuss our favorite players in May." Who buys that? Idiots.

Bottom line: if the Habs were truly concerned about Dudley's access to their information, they should have done what Trana did when Bergevin first signed Dudley and make sure he wasn't going to be available to the Habs for the draft immediately following his hiring. Of course, Bergevin is so friendly with Dudley that he can't fathom how Dudley would take advantage of what he's learned while on the Habs' payroll. Worse, all of the information on the amateur side that Dudley accumulated while being paid by the Habs, will never be of full value to the Habs, with the Hurricanes being able to dip into it at the same time.
What a quagmire.

Only good news -- the Habs' drafting has not exactly been stellar while Dudley was spending more time on amateur scouting. So with all the confidential information also comes the Trojan Horse of hockey assessments steeped in intangibles from 30 years ago.

Exactly. The next time Bergevin refuses to be "transparent" with the excuse that other GM's are listening, whichever media honk happens to have the microphone at the time should point out to him how unlikely it is that anyone would want to know the plans of a guy who's team finished 4th worst, who's farm team was dead last and who's prospect pool is rated as one of the shallowest in the league, and then suggest that he try a more plausible excuse for not coming clean.

 

[Runner77]

Dudley will be on with Nilan today on TSN690.

Listening to him right now, he's repeating what he said in another interview yesterday. Nothing earth-shattering.

I wonder where the F-Bomb meter is at, since he left. I'm guessing the needle has moved slightly lower.

Man, Nilan and Campbell are asking a lot of lame questions.

 

[Runner77]

There is so much material that could be covered and instead of that they ask him if the Wilson suspension was warranted. WTF, ask someone else.

I want to know who recommended Alzner, Martinsen, Ott, King, Benn, Streit, Hemsky and other duds. I'd want to know how much input he's had in those decisions and if not, who was the biggest F-Bomber who supported them.

Start with that, you f***ing idiots.

 

[Runner77]

The segment ends with Nilan thanking Dudley for having interviewed him for a position and how much Dudley loves Nilan and how they don't want to lose touch.

This is the backdrop against which we're supposed to expect pointed questions to be asked?

 

[habs73]

Listening to him right now, he's repeating what he said in another interview yesterday. Nothing earth-shattering.

I wonder where the F-Bomb meter is at, since he left. I'm guessing the needle has moved slightly lower.

Man, Nilan and Campbell are asking a lot of lame questions.

There was so many ways they could have went with that interview but didn't.

Dudley said he worked extensively on the amateur side this year, no question about the fact that he probably knows who the Canadiens value on their draft list.

They completely let him off the hook when he went into the "only way you get a 1st centre is to draft him" It must be a organizational mantra!

No mention about the fact that they traded two major pieces in the last two years on the back end and didn't address the center ice position adequately with those trades.

 

[Runner77]

Rick Dudley barely had time to leave the airport in Montreal and already, a deal has been made ...



Carolina's 3rd round pick was in play and we couldn't have been in on that?

Blah, blah, blah, I have a special relationship with Marc. Stuff your special relationship.

 

[bsl]

The timing of Dudley leaving leaves no doubt in my mind that this was a firing by another means.

Normally, when a highly placed executive like Dudley is still valued, an organization doesn't wait til there is one or two months left to his contract, before signing him to another extension

The fact that he was left with no extension at this late stage suggests to me that he knew fully well that his contract wasn't going to be extended. Had he not found the Canes opportunity, I believe Dudley would have faced the same outcomes as Pfeiffer the analytics guy and Craig Ramsay whose expiring contracts simply lapsed and were not renewed. By Dudley placing a few calls and with his buddy Waddell landing a plum job, it allowed Dudley-do-wrong to save face.

It appears to me, however, that Dudley's non-renewal with the Habs, is a strong indicator that Molson meant business when he said there would be massive changes and every part of the organization would be reviewed.

Look at the departing pieces so far -- was there anyone closer to Bergevin than Dudley, Lefebvre and JJD? Perhaps Martin Lapointe, but beyond that -- the core of those with whom Bergevin was most accomodating has been gutted.

And Carriere has somehow survived. For now.

 

[Runner77]

And Carriere has somehow survived. For now.

That is really puzzling.

But then again, this MB we're talking about -- deadwood abounds.