Where's MacT?

[CupofOil]

Too bad. The guy really is an idiot.

This is the first showing of bad judgement by Nicholson and Chia.

Meh. I don't think he'll have much influence, they are probably just throwing him a bone for being a long time Oiler.
Once his contract expires, I'm sure that Chiarelli will bring in his own people.

I too wish that they would just jettison the OBC altogether but that was never going to happen. As long as they aren't the primary decision makers, that's fine with me.

 

[GRadio]

The door hit him on the ass on the way out

 

[Seachd]

As soon as the Oilers start showing progress they will fire Chia and let MacT step in as GM to reap the rewards.

They've already tried it once.

If you think Chiarelli is a will be a good GM, wouldn't you have to trust his judgement on this?

This could be the perfect role for MacTavish. Maybe it's like Petry being the top defenseman on an NHL team - too much at once, but when he settles down into something lower, it works out really well.

 

[Aerchon]

If you think Chiarelli is a will be a good GM, wouldn't you have to trust his judgement on this?

This could be the perfect role for MacTavish. Maybe it's like Petry being the top defenseman on an NHL team - too much at once, but when he settles down into something lower, it works out really well.

This is nothing but lip service to the old boys club. Peter obviously does not respect Mac T as a general manager or he would not have insisted on getting both titles.

I just hope he can ignore Mac T as well I ignore my wife while watching hockey

 

[oobga]

If you think Chiarelli is a will be a good GM, wouldn't you have to trust his judgement on this?

This could be the perfect role for MacTavish. Maybe it's like Petry being the top defenseman on an NHL team - too much at once, but when he settles down into something lower, it works out really well.

As long as MacT doesn't have the last call it can't be that bad.

Sometimes it's good to have another opinion. Even if that other opinion is always wrong, it still makes you look at other angles and can help you reinforce what the right way to go is.

Based on what Chiarelli is saying too, about how he's not he kind of guy to clean house, this might just be a little tryout period with the guys we already have. I'm sure if he feels anything isn't working out he will start to make changes.

 

[Samus44]

This is nothing but lip service to the old boys club. Peter obviously does not respect Mac T as a general manager or he would not have insisted on getting both titles.

I just hope he can ignore Mac T as well I ignore my wife while watching hockey

Yeah he totally had no motive behind getting full autonomy... How bizzare that a longtime GM wanted to manage the team and avoid interference from a Neely like figure, just craziness... He did essentially the same thing with J.Ferguson Jr in Boston by making him director of player personel after he got fired in Toronto, which i'm sure was largely because of the Raycroft-Rask deal. People like you are just projecting your angry and irrational feelings onto Chiarelli, and if you don't think they are irrational i'd have to suggest to you that making definitive statements about someones regard for another person, despite not actually knowing either, makes it pretty hard to argue otherwise.

 

[Seachd]

This is nothing but lip service to the old boys club. Peter obviously does not respect Mac T as a general manager or he would not have insisted on getting both titles.

This is kind of silly, because obviously Chiarelli wanted to be the general manager of an NHL team. Not like he would give that up for anyone, let alone MacTavish.

We have no idea if it's lip service. Chiarelli doesn't owe MacTavish anything. They were rival GMs, and while they didn't make any trades, I'm sure they've talked tons. Chiarelli would know better than any of us what MacTavish has tried/not tried to do with this team, and he could very well think there are some good ideas in there.

I understand not many here respect Craig MacTavish, but as we all know, what the fans think doesn't necessarily reflect the opinions of those involved with NHL teams.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

did anyone except Chia think he was gonna cut ties with MacT so quickly?
he'll stay on for the year and do some professional scouting or something minor

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

The only thing that scares me about this as some have mentioned, is it could open the door for him to take over in the future.

"Now that Peter has moved on, we have decided to give Craig his position back as General Manager. We always felt that Craig was the right guy for the job, he knows almost as much as Kevin about winning, visually we just think this is the right move after being mentored for the past six weeks by Peter"

So long as that doesn't happen, I am happy for him and Lowe being able to still be part of the organization. There is no doubt they bleed Blue and Orange, and still seem to be respected guys around the league. So long as they aren't calling the shots, I'm fine with it.

 

[NugeFan]

Too bad. The guy really is an idiot.

This is the first showing of bad judgement by Nicholson and Chia.

Agreed. Big mistake. Poor judgment. Not impressed

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

The only thing that scares me about this as some have mentioned, is it could open the door for him to take over in the future.

"Now that Peter has moved on, we have decided to give Craig his position back as General Manager. We always felt that Craig was the right guy for the job, he knows almost as much as Kevin about winning, visually we just think this is the right move after being mentored for the past six weeks by Peter"

So long as that doesn't happen, I am happy for him and Lowe being able to still be part of the organization. There is no doubt they bleed Blue and Orange, and still seem to be respected guys around the league. So long as they aren't calling the shots, I'm fine with it.

I trust Bob Nicholson enough to not make a mistake like that again
if Lowe were in charge...maybe that would happen again

 

[KMart27]

Nicholson and Chiarelli have far more objectivity and knowledge about MacT than the fans do. I'll side with their decisions over the opinions of some of the people on here.

 

[Aerchon]

This is kind of silly, because obviously Chiarelli wanted to be the general manager of an NHL team. Not like he would give that up for anyone, let alone MacTavish.

We have no idea if it's lip service. Chiarelli doesn't owe MacTavish anything. They were rival GMs, and while they didn't make any trades, I'm sure they've talked tons. Chiarelli would know better than any of us what MacTavish has tried/not tried to do with this team, and he could very well think there are some good ideas in there.

I understand not many here respect Craig MacTavish, but as we all know, what the fans think doesn't necessarily reflect the opinions of those involved with NHL teams.

I am basing this just off the rumours that Peter was not being interviewed for the GM position and that Mac t was blind sided by it.

No one knows what anyone really thinks.

 

[Del Preston]

Dammit. I wanted that loser gone.

 

[Homesick]

Craig's first pitch:

"I'm tellin ya, Daryl, we don't need helmets. Heck, I never used them and I turned out alright, visually."

Except he earned a masters degree in business after hockey. What do you have?

 

[Del Preston]

Except he earned a Masters degree in business after hockey. What do you have?

Real good that MBA did though. MacTavish could have run this team further into the ground just as quickly without one, and probably sooner.

 

[Jejune]

I suppose I will chime in as the one person that likes keeping MacT around. I don't think he is as terrible as everything thinks and I am glad he is still with the organization. He's never been afraid to be honest with people and while he may have made a couple bad moves (hiring Eakins unfortunately although at the time people weren't that upset with it), I think his biggest problem was his lack of experience. He went into things with a fair amount of naivety and this certainly backfired. But, he is a smart guy, he's got a lot of knowledge about the game and I think he'll provide valuable input.

 

[Homesick]

I suppose I will chime in as the one person that likes keeping MacT around. I don't think he is as terrible as everything thinks and I am glad he is still with the organization. He's never been afraid to be honest with people and while he may have made a couple bad moves (hiring Eakins unfortunately although at the time people weren't that upset with it), I think his biggest problem was his lack of experience. He went into things with a fair amount of naivety and this certainly backfired. But, he is a smart guy, he's got a lot of knowledge about the game and I think he'll provide valuable input.

Great post.
Easy to be an inexperienced, uneducated armchair GM. Its a lot harder in real life

 

[BleedingOil]

MacT is a great hockey mind and would have a job really fast if he wanted. He was not the one who put us in this situation.

 

[BleedingOil]

I suppose I will chime in as the one person that likes keeping MacT around. I don't think he is as terrible as everything thinks and I am glad he is still with the organization. He's never been afraid to be honest with people and while he may have made a couple bad moves (hiring Eakins unfortunately although at the time people weren't that upset with it), I think his biggest problem was his lack of experience. He went into things with a fair amount of naivety and this certainly backfired. But, he is a smart guy, he's got a lot of knowledge about the game and I think he'll provide valuable input.

I totally agree and he is obviously respected by bob and pete

 

[oobga]

Real good that MBA did though. MacTavish could have run this team further into the ground just as quickly without one, and probably sooner.

EBMA. Weekend class course that touches on MBA subjects to supplement and provide resume padding for people that already have extensive management experience (that MacT claims he never had when he was trying to excuse himself from all the management failures of the Oilers past). From what I've seen all MacT learned in those weekends were business buzzwords.

To contrast Chiarelli has a degree from Harvard.

 

[Homesick]

MacT is a great hockey mind and would have a job really fast if he wanted. He was not the one who put us in this situation.

Agreed. We all know where this mess started back in 2007.
MacTavish and Chiarelli strike me as highly intelligent and mature guys that both bring a lot to the team. As long as they can all play nice I don't mind having more experienced management/coaching since theres no cap on that.
We've went from a low ranked public school to a private prep school(elite if Babcock comes in)

 

[OilerTyler]

Great post.
Easy to be an inexperienced, uneducated armchair GM. Its a lot harder in real life

No one is saying MacT's job was easy. We're just saying he sucked at it and deserves to be taken out of hockey operations completely. He had his chance. He blew it. No other organization would keep their failed GM around in a lesser role.

It's just the same lack of accountability that Oilers fans were tired of with the old regime. It's evidence that nothing is going to change.

 

[Oilhawks]

As long as we have the right people in the right places, who cares?

MacT and Lowe, despite their shortcomings / failures, have their strengths and had some successes (as mentioned by other posters) can continue to be useful contributors to the organization. As long as they are not brought into positions they are not capable of. MacT and Lowe bleed blue & orange / copper and they will be passionate members of the organization and community.

Bob Nicholson and Chiarelli are pulling the strings here and they are truly visionaries. We're in good hands.

 

[OilerTyler]

MacT is a great hockey mind and would have a job really fast if he wanted. He was not the one who put us in this situation.

The last time the guy left the Oilers he interviewed for multiple jobs and couldn't land anything outside of a coaching gig in the AHL. No NHL team wants him.

I'm not sure how anyone who has heard one of his pressers can say he has a great hockey mind.