Beerz
Registered User
- Jun 28, 2011
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- 11,040
It's Bucky so there is a lot of snark that isn't needed... but there was some stuff that I've never heard before ..
It's only a matter of time now. At some point, Tim Murray is going to hire his own man to replace Ted Nolan behind the bench to usher the Sabres through the next phase of their massive rebuilding project.
Who? When?
Murray will scroll down his list of candidates when he reaches the point of no return, when he deems enough is enough, when he believes the timing is just right and gives Nolan the heave-ho. It will likely happen after this season even though Nolan would have two years left on his contract.
The two have a strange relationship, assuming they have one at all. It explains why Nolan didn’t hear about a seven-player deal that included franchise defenseman, Tyler Myers, a player Nolan said the Sabres should build around, until the paperwork was complete.
Nolan knows the drill. As he said Thursday, managers manage, coaches coach and players play. He didn’t need some transparent vote of confidence from Murray to feel secure and do his job. He needed players. He needed an organization trying to win. Instead, Nolan and his players were set up for failure this season.
For Murray to suggest otherwise is an insult to your intelligence, which is starting to become business as usual at First Niagara Center. Murray claiming he was trying to win was almost as amusing as Ted Black telling us Pat LaFontaine resigned last season to spend more time with his family.
Nolan has been the elephant in the room since LaFontaine’s unceremonious exit last season. He’s a LaFontaine guy. By the looks of things, Murray is dropping hints that he’s considering a coaching change and allowing the fan base to digest the possibility before executing his plan.
Murray ultimately will assess player development, defined by him and based on his criteria. The team he assembled is so bad that it’s nearly impossible to fairly evaluate the coaching staff. How does anyone know if Nolan is doing his job based on results of a team that was built for failure?
Nolan doesn’t need anyone defending him. He has been through more hardship than anyone in the organization, enough to make him numb to the possibility that he’ll be gone. What he’s experiencing now is nothing new. He’s financially secure. He’s not worried about his future, and he’s unafraid to speak his mind.
Just remember that he refused to sign a confidentiality agreement when Murray handed him a three-year deal. Nolan knows what has happened behind the scenes. He knows where the bones are located, the whys and why nots that have gone unanswered since he arrived. This is likely his last job.
You want to fire him? Fire him.
I’d love to hear what he had to say.
It’s important to note that I have spoken to Nolan only sparingly this season. I have almost no relationship with Murray, but I appreciate his gift for evaluating young talent. I found him entertaining with his porky, straightforward approach when he arrived. I respected the fact that he made the seven-player swap Wednesday without flinching.
For better or worse, people seem to forget Murray was hand-picked by LaFontaine with an entirely different front-office structure in mind than what you see today. Remember, on the day Murray was hired, LaFontaine said he wasn’t finished building the hockey department. Looking back, Murray was named GM to lure him from Ottawa during the season.
The master plan called for him to be one part of hockey department that never was fully rebuilt before LaFontaine, ahem, resigned. The Ottawa Sun last January reported that LaFontaine planned to add Newport Sports agent Craig Oster to become assistant general manager.
Who is Craig Oster?
He works for the same agency that represented LaFontaine during his playing days. He's a skilled negotiator with connections to top players. He also happens to represent Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane, among others. Oster apparently was willing to take a massive pay cut for a management position in Buffalo because he respected LaFontaine and was excited to work with Murray.
Oster would have handled contracts and had a major say in trades while handling the media. Murray would have continued evaluating prospects, handled the draft and had a major say in trades. LaFontaine would have answered directly to Terry Pegula, helped lure top free agents, stood as the face of the organization and added his two cents on player movement.
It made sense. In fact, several organizations are structured in similar fashion.
So why did it crumble?
LaFontaine was rubbed out in a power struggle that was rife with office politics and cronyism, a move that also chased Oster. If Murray played any role in LaFontaine’s departure, it was minimal. He was mostly out of the office while scouting players. We may never know exactly what happened.
LaFontaine signed a confidentiality agreement (see: hush money) and returned to NHL offices. The Sabres certainly can’t be trusted to tell the truth, not after Black made LaFontaine’s dismissal sound like an amicable divorce, not after Murray tried selling the idea losing hasn’t been a strategy.
Quick question: Has anyone from the Sabres’ front office called LaFontaine to see how things are going with his family, especially when his son is playing for the Junior Sabres and committed to Canisius? Wouldn’t at least one person in power stay in touch with a former co-worker who left peacefully for personal reasons?
The organization has been intent on distancing itself from LaFontaine, who presented Dominik Hasek when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame but among the missing when his jersey was retired. It would have made sense for one La-La-La-LaFontaine highlight to be included in the montage honoring Rick Jeanneret's greatest calls after he returned to the booth.
Folks, that wasn't a simple oversight. It was a slight. And it was petty.
It brings us back to Nolan, a LaFontaine loyalist to the bone whose career is littered with pettiness. If Murray wants to fire Nolan, that’s his decision. But if Murray believes he’s immune to the same, he’s sadly mistaken. Murray shouldn't forget LaFontaine hired him. That makes him a LaFontaine guy.
And he, too, can be replaced.
