As much as I would EVER admit that he's correct, the more I read the comments of one Doug MacLean, from a few weeks, back, the more I think he might be 'dead on'.
Now, before you all request a well-deserved random drug test of yours truly, first read this link of his comments in the Dispatch:
http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2010/06/maclean_blasts_priest.shtml
I know I've touched on some of this, before, in a previous post (i.e. his comments about Arniel and Howson, for him, weren't really bad, at all), but, a few other comments, "upon further review", are quite accurate:
- The CBJ's Prez might just get his hockey knowledge from googling.
Otherwise, any other info is drawn solely from The Wall Street Journal or the Journal of Accountancy (I'm man enough to admit I used to subscribe to both
). I think Doug's point is that letting a non-hockey guy make the financial decisions, via the tight pursestrings, is not the formula for success. Of course, there's some question as to whether his Doug-ness was, in fact, a "hockey guy", but I digress...
- "He’s got some good pieces there to work with. If he could get rid of (Sammy) Pahlsson, (Kristian) Huselius and (Mike) Commodore, who they’ve got 12 million tied up in, it would be a nice start..."
Again, Doug is 'dead on' in this case. IF they could find a suitor dumb enough to take on these 'Hitch types', they could re-structure the organization's personnel, and direction, quite nicely. Now, if only there was a GM dumb enough to take them on...oh wait, it might have been the very guy who was the GM, here, and he's out of a job...
Now, I will say that Doug's rant is purely based on his continued bitterness for being (deservedly so) canned, after wrecking the organization, for years to come, but his rationale is 'spot on'.
He also might be correct on one other aspect: Due to the lack of support for Scott Howson from ownership, it might lead to Scott Howson being forced to depress us all with those diminished expectations of what we can expect in the upcoming UFA signing period. Here are Scott Howson's comments, from yesterday's Dispatch:
A few points:
- "There are a couple of things we'd like to try and do, but we'll probably be pretty quiet on July1...It's a thin market this summer, and there will be lots of competition for a few of the players out there."
Translation: Uh, we're REALLY cheap, and we can't afford a player which could quite possibly change the face of the organization.
- "We're always looking for ways to improve the team, but we're not going to overpay to do it. It ends up hurting in the long run."
Translation: Uh, we're still REALLY cheap, so, don't burden me with this silly notion of actually PAYING for talent.
- "We've had preliminary discussions about ideas and our needs with a few teams...but nothing material or significant as of yet. There are lots of teams who are looking for defensemen, though...We'll get through a few days of free agency and see where the market is."
Once again, we're SO cheap, and we couldn't begin to pay for one of them...it's bad enough that we have to overpay for inept talent, as it is (see Juice, Commie, Sammi, Garon, et al)...
- "We have seven NHL defensemen...If we go into the season with that same seven, I'm happy with that."
Don't forget - new coach Scott Arniel said going up-tempo is more a mind-set, so, I'm really excited to watch our plodding, stay-at-home D-Men storm out of their defensive zone like Keith, Erhoff, Lidstrom (from years past), Kaberle, any day now...
These comments are from the Dispatch:
- "The Blue Jackets will try to sign a fourth-line center through free agency, and they'll attempt to reshape the blue line via one or more trades, perhaps with one of the handful of NHL clubs facing salary-cap issues. Of the two desires, Howson said, adding a fourth-line center is the priority." (this from the Dispatch).
Translation: 4th line center (as the biggest priority)? Wow, that will get the CBJ back in the playoff picture...
LTL said it, best - why not just go with Mike Blunden or Andy Murray as your 4th-line center? Last year, I couldn't hear enough, from the organization, about Mike Blunden being an impact guy. Well, give the guy the chance to prove it. In addition, save the money you'd spend for that 4th line center - you know, that $500-$750K - and spend it on bringing in a quality, puck-moving, defenseman, or five.
Now, here are the comments from Scott Howson that are REALLY insulting:
- "We've made significant changes already this summer," Howson said. "We have a whole new coaching staff."
Good enough for me. Wow, I'd better call those Fred Ricart salespeople...err, CBJ ticket reps, pronto, so I can assure myself of those playoff tickets. I can feel the Cup in my hands, already!
Carry the Used (to save money, of course) Flag!
- Mase1
