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Detailed look at Gauthier's record


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I've been waiting for something like this for a while, and in what is surely the best Habs-related blog out there, Robert L delivers:

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2010/3/2...-an-interesting

Over on Habs Inside Out there's a lot of negativity about the record exhaustively analyzed here. Personally, except for that Demitra trade, it looks pretty solid. The man is clearly NOT a Rejean Houle - we can definitely relax about that. Of course, the Habs are in a different position from the Anaheim and Ottawa he inherited, and we now have a cap; on the other hand, Gauthier has substantially more experience and got to learn from working with the seasoned and legendary Bob Gainey. The bottom line is Gauthier is definitely qualified for this job and we should have reason for cautious optimism, on balance.

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So basically Gauthier is a guy who has never made a really big move or been able to pull of a blockbuster in his career. The biggest move made was when the drafted Berard and he refused to play for Ottawa so the moved him for redden (who I believe was the #2 pick that year) and a couple of other players.

Basically he seems like a GM who has a track record for making trades for either 3rd/4th liners or 4/5/6 dmen.

We also have already found out that he will overpay for fringe 3rd/4th liners.

Doent seem a lot be excited a out. A GM who plays it safe and doesn't seem to have the balls to make a bold move.

That probably explain why he has always been in the GM job only as long as a team wasn't really competitive.

Edited by hab29RETIRED
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Gauthier was really tied down in previous regimes. Ottawa was in massive debt and Anaheim was as well... and had something like $10m a year tied up in Paul Kariya. I wouldn't call acquiring J-S Giguere and signing Andy MacDonald as "sideways" moves, either. And Keith Carney was a top defensive d-man back then. His work in Anaheim was underrated, and helped get that team to respectability.

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Being from Ottawa, I can tell you that one of the things that people around here didn't like was the fact that his team seemed "euro" in that it was soft and small.

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Being from Ottawa, I can tell you that one of the things that people around here didn't like was the fact that his team seemed "euro" in that it was soft and small.

You sure they didn't mean Asian? ;)

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Well, by Robert L's reckoning, Gauthier's good-to-bad-move ratio in Anaheim was 13-4. You can focus on the absence of blockbusters; or you can focus on the fact that that ratio suggests the likelihood of steady improvement. It's true that he has never been in the position of taking a solid organization to that 'next level.' But I don't think you need blockbusters to do that, so I'm not sure why that matters.

I don't say the guy is Sam Pollock. I just say that, based on this, he has a respectable c.v. and the Habs are being reasonable in asking him to take the helm. We'll know more after this summer about Gauthier's merits and demerits, but a lot of the grumbling at this point seems to be based on the fact that he isn't a big name or a big personality - in short, isn't a Burke or Pierre McGuire. This is silly.

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I think a lot of Habs fans had higher expectations this year. We all know that the degree of activity

at the trade deadline usually reflects managements read on the status of the club. I don't give a damn what Pierre did where ever, the only thing on my card is what he is doing here. Even though I would have liked some lateral moves, I believe he has accurately assessed the status of this club and moved accordingly within reason.

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I think a lot of Habs fans had higher expectations this year. We all know that the degree of activity

at the trade deadline usually reflects managements read on the status of the club. I don't give a damn what Pierre did where ever, the only thing on my card is what he is doing here. Even though I would have liked some lateral moves, I believe he has accurately assessed the status of this club and moved accordingly within reason.

Expecting more seems ridiculous: this team only last summer went over an unprecedented overhaul, and has steadily made moves throughout the season to get the right mix going forward (Chipchura, Latendresse for Pouliot, getting Moore, now D'Ago). There isn't a whole lot more that can be done. This summer some more will need to be done, but not a lot could be done at this point in the year.

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It's hard to see what needed to be done, IMO. The team has barely played any games at full strength, the moves that were made, were made with long term in mind. We've seen Spacey wasn't really up to being on a 1-2 pair with Hammer during Markovs absence, maybe with him being back at 3-4 he'll have an easier time. I'm likely in the minority, but I think the team at full strength looks very good, with the addition of Subban, Pyatt, White as full time players the future looks bright, as does our goaltending.

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It's hard to see what needed to be done, IMO. The team has barely played any games at full strength, the moves that were made, were made with long term in mind. We've seen Spacey wasn't really up to being on a 1-2 pair with Hammer during Markovs absence, maybe with him being back at 3-4 he'll have an easier time. I'm likely in the minority, but I think the team at full strength looks very good, with the addition of Subban, Pyatt, White as full time players the future looks bright, as does our goaltending.

The whole spacek thing amazes me. One of my Oiler fan buddies was asking me how I like Spacek. I said meh. He was blown away. Spacek was awesome in Edmonton in the playoff run. But he played the left side unless on the power play.

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The whole spacek thing amazes me. One of my Oiler fan buddies was asking me how I like Spacek. I said meh. He was blown away. Spacek was awesome in Edmonton in the playoff run. But he played the left side unless on the power play.

Actually, he also played right side in Edmonton. He was paired with Pronger who played the left side. Probably made it easier... Pronger was ridiculously good then. Spacek was a few years younger, then.

In Buffalo, Spacek played left side.

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