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Dudley Joins Carolina


Commandant

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I am not surprised as I heard rumours about this back on April 28.  Dudley is known to be a smart hockey person and recognizes the hole Bergevin has created.  His contract was going to expire on July 1st so he's jumped ship early for a better position and before the ship goes down.   If the Habs have a similarly bad season again next year, how likely would Bergevin and his team keep their jobs in the spring of 2019?  

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I just noticed on the Habs Operations page, Dudley was listed as the "Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations".  

 

I forgot Dudley was a VP; I thought he was an assistant GM.  If that means this was a lateral move, then that's a slap in the face to Bergevin and the Habs.  But like Bergevin says, "if you want loyalty, buy a dog". 

 

https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/team/hockey-operations

 

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1 hour ago, habscout said:

I am not surprised as I heard rumours about this back on April 28.  Dudley is known to be a smart hockey person and recognizes the hole Bergevin has created.  His contract was going to expire on July 1st so he's jumped ship early for a better position and before the ship goes down.   If the Habs have a similarly bad season again next year, how likely would Bergevin and his team keep their jobs in the spring of 2019?  

 

I think it unlikely that the Habs will be this bad next season, if only because I cannot believe Price will play like a sieve for two consecutive seasons. 

 

That said, Dudley is moving to an organization that has an owner who is universally acknowledged to be an interfering ding-a-ling, which is hardly the optimal milieu for a good hockey man. Either he was on the losing end of internal Habs politics and therefore on the way out anyway, or he is tacitly saying that he rates Montreal's operation on a par with, or worse than, Carolina's - which is about as devastating an indictment as one can imagine.

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I don't see it as a slap in the face to the team at all. 

 

I think Dudley was pushed out the door. 

 

1) Dudley was paid better than most NHL GMs in Montreal.  One of the big issues in Carolina and why no one wants that GM job is because the owner is offering a salary that will make that GM the lowest paid GM in the league by far.  He is not offering NHL going rate for his front office staff. 

 

2) Montreal is letting Dudley leave without a fight, and without making their own offer to him of an extension. 

 

I think Dudley wasn't going to be renewed.  He is one of the casualties of the poor season.  They let him jump early so he saves some face here.  

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3 hours ago, Commandant said:

I think Dudley wasn't going to be renewed.  He is one of the casualties of the poor season.  They let him jump early so he saves some face here.  

 

If this was the only move, we could speculate as to why it happened. But this is change #4. Heads are rolling, as they should. We would be more concerned, and angry, if there were no changes. 

 

We had a devastating season, third last in the league, and Molson has said it's unacceptable. My guess is that Molson has told Bergevin that the status quo is unacceptable and MB knows that if he doesn't make dramatic changes he will be the next one to go. 

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7 minutes ago, REV-G said:

 

If this was the only move, we could speculate as to why it happened. But this is change #4. Heads are rolling, as they should. We would be more concerned, and angry, if there were no changes. 

 

We had a devastating season, third last in the league, and Molson has said it's unacceptable. My guess is that Molson has told Bergevin that the status quo is unacceptable and MB knows that if he doesn't make dramatic changes he will be the next one to go. 

 

The main thing is that he left an organization that is paying him very well, to go to an organization who pays management below what the rest of the NHL pays. 

 

Take from that what you will. 

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28 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

The main thing is that he left an organization that is paying him very well, to go to an organization who pays management below what the rest of the NHL pays. 

 

Take from that what you will. 

 

He's leaving the right way so nobody is going to call him out if it actually wasn't his decision. If he was criticizing the team someone would say he was asked to look for new work. But he's a well respected guy in the league and used to mentor Bergevin so they let him leave and say it was his decision unlike Sylvain, JJ, and Lacroix.

 

Right now Bergevin has said nobody is taking his title but everyone believes Lapointe will have his role soon. Lapointe, Bergevin, Mellanby, are we sure we're not building a mid 90s expansion team?

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6 minutes ago, Commandant said:

The hot rumour is Joel Bouchard to an AGM role, (GM of Laval) today on twitter. 

 

 

I'd love to see Saku, get Dudley's role. 

Despite him not having any experience, I’d love to see Saku get MB’s role.

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8 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Despite him not having any experience, I’d love to see Saku get MB’s role.

 

Given recent results, I'd take a lot of people in MB's role right now. 

 

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Seriously...it's time to get Saku involved in some capacity. I always thought he was a bright guy (just from his self-comportment) and he burns to win. I'm sure he will excel at whatever he sets his kind to, and a bit of a 'Euro' perspective could be nice too. Get Koivu back where he belongs, with the :habslogo:

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Saku said back in 2016 he has no intentions of leaving Finland. So if he took a job in Montreal it would be a scout.

 

Funny enough the guy I want to see return is Alex Kovalev. He still comes back to Quebec all the time and was complaining about a lack of creativity in the game. I would love to see what he could bring out of Galchenyuk, Drouin, and Scherbak. Have him as a coaching consultant like Turgeon in LA.

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25 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

Saku said back in 2016 he has no intentions of leaving Finland. So if he took a job in Montreal it would be a scout.

 

Funny enough the guy I want to see return is Alex Kovalev. He still comes back to Quebec all the time and was complaining about a lack of creativity in the game. I would love to see what he could bring out of Galchenyuk, Drouin, and Scherbak. Have him as a coaching consultant like Turgeon in LA.

 

I loved Kovalev for his unsurpassed entertainment value (both when he was 'on' and when he wasn't - remember his romantic walks with Bob? :lol:) but sheesh - I have a tough time thinking of him as a hockey mind. But who knows, crazier things have happened.

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I didn't know which thread to put this in as it could fit in any really but Marc Bergevin is attending game 7 between Blainville-Boisbriand and Charlottetown. 

 

Could be watching recent signing Alain, perhaps scouting his linemate Barre-Boulet or even meeting with coach/GM Joel Bouchard. 

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2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I loved Kovalev for his unsurpassed entertainment value (both when he was 'on' and when he wasn't - remember his romantic walks with Bob? :lol:) but sheesh - I have a tough time thinking of him as a hockey mind. But who knows, crazier things have happened.

 

Let me put it this way: almost every former player we have brought in has been someone of no high skill profile. Muller doesn't count because he's been coaching for 10+ years. It would be nice to have one guy around who knows what it takes to be top 5 in scoring in the league for the offensive guys. 

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42 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said:

 

Let me put it this way: almost every former player we have brought in has been someone of no high skill profile. Muller doesn't count because he's been coaching for 10+ years. It would be nice to have one guy around who knows what it takes to be top 5 in scoring in the league for the offensive guys. 

 

Well, Saku was a skill guy. Just saying. 

 

Honestly, a guy with Kovalev's rep for flakiness will probably have to pay some dues before he's accepted in a coaching, advising, or mgt. role in the NHL. Or so I'd guess.

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Kovalev was a supremely talented player who didn't get everything possible out of his talents.  His career was underachieving for what he could have done. 

 

That usually doesn't profile as a good coach.

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12 hours ago, Commandant said:

Kovalev was a supremely talented player who didn't get everything possible out of his talents.  His career was underachieving for what he could have done. 

 

That usually doesn't profile as a good coach.

Just because a player was talented, doesn't mean they can teach the game. 

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32 minutes ago, Habopotamus said:

Just because a player was talented, doesn't mean they can teach the game. 

 

Very true. But it's also true that being talented in no way translates into coaching skill. Consider Gretzky. Guy Lafleur was a supremely gifted and dedicated player, yet the thought of him behind a bench would probably cause paroxysms of laughter. You can't teach talent.

 

And Kovy brings another set of questions. Can a guy who was basically uncoachable, erratic, and unreliable - notoriously unwilling or unable to reliably get the most of his talents, as Commandant says - get 25 players to do the opposite of what he did all those years, i.e., work hard and be commmitted every shift? Seems unlikely. I find it easier to imagine Kovy subverting the coaches by telling them not to worry about boring defensive systems.

 

I would only take Kovy as anything more than a scout if he had proved himself through work at lower levels. The guy was a flake.

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1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Very true. But it's also true that being talented in no way translates into coaching skill. Consider Gretzky. Guy Lafleur was a supremely gifted and dedicated player, yet the thought of him behind a bench would probably cause paroxysms of laughter. You can't teach talent.

 

And Kovy brings another set of questions. Can a guy who was basically uncoachable, erratic, and unreliable - notoriously unwilling or unable to reliably get the most of his talents, as Commandant says - get 25 players to do the opposite of what he did all those years, i.e., work hard and be commmitted every shift? Seems unlikely. I find it easier to imagine Kovy subverting the coaches by telling them not to worry about boring defensive systems.

 

I would only take Kovy as anything more than a scout if he had proved himself through work at lower levels. The guy was a flake.

When he wanted to play though, he was one of the best in the league. 

 

An absolute beast in puck possession. Made grown men look like kids, When he would shrug them off 

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