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Gainey's record as GM


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All sooooo easy with hindsight... all so easy.

Pick any GM, pick God himself, Brian Burke, and pinpoint each and everymove... I'm sure the article will look the same.

oh, at least the second part of the article is fair.

No, Gainey isn’t perfect. Yes, he’s made some mistakes, a few of which were glaring blunders. So has every one of his peers, including notables like Lou Lamoriello, Ken Holland and Brian Burke.

Looking at Gainey’s record as Habs GM since 2003, he’s done more good than harm.

The Canadiens aren’t a Cup contender this season and it was in hindsight unreasonable to assume they would be. That being said, I wouldn’t blow up this roster or trade away most of these kids for any quick fix veterans. This team still needs work but its future remains very promising.

Despite their struggles this season they have more talent now than they did in the first half of this decade, and despite this season’s stumbles are on the right path toward building a championship.

There’s simply nobody else available out there who could step in and do as well or better than Gainey has as general manager of Les Canadiens. Firing him would not only be an absurd move, it would be a very stupid one

:clap:
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All sooooo easy with hindsight... all so easy.

Pick any GM, pick God himself, Brian Burke, and pinpoint each and everymove... I'm sure the article will look the same.

oh, at least the second part of the article is fair.

:clap:

I think it's a great article that tells both sides of a story. The only thing that would change Gainey's stand from failure to genius or vice versa is a Cup.

So what about Getzlaf, he was just a piece of why Anaheim won. Selanne, Scott and Rob, Sebastien played an even bigger role. If we win a cup soon I'm sure AK will be one of the reasons we do and Bob will be brilliant. I'm happy with our team. We could have spent years in the basement and drafted Crosby and Malkin, the Pens are in worse shape then us. Most teams are equal and only one can win.

Us Habs fans are so used to living in the past dynasties and have forgotten that the NHL has changed. It was made to equalize the playing field and have a lot of strong teams not just three. Detroit is next to hit a wall because of the Salary cap.

I think we are in great shape to be a contender for the next ten years if we can get a strong Vinny type centre and keep doing what we are doing. Keeping in mind that the definition of contender now means being a competive team in the top ten to fifteen of the league.I hope Bob stays on board because he is doing a great job. The days of 1 or 2 killer teams is over. By 2011 most teams will be strong and the standings will get even tighter then they are now.

The team we have right now is much much MUCH stronger then what they have showed us the past couple of months. I'm very optimistic that Bob is about to flip this calm before the storm into a very strong Cup run that none of us imagine is even possible.

It's all going to start with Carey Price. Probably Bob's best move yet .

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So wait, are people already talking about firing Gainey? Wow, that was fast.

Well, when the team is threatened to miss the playoffs for the 2nd time in the past 3 years, it doesnt only reflect bad on the coach, it starts reflecting bad on the GM also. Especially if it's the last year of his 5-years plan.

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So wait, are people already talking about firing Gainey? Wow, that was fast.

It's not really a new discussion. When Carbo was fired, rumors were flying about how Gainey was worried about his job and figured if they were going to fire him that he might as well go down fighting. Sounds silly to me, but the idea is certainly out there.

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I think BG has done well, he has stocked the AHL with good prospects, the NHL has made progess the last 3 years, although this years slump is hampering that.

I think The vets or core he inherited, signed or traded for has been his undoing. Koivu, Kovalev, Tanguay's injury Laraque's injury, Komi being a no show, Overall character and work ethic problems have plagued this team for years, well before he arrived.

I think his job is secure. The team just needs to turn over and get some new blood, new leaders and top end talent to actually produce. I would like to see Tanguay with a full season playing with 2 good players.

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The 2003 Draft was not really Gainey's. He had just taken over as GM a couple of weeks previous, had done no scouting or interviewing of his own, and he was relying solely on the work that Savard and Timmins had done. They chose Kostitsyn over Getzlaf, and also picked Urquhart 40th overall. They also picked Lapierre, O'Byrne, and Halak with their later picks, and it's not like Kostitsyn is a bad player by any stretch. It's not like they took Robert Nilsson, Hugh Jessiman or anything.

Gainey's first work as GM really came after the draft, when he bought out Mackay and Czerkawski, signed Dagenais and JF Damphousse for Hamilton depth, and then picked up Begin off waivers.

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Gainey's first work as GM really came after the draft, when he bought out Mackay and Czerkawski, signed Dagenais and JF Damphousse for Hamilton depth, and then picked up Begin off waivers.

at the time, these were the only players who'd come to MTL...

yes we still have some way to make in order to attract the Marian Hossa's of this world, but we have made a long long long long way since then. I mean, find a team which improved more than the Habs in that span of time (not result wise, but system wise / reputation wise / season ticket holding fan base / financially, etc... at all levels.)

Boston, Washington, Buffalo, Philly, etc etc etc, had up and downs, never as depleted as the habs have been in the pre-Gainey and Savard era. You have to compare the 360 degree improvment...

I can only think maybe of the Minnesota Wild, the Nashville Predators, since they were an expansion team, they started from not much (besides 2-3-4 years of top picks) or the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Chicago Black Hawks which almost went bankrupt, couldn't compete for 2-3-4-5 years, were in total shambles and ended up with Malkin, Crosby, etc you know the story, because they sucked for so long.

other than those well, the rest only got worst or have been up and down... or is the detroit redwings or the sanjose sharks. but those teams were really really bad in the early 90's for Detroit and in the whole 90's for the shark. they've however maintained a strong scouting team, a strong GM, kept a strong base of young vets... and built from there.

To me, we're not there yet, but that's exactly what Bob is doing. The models he's closest to following is the Sharks and Wings model. And that chickidies is a 10 year plan... not a 5 year plan. after 5 years, you have the Komisarek and Higgins and Markov established as young vet. Year 6-7, they become your core vets and exit the old vets.

anyhow... :P

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I agree that this is a very balanced, thoughtful article.

The whole *premise* behind the 'fire Gainey' argument is, to me, simply bizarre. The fact that this season has been so disappointing stems from the high expectations that Gainey's adroit managing made possible. Firing him would be a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.

(As for specifics, much of this backseat driving is irritating. GMs don't have psychic powers. Laraque is widely considered the toughest man in hockey; so Bob signed him; now Bob is being attacked because Laraque hasn't worked out. Samsonov was considered a legitimate top-6, near-star level player; Bob signs him; he bombs out; so Bob is attacked for signing Samsonov [even though gainey offloaded his contract fairly quickly]. 'He should have signed Streit' - hmm, you're going to sing long-term deals to Markov, Hammer, Streit, AND Komisarek? Think, you morons! Gainey's moves generally make perfect sense. They don't all work out - c'est la vie).

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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The whole *premise* behind the 'fire Gainey' argument is, to me, simply bizarre. The fact that this season has been so disappointing stems from the high expectations that Gainey's adroit managing made possible. Firing him would be a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.

Exactly.

Edited by redondo
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I absolutely agree with the last line in the article too. Gainey should absolutely be staying.

It's the same way people called for Carbo's head. Yelling that we should fire him without taking any replacement into consideration. No one out there could do a better job than either of them. All of Montreal should be on their knees begging for Gainey to stick around for as long as he can pick up a phone.

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I agree that this is a very balanced, thoughtful article.

The whole *premise* behind the 'fire Gainey' argument is, to me, simply bizarre. The fact that this season has been so disappointing stems from the high expectations that Gainey's adroit managing made possible. Firing him would be a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.

(As for specifics, much of this backseat driving is irritating. GMs don't have psychic powers. Laraque is widely considered the toughest man in hockey; so Bob signed him; now Bob is being attacked because Laraque hasn't worked out. Samsonov was considered a legitimate top-6, near-star level player; Bob signs him; he bombs out; so Bob is attacked for signing Samsonov [even though gainey offloaded his contract fairly quickly]. 'He should have signed Streit' - hmm, you're going to sing long-term deals to Markov, Hammer, Streit, AND Komisarek? Think, you morons! Gainey's moves generally make perfect sense. They don't all work out - c'est la vie).

Bingo, if the Habs fire Gainey I fear for the future. Who is available to replace him?

Timmons?

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It doesn't matter who the coach or GM are if continue with the same roster. How many coaches, GM's need to go through here with same captain and core players under aciving year after year.

I have a thought, Don't resign them and see what happens with different players.

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It doesn't matter who the coach or GM are if continue with the same roster. How many coaches, GM's need to go through here with same captain and core players under aciving year after year.

I have a thought, Don't resign them and see what happens with different players.

To be brutally honest, this is the first year they've actually underachieved. And last year they overachieved.

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