habscout Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/186433.html Translation available here: http://translation.langenberg.com/ This reference came up at the end of an article about Stephane Quintal, and thought it was worthy of its own thread. The RDS article mentioned that the Habs fired Pierre Dorion, who was the team's Amateur Scouting Coordinator, and formerly the team's Chief of scouting [June 1998]. It's interesting that it also mentioned that Dorion was the one who recommended that Habs draft Eric Chouinard in the 1999 draft, over Simon Gagne, who was still on the board. I remember reading an article in RDS the day before that draft, that mentioned that someone in the Habs scouting staff was recommending that Gagne be selected if he were available when the Habs picked. I later read that Houle took the credit for the selection, claiming that the Habs needed larger skilled forwards. He also later took the blame, so I'm not sure now who ultimately was responsible for this major draft blunder, Houle for listening to Dorion over the other Habs scouts, or Dorion for suggesting Chouinard at all. Of a lesser note, Trent Mcleary is no longer listed as the Western Canada scout on the www.canadiens.com website, having been replaced by Vaughn Karpan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortcat1 Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 The choice of Eric Chouinard over Simon Gagné was NOT an error on Dorion's part. The THN draft preview had Chouinard rated 18th and Gagné at 21. Mind you, CSB had Gagné at 17 and Chouinard at 19. So, on the whole, in this sense, it was saw-off. At the time, Montreal was looking for a shooter and Chouinard had a shooter's reputation. He was also described by THN as more 'offensively gifted' than Gagné. The concern about Chouinard was that he didn't have 'grit'. But, a shooter is a shooter and if you're looking for one, Chouinard fit the bill. To blame Dorion for making this mistake is ridiculous. The same blame would have to be put on every scouting co-ordinator and general manager on every team. All of them have made the same 'mistake'. Who's to know how a player will develop? Who's to know all aspects of a player's make-up and how these will impact on his growth? The dismissal of Dorion may very well be another step by Gainey to get the people HE wants in his organization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie_Morenz Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 What ever happened to Chouinard? His stats looked good years ago, did he ever make it into the NHL. I am assuming he is no longer with the team as I have not heard anything about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 Originally posted by Howie_MorenzWhat ever happened to Chouinard? His stats looked good years ago, did he ever make it into the NHL. I am assuming he is no longer with the team as I have not heard anything about him. He turned out to be a bust. He currently plays with his brother (?) Marc Chouinard in Minnesota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHabs2002 Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 He signed with Philly this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexstream Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 *THREAD HIJACK* It's just like guys blaming habs on taking Kost instead of Carter... Look at that, from Central Scouting Archieves North American ranking: 1 STAAL, ERIC 2 BROWN, DUSTIN 3 VANEK, THOMAS 4 HORTON, NATHAN 5 GETZLAF, RYAN (... etc) 23 LAPIERRE, MAXIM (ehehe!) (...etc) 27 CARTER, JEFF FRIKKIN # 27th in North America!!! Then, be attentive, cause it comes fast, The European ranking, from the same archieves: 1 Zherdev, Nikolai 2 Michalek, Milan 3 Kostitsyn, Andrei #3 is Kost, 3rd best european over 27th best North American... makes a lot of sense to me. I personally was shocked that they didn't take Getzlaf, Bernier, Stewart... I was really surprised to see Carter's name come out at 11 *END OF THREAD HIJACK* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 ok he has failed for chouinard but the scouts still have done a great job that year drafting, chouinard, markov, dwyer, ryder and ribs. 5 guys who played for the team at one point in their career, quite impressive...considering that none of the '99 drafties played in the NHL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habscout Posted September 1, 2005 Author Share Posted September 1, 2005 I don't think you got my point. I'm saying that either Dorion or Houle got the blame for chosing Chouinard over Gagne. It's particularly poignant since there were others on the Habs scouting staff that talked to RDS the day before the draft, indicating that they were targetting Gagne. I don't buy your argument of placing the same type of blame on the rest of the league's scouts & GMs, because my point is based on the article RDS released the day before the draft, which as I stated indicates the Habs were leaning towards picking Gagne, then when their turn came up, something happened and they chose a different player. At the time, I recall that Houle was still hung up on making the team bigger, thus the selection of Chouinard over Gagne made some sense in that regard. The scouting reports did show Chouinard to be more of a shooter, but his skating was suspect. Gagne's report indicated he was better as a playmaker, was a better skater, better all around, used as a checker and on the power play. Chouinard had the size advantage over Gagne obviously, but their stats were approximately the same in their draft season if you average out Gagne's stats over the same number of games as Chouinard. Something to consider was that Chouinard's father was the head coach, so the nepotism should have allowed Eric more ice time than Simon, but I'm not sure that was the case. Gagne suffered a broken hand midway through the season, which is why he only played 53 games, and missed the first 2 games of the playoffs. Originally posted by shortcat1The choice of Eric Chouinard over Simon Gagné was NOT an error on Dorion's part. The THN draft preview had Chouinard rated 18th and Gagné at 21. Mind you, CSB had Gagné at 17 and Chouinard at 19. So, on the whole, in this sense, it was saw-off. At the time, Montreal was looking for a shooter and Chouinard had a shooter's reputation. He was also described by THN as more 'offensively gifted' than Gagné. The concern about Chouinard was that he didn't have 'grit'. But, a shooter is a shooter and if you're looking for one, Chouinard fit the bill. To blame Dorion for making this mistake is ridiculous. The same blame would have to be put on every scouting co-ordinator and general manager on every team. All of them have made the same 'mistake'. Who's to know how a player will develop? Who's to know all aspects of a player's make-up and how these will impact on his growth? The dismissal of Dorion may very well be another step by Gainey to get the people HE wants in his organization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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