Article on Trevor Timmins

[canadiensnation]

http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/1f8998be-b12f-4fac-8de3-80b19a095d99|_0.html

Here are some quotes:

"I learned the phone after the fact that he (McDonagh) had been included in the deal for Scott Gomez, he told La Presse this week. I was taken by surprise, as if someone gave me a punch in the stomach ... "

They wanted to solidify the center position and they did not believe that Ryan would develop as it did. "

"Our choice would have been different if the draft was held in Phoenix? Hard to say. But like Louis Leblanc and we thought it would grow a little better.

We also closely followed Chris Kreider (drafted by the Rangers in the 19 th) this year. But it must be admitted that the pressure to choose a player from Quebec was strong, not just from the fans, but the entire organization.


"This is my biggest regret, of course, he admits. In addition, my heart told me to take in the first round in 2006. He was face to face on our lists with the player we drafted and finally we hesitated until leaving the table for the podium. At that time, our defense was weak points and we thought David Fischer became a top 4 caliber defenseman.

Click to read more...

 

[Smokey Thompson]

So it's settled... Kreider would've been our pick if Leblanc was really Lewis White. What a shame.

 

[Grant McCagg]

You may want to add the words Claude Giroux to the final paragraph.

I think his biggest regret was taking Kostitsyn over Getzlaf.

 

[Habs Icing]

Le responsable du recrutement du Canadien depuis 2003 a longtemps été impopulaire à Montréal

What has Brunet been smoking? When was Timmins unpopular in Montreal?

 

[Laurent]

What has Brunet been smoking? When was Timmins unpopular in Montreal?

Quite often in the "popular" media actually. Mostly due to his bias towards American boys over QCers

 

[GREMLIN]

This article is gold, thank god for Matthias Brunet, the one Montreal reporter I truly admire and respect. Thanks for posting, Im such a TT fanboy.

It's heartbreaking to know how close we were to drafting Giroux, says he was toe to toe with Fisher on their list and they debated it until it was time to go on stage. Same thing for Carter and Getzlaf, he said they were listed at the same spot as AK on his lists but they went for AK because they felt he had the most raw talent.

Says Lehkonen is without a doubt our best kept secret.

I dont know how much the habs pay Timmins but I sure hope it's enough for him to stay here his whole scouting career, IMO he's this organization's biggest asset.

It also says his dream is to become an nhl gm, if we lose him to another organization I feel it would be a huge loss, as good as MB's been if I have to decide between TT and him I go with TT without wasting a second. He'd probably already be the gm if he was french...

 

[Stjonnypopo]

I get the impression that the old management didn't actually listen to Timmins other than one day a year when he did the draft. I think the new management includes him in all decisions involving prospects. Another sign is the promotion (title change?) from a few years ago.

Timmins needs to stay. I wonder what his job growth potential is on this team. Does he want to be GM? VP? I think we would be hard pressed to find a fan around here who isn't a huge fan of Timmins.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

His ambition is to become an NHL GM... surprised he hasn't become one already. It will be a sad day if/when he leaves this organization. He's really the MVP of this organization.

I get the impression that the old management didn't actually listen to Timmins other than one day a year when he did the draft. I think the new management includes him in all decisions involving prospects. Another sign is the promotion (title change?) from a few years ago.

Timmins needs to stay. I wonder what his job growth potential is on this team. Does he want to be GM? VP? I think we would be hard pressed to find a fan around here who isn't a huge fan of Timmins.

He does. Specifically says it here.

You may want to add the words Claude Giroux to the final paragraph.

I think his biggest regret was taking Kostitsyn over Getzlaf.

He seems to say his biggest regret was Fischer over Giroux. Also interesting that he says that they thought Giroux would still be around in round 2.

 

[Andy]

His ambition is to become an NHL GM... surprised he hasn't become one already. It will be a sad day if/when he leaves this organization. He's really the MVP of this organization.

I would have to agree.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

I wish he just punched Gainey in the face when he learned about McDo.

 

[Video Coach]

Heartbreaking...if we listen to TT it's Getzlaf, Giroux, Kreider, McDonagh instead of AK, Fischer, Leblanc, Gomez.

I get that we almost certainly wouldn't have gotten Galchenyuk but that would have been 2 pretty solid centres and a disgusting 1st pair.

The lesson...trust in TT...and don't pick for position.

 

[Andy]

Heartbreaking...if we listen to TT it's Getzlaf, Giroux, Kreider, McDonagh instead of AK, Fischer, Leblanc, Gomez.

I get that we almost certainly wouldn't have gotten Galchenyuk but that would have been 2 pretty solid centres and a disgusting 1st pair.

The lesson...trust in TT...and don't pick for position.

Umm, that's not what he said at all regarding those three picks. Maybe he was being politically correct with Leblanc (though he did get drafted where he was projected), but the other picks, no where did Timmins say he preferred those guys. He only said that they had them ranked at the same place. They chose Fischer because they lacked D depth and Giroux really wasn't that developed yet, and they chose Andrei because they thought he had a higher skill set.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Wow shocking to hear they didn't even pick up the phone to ask him if trading McDonagh was a good idea...

Giroux...should have listened to your heart man, Fischer will forever be the worst pick.

I wonder if a team will hire him as GM, i don't think his name ever came up.

 

[Whitesnake]

Let's calm down here. Timmins and Co LIKED Leblanc. A lot. What he's saying is that being in Montreal and the pressure to draft a francophone might have been responsible for deciding which guy he'd take.....but it's not like they didn't like him at all and went with him....

As far as 2003 is concerned, it is a mistake. He decided to go with Kostitsyn. What he's saying is that he liked others...but in the end, went with the, what seemed to be, the most skilled guy. Again, I have to his word for it.....but I just don't see how the epilepsy is a reason. Only for Montreal it wasn't? Only the Habs had doctors that seemed to be able to fix this? Hard to believe. Kostitsyn had other issues. And never was able to improve them.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He also said Kostitsyn never developed his feet and that he might have done better if he had played in WHL for Medicine Hat.

He said the rule changes in 2005 hurt Kostitsyn as well.

 

[Andy]

Let's calm down here. Timmins and Co LIKED Leblanc. A lot. What he's saying is that being in Montreal and the pressure to draft a francophone might have been responsible for deciding which guy he'd take.....but it's not like they didn't like him at all and went with him....

As far as 2003 is concerned, it is a mistake. He decided to go with Kostitsyn. What he's saying is that he liked others...but in the end, went with the, what seemed to be, the most skilled guy. Again, I have to his word for it.....but I just don't see how the epilepsy is a reason. Only for Montreal it wasn't? Only the Habs had doctors that seemed to be able to fix this? Hard to believe. Kostitsyn had other issues. And never was able to improve them.

Well, that is the reason Timmins gave no? Why believe him on everything else, but not that? Maybe it not even a question of whether other teams have doctors or not. Maybe other teams didn't even want to know if it could be fixed and took his epilepsy as a given, that is to say, they didn't question whether or not it could be addressed.

 

[Disappearing Semin]

Let's calm down here. Timmins and Co LIKED Leblanc. A lot. What he's saying is that being in Montreal and the pressure to draft a francophone might have been responsible for deciding which guy he'd take.....but it's not like they didn't like him at all and went with him....

As far as 2003 is concerned, it is a mistake. He decided to go with Kostitsyn. What he's saying is that he liked others...but in the end, went with the, what seemed to be, the most skilled guy. Again, I have to his word for it.....but I just don't see how the epilepsy is a reason. Only for Montreal it wasn't? Only the Habs had doctors that seemed to be able to fix this? Hard to believe. Kostitsyn had other issues. And never was able to improve them.

For Kostitsyn, he said that bringing him closer to the team (in the WHL) would have helped with following his progression closer more than his health I think, especially his skating. The 2005 rule changes also didn't help Kostitsyn since he wasn't the best skater.

 

[Disappearing Semin]

I would also say development is as important as the draft and with the personnel back then, even if we had drafted Giroux, I don't think he would be as good as he is now.

 

[Markov4Captain]

Kostitsyn would have never turned into anything more than what he showed. He lacked the drive. I don't blame Timmons for that pick. The guy had unbelievable skill- hard to pass up.

The Giroux and LeBlanc stories are most intriguing. I agree with a previous poster that it seems like old management didn't bother to consult Timmons on anything. It shocks me sometimes how long Gainey was able to stay in power- he ran a bush league management group.

 

[Brainiac]

The Giroux and LeBlanc stories are most intriguing. I agree with a previous poster that it seems like old management didn't bother to consult Timmons on anything. It shocks me sometimes how long Gainey was able to stay in power- he ran a bush league management group.

That's one of the things that will always elude me.

Why is it that so many people write Timmons instead of Timmins? Lindstrom instead of Lidstrom?

 

[Price My Man Crush]

That's one of the things that will always elude me.

Why is it that so many people write Timmons instead of Timmins? Lindstrom instead of Lidstrom?

Look at your keyboard. The letter "O" is next to the letter "I".

How amazing is that, right?!

 

[BaseballCoach]

Look at your keyboard. The letter "O" is next to the letter "I".

How amazing is that, right?!

Titally amazong!

 

[Andy]

Titally amazong!

Gid kniws I always replace the O's with I's by accodent and voce versa.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Loved the article but let's call it what it is.

Some of us will say "if it was up to timmins we'd have X player over Y player". It WAS up to timmins and he sided on player Y. Hindsight is great but he made a choice.

It's as if in 2005 it was between Price and Brule and he chose Price by a small margin.(I know they said Marc Staal but just hear me out here). You don't hear about this because he made the right choice.

End of the day, love TT but he makes mistakes too, that simple.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Let's calm down here. Timmins and Co LIKED Leblanc. A lot. What he's saying is that being in Montreal and the pressure to draft a francophone might have been responsible for deciding which guy he'd take.....but it's not like they didn't like him at all and went with him....

At the time LL was the highest ranked according to Mackenzie. Certainly wasn't a stretch to take him there and it's clear that Timmins liked him. Also pretty clear that he drafted him over Kreider because he was French though.

All that being said... I don't have an issue with it. I have no problem with us drafting a French talent over an English/Russian/whatever talent if they're equivalent. Nothing wrong with drafting local talent. Unfortunately it didn't work out in this case but I'd hardly blame anyone who'd take LL over Kreider.

As far as 2003 is concerned, it is a mistake. He decided to go with Kostitsyn. What he's saying is that he liked others...but in the end, went with the, what seemed to be, the most skilled guy. Again, I have to his word for it.....but I just don't see how the epilepsy is a reason. Only for Montreal it wasn't? Only the Habs had doctors that seemed to be able to fix this? Hard to believe. Kostitsyn had other issues. And never was able to improve them.

Only in hindsight. Can't blame him for taking a guy who most ranked as a top 3 talent but didn't draft because of epilepsy.

Keep in mind that was a deep draft. Others didn't want to take the risk when there was good talent available. At 10th he was probably seen as too good not to grab... You can't blame TT for grabbing somebody who was projected as an awesome talent in a really deep draft. I'm sure if he could do it again it would've been Perry or Getzlaff or whoever but...