Management Don Sweeney

UncleRico

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May 8, 2017
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Well it’s going to be interesting to see how he handles this offseason. No draft picks until the 4th round so not much trade value. Looks like we will be adding mostly free agents unless there are trades for draft picks of current roster players.
 

Festy1986

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Apr 23, 2018
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????



No, it's not.

?

There's those of you perfectly happy with being in the mix while never truly being in the mix and then there's the rest of us who are wondering how you can keep your job while having produced no championship winning seasons.

If the goal is simply to make the playoffs than Sweeney is one of the best GMs of all time.

Also, he sucks at asset accumulation. Peter Chiarelli was a better GM by far. Both at drafting and free agency.

Also he won a cup. Did it save his job?
 
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BruinDust

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Aug 2, 2005
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Yet overall his comfort with CHOOSING to ice a roster short of one top 6 winger, let alone this season's center situation is another nail in the coffin. Or should be.

Hall was the best player in the playoffs last season and a top six talent.

Gryz/Forbort remained. Ullmark as well but at least the logic of build from the net can be argued. If he were such an incredible GM he would have found a way. Sweeney often settles and that is when the Bruins suffer for it. Example, Maroon. This offseason will be most telling.

Aside from extending his own players and a few magical trades (Lindholm was excellent, despite his playoffs this year), he should be very replaceable. If not for the so called Perfection Line, Krejci, Chara etc all inherited I am not confident he survives nearly this long in Boston. There was a decent chance he would have been finished two seasons ago if Cassidy had not added Debrusk to the Bergeron line late in the season, as that year was dreadful to that point.

I've always been on the fence re: Sweeney he's far from perfect but just calling a spade a spade. If you look at each individual move he made from say July 1st free agency onward, it's a big pile of mostly minor moves but not many mistakes. Found great value in free agency there is no question about it, got Pasta to an extension, Frederic bridged again, the Brazeau promotion, stole Peeke from CBJ, Maroon cost basically nothing even if it didn't really work out. On a macro level he ice'd a flawed roster short at minimum one top-level forward but that's the salary cap situation he had to work with.

Like you said, this offseason will be most telling as he has cap to work with, assets to trade (Ullmark, Zacha), goaltending and D pretty much set, he can really focus on improving the forward group in all areas.
 
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Gonzothe7thDman

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Jun 24, 2007
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?

There's those of you perfectly happy with being in the mix while never truly being in the mix and then there's the rest of us who are wondering how you can keep your job while having produced no championship winning seasons.

If the goal is simply to make the playoffs than Sweeney is one of the best GMs of all time.

Also, he sucks at asset accumulation. Peter Chiarelli was a better GM by far. Both at drafting and free agency.

Also he won a cup. Did it save his job?

This franchise has won 1 cup in 50+ years. The fans are conditioned to be ok with being above average.
 

LouJersey

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Jun 29, 2002
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This franchise has won 1 cup in 50+ years. The fans are conditioned to be ok with being above average.
This. It’s the Harry Sinden 101. Ownership was fine with no cups then and they are now The fans eventually fall in line and are happy with exciting regular seasons and a first round win every couple of seasons
 

Dennis Bonvie

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Dec 29, 2007
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?

There's those of you perfectly happy with being in the mix while never truly being in the mix and then there's the rest of us who are wondering how you can keep your job while having produced no championship winning seasons.

If the goal is simply to make the playoffs than Sweeney is one of the best GMs of all time.

Also, he sucks at asset accumulation. Peter Chiarelli was a better GM by far. Both at drafting and free agency.

Also he won a cup. Did it save his job?

And yet Sweeney actually is a GM and Chiarelli is not.
 

24giovanni

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Aug 2, 2005
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All I can say is when it comes to free agents, Sweeney better not go bargain hunting again this f***ing year.
 

chrisab123

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Feb 9, 2013
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I used to sit here and explain my reasons for wanting Sweeney gone, but then I realized that as long as this team keeps making the playoffs, Sweeney has a job for life. Hell, Harry is still somehow involved with this team. So until the old man passes, they'll never change course. The cup would be great, but the goal is to make money.

Sweeney has been a GM in Boston almost as long as Chiarelli or Theo Epstein. Thats crazy considering the results. I don't even think he's a bad GM at this point but him and Neely have to go. They need some kind of a change of direction from someone outside of the organization. But again as long as Jacobs is around that will never happen. Bottoming out and rebuilding will never happen.
 
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Festy1986

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I used to sit here and explain my reasons for wanting Sweeney gone, but then I realized that as long as this team keeps making the playoffs, Sweeney has a job for life. Hell, Harry is still somehow involved with this team. So until the old man passes, they'll never change course. The cup would be great, but the goal is to make money.

Sweeney has been a GM in Boston almost as long as Chiarelli or Theo Epstein. Thats crazy considering the results. I don't even think he's a bad GM at this point but him and Neely have to go. They need some kind of a change of direction from someone outside of the organization. But again as long as Jacobs is around that will never happen. Bottoming out and rebuilding will never happen.

Actually him and Peter both have 9 seasons under their Bruins resume now.

Comparing their two records, drafting and free agency signings and I don't think it's even close who was better.

And this place was calling for peters head for years.
 

Dennis Bonvie

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Dec 29, 2007
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This franchise has won 1 cup in 50+ years. The fans are conditioned to be ok with being above average.

Consider the teams still alive in the playoffs right now.

None of them have won a Cup in this century.

Florida and Vancouver have never won a Cup.

Florida has been in the league for 30 years, missed the playoffs 20 times.

Vancouver has been in the league 53 years, missed the playoffs 24 times.

Dallas hasn't won a Cup in 25 years. Missed the playoffs 10 times since then.

The Rangers haven't won a Cup in 30 years. Missed the playoffs 11 times since then.

Edmonton hasn't won a Cup in 34 years. Missed the playoffs 18 times since then.

So when teams have a GM that puts a product on the ice that has a chance (make the playoffs) every year, they are not likely to fire that guy.
 
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chrisab123

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Actually him and Peter both have 9 seasons under their Bruins resume now.

Comparing their two records, drafting and free agency signings and I don't think it's even close who was better.

And this place was falling for peters head for years.
I mean the big red mark against Chiarelli is that he was never a "Bruin". Again, I don't think he was even particularly great, and he deserved to be let go. But what is the reason for Sweeney being teflon on this board?

Sure we can blame Bruce for the most recent choke vs St Louis, however, he also turned around and won with Vegas. Its the culture and the organization that needs to change.
 

UncleRico

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May 8, 2017
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There just needs to be a change in philosophy. There is a major disconnect from regular season performance to post season.

Sweeney needs to add grit to the top 6 and get away from the recent two goalie experiment.

Insane about of cap riding the bench this playoffs with Ullmark, gryz and forbort being scratches in the playoffs.

Consider the teams still alive in the playoffs right now.

None of them have won a Cup in this century.

Florida and Vancouver have never won a Cup.

Florida has been in the league for 30 years, missed the playoffs 20 times.

Vancouver has been in the league 53 years, missed the playoffs 24 times.

Dallas hasn't won a Cup in 25 years. Missed the playoffs 10 times since then.

The Rangers haven't won a Cup in 30 years. Missed the playoffs 11 times since then.

Edmonton hasn't won a Cup in 34 years. Missed the playoffs 18 times since then.

So when teams have a GM that puts a product on the ice that has a chance (make the playoffs) every year, they are not likely to fire that guy.

And when there is such an overwhelming amount of nepotism throughout the organization of former players in roles it makes it less likely they will get fired.


Easier when it’s a guy like Chiarelli than Sweeney.

Id at least like they to add another outside set of eyes to the organization in some capacity. Seems like they’ve built the same type of team for years now and haven’t made many strides in getting over the hump
 
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Festy1986

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Apr 23, 2018
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I mean the big red mark against Chiarelli is that he was never a "Bruin". Again, I don't think he was even particularly great, and he deserved to be let go. But what is the reason for Sweeney being teflon on this board?

Sure we can blame Bruce for the most recent choke vs St Louis, however, he also turned around and won with Vegas. Its the culture and the organization that needs to change.

Last year's regular season bought him who knows how many years.

He definitely was trending toward getting fired.
 

Festy1986

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Apr 23, 2018
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he had no choice last summer friend, he had next to no money to spend

This is true but it's also true that he's the reason they had no salary. Hes the one who constructed the team.

It's not like he inherited someone else's mess.
 
Feb 25, 2016
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I don't know why people are complaining about Sweeney and Neely. They're doing everything the Jacobs have budgeted for. They were picked to "lead" because they are cut from the same cloth as Sinden, who managed the team as a profit first- and a cup contender, if they fell ass-backward into it.

2019 should have been that ass-backward year. But, when being a perpetual "all-most" team becomes a culture, becoming something different is hard to do. Fill the seats with hope, get those concessions to stand lines 8 rows-12 deep, and have management look frustrated when the season ending inevitable occurs; that's job 1.
:popcorn:

Wash-Rinse-Repeat!

 
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Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
31,349
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Connecticut
I don't know why people are complaining about Sweeney and Neely. They're doing everything the Jacobs have budgeted for. They were picked to "lead" because they are cut from the same cloth as Sinden, who managed the team as a profit first- and a cup contender, if they fell ass-backward into it.

2019 should have been that ass-backward year. But, when being a perpetual "all-most" team becomes a culture, becoming something different is hard to do. Fill the seats with hope, get those concessions to stand lines 8 rows-12 deep, and have management look frustrated when the season ending inevitable occurs.

Wash-Rinse-Repeat!



You mean spending to the Cap?

You're a couple of decades behind the times with this post.
 
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Festy1986

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Apr 23, 2018
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There was no mess.

Best regular season team ever, bounced in first round by 8th seed team while losing 3 in a row and 3 games at home?

ALL THE WHILE having zero cap to improve a team losing a half dozen plus players.

Your bar is extremely low.
 

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