Eric Crawford unappreciation thread

[Runner77]

Was just commenting on the Marc part. I don't even like Eric.

We're on the same wavelength there. I don't think I've ever seen anyone supporting Eric's work on this site.

 

[Price is Wright]

Eric Crawford is his own man. He doesn't need to be connected to his brother. If Marc Crawford had pull, he wouldn't be an assistant coach in Ottawa making some of the least money in the league (I doubt he's making much like Boucher, who is one of the worst paid coaches in the NHL) and he would have convinced Eric to come to Ottawa.

He wasn't brought right into a cushy job he wasn't prepared for like other Bergevin buddies like Scott Mellanby and Martin Lapointe. He was fired from Vancouver and hired by us as a pro scout. He moved up to the position because Karpan left. People clearly liked what he brought in the organization and with his experience, it led him into the position.

 

[OnTheRun]

We're on the same wavelength there. I don't think I've ever seen anyone supporting Eric's work on this site.

Well... Uh... Eric c't'un battant.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

We're on the same wavelength there. I don't think I've ever seen anyone supporting Eric's work on this site.

To be honest, even my amateur scouting faith has wavered. I never thought I'd say that with TT in charge but it's been years since we got anything worthwhile.

 

[Runner77]

Eric Crawford is his own man. He doesn't need to be connected to his brother. If Marc Crawford had pull, he wouldn't be an assistant coach in Ottawa making some of the least money in the league (I doubt he's making much like Boucher, who is one of the worst paid coaches in the NHL) and he would have convinced Eric to come to Ottawa.

He wasn't brought right into a cushy job he wasn't prepared for like other Bergevin buddies like Scott Mellanby and Martin Lapointe. He was fired from Vancouver and hired by us as a pro scout. He moved up to the position because Karpan left. People clearly liked what he brought in the organization and with his experience, it led him into the position.

We can speculate all we want but in the end, the hiring of Eric continues to be en eyesore. There is nothing in his resume that warrants his hiring.

I don't know that we need to overly delve into MB's relationship with Marc or why Marc wasn't hired at the time. Could be a bunch of reasons, including as a I mentioned how I had read that Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford worked closely together in Europe and had envisaged going together as a duo as soon as Boucher would land an NHL job. There is little doubt that there is a personal connection between the Crawfords and MB, however, none of it enhances Eric Crawford's resume, which by most accounts, doesn't justify the position he currently holds with the Habs and that is all that matters.

 

[Forsead]

For what it's worth MB played a lot of games with a lot of teams. He has links to guys his age group. It's normal to an extent.

Agree, but still the list is very long for Bergevin...

Maybe we should look to how it was during Gainey's tenure, in fact he had a longer hockey and management career before coming to the habs. From what I remember, Habs managemet looked like :

Upper management :
Andre Savard : Was already there as GM and became Assistant GM when Gainey took over. Nothing indicated that they knew each other.
Pierre Gauthier : Was already there when Gainey took over. Became Assistant GM when Gainey resigned. They knew each other as part of management team for Nagano Olympics for Team Canada.
Julien Brisebois : Was already there when Gainey took over. Unlikely they knew each other well.
Trevor Timmins : Was already there when Gainey took over. Unlikely they knew each other well.

NHL Coachs :
Claude Julien : Was already there when Gainey took over. Unlikely they knew each other well. , he was let got for Guy Carbonneau.
Doug Jarvis : Was already there when Gainey took over. Former teammate during glorious era and player during Gainey management career in Dallas. Started as AHL head coach and then assistant NHL coach. He seemed like a guy Gainey had confidence in.
Rick Green : Was already there when Gainey took over. Former teammate, he was let go when Gainey put Carbonneaur in charge.
Rollie Melanson : Was already there when Gainey took over. Unlikely they knew each other. Was let go when Martin brought his guy.

Guy Carbonneau : Former teammate during glorious era and player during Gainey management career in Dallas. Was let go for Jacques Martin.
Kirk Muller : Was brought by his friend Carbonneau. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.
Doug Jarvis : see above.
Rollie Melanson : see above.

Jacques Martin : Seemed like a Pierre Gauthier hiring. Gauthier was his GM with the Sens.
Perry Pearn : Was brought by his friend Martin and Gauthier. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.
Kirk Muller : see above.
Pierre Groulx

AHL Coachs :
Doug Jarvis : see above.
Ron Wilson : Was already there when Gainey took over. Unlikely they knew each other well.

Don Lever : Hired to replace Doug Jarvis. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.
Ron Wilson : see above.

Guy Boucher : Replaced Don Lever. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.
Martin Raymond : Was brought by his friend Boucher. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.
Dan Lacroix : Was brought by his friend Boucher. Unlikely that he knew Gainey well.


My memory is failling so correct me if I'm wrong and feel free to add, but it seems there was much less nepotism. The worst cases was Carbonneau and when he brought his son to the AHL and this was a nothing move in the end.

 

[Vachon23]

Eric Crawford is his own man. He doesn't need to be connected to his brother. If Marc Crawford had pull, he wouldn't be an assistant coach in Ottawa making some of the least money in the league (I doubt he's making much like Boucher, who is one of the worst paid coaches in the NHL) and he would have convinced Eric to come to Ottawa.

He wasn't brought right into a cushy job he wasn't prepared for like other Bergevin buddies like Scott Mellanby and Martin Lapointe. He was fired from Vancouver and hired by us as a pro scout. He moved up to the position because Karpan left. People clearly liked what he brought in the organization and with his experience, it led him into the position.

that was a tough lost for MTL...

 

[FormerLurker]

We can speculate all we want but in the end, the hiring of Eric continues to be en eyesore. There is nothing in his resume that warrants his hiring.

I don't know that we need to overly delve into MB's relationship with Marc or why Marc wasn't hired at the time. Could be a bunch of reasons, including as a I mentioned how I had read that Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford worked closely together in Europe and had envisaged going together as a duo as soon as Boucher would land an NHL job. There is little doubt that there is a personal connection between the Crawfords and MB, however, none of it enhances Eric Crawford's resume, which by most accounts, doesn't justify the position he currently holds with the Habs and that is all that matters.

I believe that this has been stated so often that people now accept it as fact even though there is no evidence. In fact the evidence suggests strongly that the only connection is that Bergevin played for Marc Crawford for 9 games in 2004, at a time when Eric was an assistant coach with the Moose in Winnipeg. That's the sum total connection. Marc Crawford is 5 years older than Bergevin and from Ontario, so they didn't connect in childhood. Each have been continuously employed by different organizations in different cities for their entire adult lives. There simply hasn't been an opportunity for them to be "best friends" as you alleged earlier in the thread. The evidence suggests that Eric Crawford got his job with the Habs based on his resume with the Canucks and not his connection to Bergevin.

There certainly are some "cronyism" hires within this organization (as there are with many other teams), but not nearly to the extent that some people here are suggesting. Joel Bouchard is entering a honeymoon period with the fans here. However if things don't go well for him this fall I wouldn't be surprised if someone here suggests that he's just another friend hired by Bergevin. You know, cause they played 7 games together 15 years ago.

 

[Runner77]

I believe that this has been stated so often that people now accept it as fact even though there is no evidence. In fact the evidence suggests strongly that the only connection is that Bergevin played for Marc Crawford for 9 games in 2004, at a time when Eric was an assistant coach with the Moose in Winnipeg. That's the sum total connection. Marc Crawford is 5 years older than Bergevin and from Ontario, so they didn't connect in childhood. Each have been continuously employed by different organizations in different cities for their entire adult lives. There simply hasn't been an opportunity for them to be "best friends" as you alleged earlier in the thread. The evidence suggests that Eric Crawford got his job with the Habs based on his resume with the Canucks and not his connection to Bergevin.

Sure, you can map out where everyone of them has been and not been, but to suggest that friendships in hockey can only take place when two ships cross in the night, is silly. Not every close friendship is a function of time spent within a certain organization at a certain time. It's like anyone's circle of friends, it can get expanded via friends of friends or happenstance. It's never a linear thing. So, playing detective with who was where during what month, is counter-productive as it's not a sine qua non thing.

When you say "as you alleged", it's exactly that -- an allegation, nothing more. I based it on something I had read but couldn't locate. That doesn't make what I said implausible. There was also a string of tweets that I posted in the previous page where others hold the view that Marc Crawford has a close connection to MB. However, there is no point belaboring the Marc Crawford and MB connection -- it's really the Eric Crawford burnt offering that is the issue and how come he's still here.

There certainly are some "cronyism" hires within this organization (as there are with many other teams), but not nearly to the extent that some people here are suggesting. Joel Bouchard is entering a honeymoon period with the fans here. However if things don't go well for him this fall I wouldn't be surprised if someone here suggests that he's just another friend hired by Bergevin. You know, cause they played 7 games together 15 years ago.

Nah, not the same thing in the least. The biggest difference between Bouchard and his predecessor? One of them built his resume and experience from the ground up while the other didn't. One of them has a string of increasing responsibilities handled on the international stage, in the most significant midget and junior competitions, the other merely dragged his feet from Colorado where, surprise, surprise, he proved nothing. One of them was highly sought by multiple organizations according to reports, the other ... couldn't land an assistant coaching job at the NHL level if his life depended on it.

Bouchard is making it on his own merits. And for the record -- cronyism is fine and dandy, provided the crony is actually producing results. Lefebvre did none of that and was still able to ply his trade as an AHL coach for 6 years under Bergevin. If Bouchard fails, it won't be because he's somehow crossed Bergevin's path, there's too much of a personal track record of success and experience that obliterates whatever friendship he may have had with Bergevin.