Ron Francis

[Fistfullofbeer]

LOL, you're old AF.

Yeah, I remember looking at draft picks in the paper, but all very meaningless because there was absolutely no context. You had no way of doing free research back then on 11th round picks, especially when you were in elementary school like me. Not to mention late round picks were mostly meaningless, that's why they shortened the draft. I knew a guy in college that was drafted, the team never even bothered to contact him. (I lived next door to a couple of players for one year, so I met most of the team.)

And yes, kids are indeed spoiled AF, we finally agree on something.

LOL.

Different comparison but I actually laugh sometimes when my in-laws or my wife (born and raised in the US) tell me stories about her school. She was talking about her scientific calculator she used in school and how big and heavy it was. I started laughing because all I had was a log book. We were not even allowed to use calculators.

In India, I had never used the internet for anything other than researching colleges I wanted to apply to in the US. When I did research for school projects it was going to the library, checking out books. I didnt have a cell phone till my junior year in college and I did that only because I needed to have a personal number for job interviews. And it was a flip phone ..

It was such a different world but I loved it, ha ha. Things have changed so much in the last 20+ years. I think the whole human race has dumbed down a lot though.

 

[Gniwder]

LOL.

Different comparison but I actually laugh sometimes when my in-laws or my wife (born and raised in the US) tell me stories about her school. She was talking about her scientific calculator she used in school and how big and heavy it was. I started laughing because all I had was a log book. We were not even allowed to use calculators.

In India, I had never used the internet for anything other than researching colleges I wanted to apply to in the US. When I did research for school projects it was going to the library, checking out books. I didnt have a cell phone till my junior year in college and I did that only because I needed to have a personal number for job interviews. And it was a flip phone ..

It was such a different world but I loved it, ha ha. Things have changed so much in the last 20+ years. I think the whole human race has dumbed down a lot though.

I would have taken an entirely different path in life had the internet become a thing before I went to college. Oddly, I'm doing exactly what I wanted to avoid when I graduated from college..... spending all day indoors on the computer. Both of my brothers went into software development, I took a different path that basically looped back to computers anyways. Had I known, I would've just done software development and I'd be rich like my older brother, lol.

 

[Irie]

LOL, you're old AF.

Yeah, I remember looking at draft picks in the paper, but all very meaningless because there was absolutely no context. You had no way of doing free research back then on 11th round picks, especially when you were in elementary school like me. Not to mention late round picks were mostly meaningless, that's why they shortened the draft. I knew a guy in college that was drafted, the team never even bothered to contact him. (I lived next door to a couple of players for one year, so I met most of the team.)

And yes, kids are indeed spoiled AF, we finally agree on something.

I think we agreed on plenty with the many discussions we had last spring... we just happen to vehemently disagree on the expansion draft

And that is ok. This place would be boring AF if we were all hive mind.

 

[Irie]

LOL.

Different comparison but I actually laugh sometimes when my in-laws or my wife (born and raised in the US) tell me stories about her school. She was talking about her scientific calculator she used in school and how big and heavy it was. I started laughing because all I had was a log book. We were not even allowed to use calculators.

In India, I had never used the internet for anything other than researching colleges I wanted to apply to in the US. When I did research for school projects it was going to the library, checking out books. I didnt have a cell phone till my junior year in college and I did that only because I needed to have a personal number for job interviews. And it was a flip phone ..

It was such a different world but I loved it, ha ha. Things have changed so much in the last 20+ years. I think the whole human race has dumbed down a lot though.

Sounds like your India reality was similar to my US reality at that age, because I am several years older than you.

But if I have your age right, it sounds like you likely had the Internet for college, which was probably convenient. Research papers were a ton more work back in the day because 80% of college paper writing was doing the actual research in the library. Now I bet it's about 10%.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Sounds like your India reality was similar to my US reality at that age, because I am several years older than you.

But if I have your age right, it sounds like you likely had the Internet for college, which was probably convenient. Research papers were a ton more work back in the day because 80% of college paper writing was doing the actual research in the library. Now I bet it's about 10%.

Internet was just starting to get popular at that time (late 90s). Even when I got my first cell phone data charges were pretty nuts and there was still out-of-region charges that were exorbitant. Plus we had flip phones so using internet on those made no sense.

Most of my research for Computer/Electrical engineering was done in the college library than the internet to be honest. I do remember that people were starting to use the internet as a resource for school by the time I hit senior year though.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Good positive read for Kraken fans. Francis on Brighter Future

The part below is pretty interesting and surprising. I knew Francis was good at drafting but those numbers are better than I had expected.

The volume of picks Francis collected? He knows what it can produce. He and several members of his staff that were with him in Carolina and work now for Seattle made 33 picks in four drafts. More than 80 percent - 27 players - are with NHL organizations five to eight years later.

 

[The Marquis]

Good positive read for Kraken fans. Francis on Brighter Future

The part below is pretty interesting and surprising. I knew Francis was good at drafting but those numbers are better than I had expected.

Wow, that is definitely a great track record. Amazing even.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Yeah. For us it was all about cricket growing up. In the 80s and 90s it was primarily international competition since India did not have any cricket leagues. Now it has become even more insane with the IPL (Indian Premier League) which is basically equivalent to any of the EU soccer leagues. Its a fun competition that lasts for around a month with 10 teams playing against each other to make it to the playoffs.

And I can honestly say I do not understand organized sports. I grew up playing soccer and cricket for my school but I would not really call it 'organized sports'. It was more of, 'Hey, you are good at this. You can play' kind of thing. Things in the US are completely different. There is this drive to be the best at things which I think is what makes the US what it is. Things are probably different in India now with more globalization but I still think there is a different attitude and drive between the 2 countries as far as sports goes.

Wouldn't it be fair to say that in India the drive is to make your family proud and bring them honour, more on a personal/family level, while in the U.S. the impetus is on competition and being better than your neighbour/classmates/etc. as appropriate?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Wouldn't it be fair to say that in India the drive is to make your family proud and bring them honour, more on a personal/family level, while in the U.S. the impetus is on competition and being better than your neighbour/classmates/etc. as appropriate?

Believe me when I say this, the bolded above is a very high pressure situation for us. The only difference being its all about education. Getting highest grades at your level, getting the best scores in all your exams, etc. For most of us who grew up in middle-class families, education was all that we were pushed on growing up.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Believe me when I say this, the bolded above is a very high pressure situation for us. The only difference being its all about education. Getting highest grades at your level, getting the best scores in all your exams, etc. For most of us who grew up in middle-class families, education was all that we were pushed on growing up.

I'd say that's a pretty good thing though. China, India, other countries are rapidly catching up with or starting to pass the U.S. (and Canada in part) primarily for improving and pushing education rather than cutting funding to it, and watching it slowly deteriorate. But I guess this is way off topic.
I think the GM should probably be the smartest man in the room, so is that Ron Francis? idk.

 

[TheeNorthStar]

If I had to grade him on this draft alone as a starting point, and forgetting that he chose Hakstol as the bench boss... he's kicking off his tenure with a D.

D- if the trades announced aren't significant or notable. Now he's put himself in a position to willing overpay for players in UFA simply because he has the means...? Yikes.

Hasn't failed yet because I will allow him a full off season and playing season to see what happens but good god -- years of "workshopping" the draft to end up with this at face value? Christ.

Edit: D- confirmed

K... he can be fired now.

Back from 2021. 4 years later I hope his tenure ran its course.

 

[periferal]

Back from 2021. 4 years later I hope his tenure ran its course.

Wow. Respect to you for digging up this thread.

I said it back when I created it - Ron Francis is NOT the guy. Just a terrible hire for multiple reasons. People wanted to give him a chance, and this not as familiar with the NHL at the time, that's fine. But it's 4 years now and the team is getting worse.

And to be hoenst a hire like Dan Bylsma as coach should tell you what you need to know about Francis. I'm sure some said, "Wow - A Stanley Cup winning coach coming to coach the Kraken!," but my word does that not tell the story. Bylsma was literally carried to a StanleyCup by an all-world team highlighted by generational hall of fame talent in Crosby and Malkin. Bylsma has no business being a head coach, and certainly shouldn't be around young/developing talnet.

But overall both the results and the trajectory are not good enough and Francis is 100% responsible. Now it's time for ownership to take responsibility and make a necessary change.

 

[Fuhrious]

Wow. Respect to you for digging up this thread.

I said it back when I created it - Ron Francis is NOT the guy. Just a terrible hire for multiple reasons. People wanted to give him a chance, and this not as familiar with the NHL at the time, that's fine. But it's 4 years now and the team is getting worse.

Few if any here were over the moon about either the Francis or the Hakstol hirings. It was the hand we were dealt however, so most of us got behind them and offered our support. What else could we do?

And to be hoenst a hire like Dan Bylsma as coach should tell you what you need to know about Francis. I'm sure some said, "Wow - A Stanley Cup winning coach coming to coach the Kraken!," but my word does that not tell the story. Bylsma was literally carried to a StanleyCup by an all-world team highlighted by generational hall of fame talent in Crosby and Malkin. Bylsma has no business being a head coach, and certainly shouldn't be around young/developing talnet.

Nobody here was saying that. Nobody. If anything the collective opinion was "well, he did okay in Coachella Valley so I guess there should probably be a "road back" for guys like him to earn another chance". Your implying it honestly shows how little actual attention you've paid our group dialogue for the past 3+ years.

But overall both the results and the trajectory are not good enough and Francis is 100% responsible. Now it's time for ownership to take responsibility and make a necessary change.

Yeah...we know. Thanks to all of you coming back 4 years later simply to tell the rest of us "I told you so". Very helpful.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Few if any here were over the moon about either the Francis or the Hakstol hirings. It was the hand we were dealt however, so most of us got behind them and offered our support. What else could we do?

This is the crux of it. We will support the team whether we like the GM or the coach. Those things are beyond our control. Yes, it sucks to see the state of the team and if anyone is on our forums enough, they will notice that we aren't exactly happy. That being said, it's crying over spilt milk.

 

[Kevinsane]

This is the crux of it. We will support the team whether we like the GM or the coach. Those things are beyond our control. Yes, it sucks to see the state of the team and if anyone is on our forums enough, they will notice that we aren't exactly happy. That being said, it's crying over spilt milk.

The resurrection of this thread seems very Captain Obvious-esque. It’s almost an insult to the collective intelligence of our forum, as you note.