Stan Bowman linked to the Oilers GM role--discussion about him, the job and the ramifications.

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Bad PR, that's all I got.

At least that doesn't count against the cap.

 

[Little Fury]

Wasn’t just the right person to endorse him - got it.

Yes I think the endorsement is more meaningful coming from the actual victim vs a consultant.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

the only reason why this makes sense for Jackson is that he now has an unfavourable executive he can use as a fall guy if things go wrong

 

[Broberg Speed]

No one outside of the know has a clue what the league's official mandate on Bowman will be.

Perhaps we'll see a dynasty in Edmonton, then again we may drop to the bottom. Maybe endless purgatory of mediocrity like the Flames which is nothing to laugh at. If anyone knows the anguish of a decade of darkness it's Oiler fans.

As long as the club signs Draisaitl and McDavid I'll stick around and find out.

It pains me to think they were looking at Bill Zito before they got all weak-kneed when Holland became available.

The idea of a super GM is a NHL fairy tale. Look at Yzerman now. The league is micro managed from the top.

 

[Paralyzer]

https://www.respectgroupinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/my-work-with-stan-bowman-sk.pdf

Letter from Sheldon Kennedy talking about the whole situation and his thoughts and what happened after 2021. This strikes me as both parties have moved on:

"In September 2023 Stan co-facilitated the Respect Charter session at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. That workshop was attended by Kyle Beach, who was then the Assistant Coach o fthe Men's Hockey Team. I heard from both men afterwards that they appreciated the opportunity to meet again, discuss their personal realities, and to clear the air given that time had passed."

This right there tells me he wants to better himself. And I got time for people who strive to do that. So I will give him a shot and see what he can do.

People can react however they want. Who are you to say it's overreacting?

All my respect to the people who can draw their line in the sand and walk away. I'm unfortunately far too engrossed in this team to take a principled stand like that.

Over-reacting ie. not getting ALL the facts. You can leave if you want. I don't care. But it's like Twitter and the mis-information and lies shared that cause the issues. I would rather people read into the situation first before making a reaction. But in any case, do with it as you please.

 

[oilers4life5]

Dude he was the fn GM of the team and wrote a the guy a recommendation letter that got him hired at a school so he could do it to more kids. You may want to back up a bit on this tirade

Never happened. He wrote no such letter. Got get some facts.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Over-reacting ie. not getting ALL the facts. You can leave if you want. I don't care. But it's like Twitter and the mis-information and lies shared that cause the issues. I would rather people read into the situation first before making a reaction. But in any case, do with it as you please.

Bowman was the GM and sexual assault went underreported on his watch. All of that sentence is true and reason enough why he shouldn't be gifted the best GM job in the league.

If Bowman did nothing wrong, he would not have been suspended by the NHL.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Not a fan of Bowman but man does Jeff Jackson have a set on him.

The one thing I like about this hire is that it cements our spot as the most disliked team in the league. Being hated on is one of the most motivating things in the world, when people are hating on you all you want to do is win and rub it in their faces. I think the Oilers are going to be doing a lot of that this year.

 

[Paralyzer]

Bowman was the GM and sexual assault went underreported on his watch. All of that sentence is true and reason enough why he shouldn't be gifted the best GM job in the league.

If Bowman did nothing wrong, he would not have been suspended by the NHL.

Or maybe they suspended them to give them time to reflect on the situation and the optics by the fans was being blinded by what actually happened? If you read any of the articles and links I posted, you'd see he wasn't the issue, but the superiors ahead of him, which he took FULL responsibility, when he didn't have to, but he did. That shows he wanted to better himself, and he said in the Sheldon Kennedy letter, he wished he could have changed the outcome back then, if he knew his superiors wouldn't do anything about it.

"I was immediately struck by Stan’s genuine care and concern for Kyle, and what could have been done differently. During that period, we spoke almost daily about the seriousness of sexual abuse from the victim’s perspective. We didn’t talk about hockey at all. We focused on what went wrong, what he could have done differently and, most importantly, what could be done to prevent this from happening again."

But if you want to paint a picture on your own opinion, fine by me.

 

[Oilslick941611]

I voted he was never convicted of a crime. But he helped hide one and this is a disappointing hiring.

 

[Broberg Speed]

I voted he was never convicted of a crime. But he helped hide one and this is a disappointing hiring.

That's literal conspiracy, the number one qualification of General Managers in a fixed league.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Absolutely true, f*** atrocious decision.

Hey bro, go shit post on twitter

 

[K1984]

Yes I think the endorsement is more meaningful coming from the actual victim vs a consultant.

Should just toss any endorsement by an expert in the area that worked with him directly for over a year. Just toss that because you want to be mad.

 

[Boner Pills]

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

Why are the Oil obsessed with throwing away any goodwill they build with the fanbase

 

[3IR]

No one outside of the know has a clue what the league's official mandate on Bowman will be.

Perhaps we'll see a dynasty in Edmonton, then again we may drop to the bottom.

As long as the club signs Draisaitl and McDavid I'll stick around and find out.


The idea of a super GM is a NHL fairy tale. Look at Yzerman now. The league is micro managed from the top.

Even if you’re able to overlook all the controversy, given the bolded, why would this team take all the positive momentum and goodwill it made with fans this last year, and hire the one guy who had any controversy at all surrounding him? Especially when he’s 2 years removed from being in the league at all, and the last thing of note he did was re-sign Kane and Toews before turning Chicago into a bottom feeder less than a season after.

The potential benefits are nearly impossible to see, as he hasn’t done anything worthy of calling him a “good” GM in almost a decade. Meanwhile the controversy and negative attention are almost certainly going to cause rifts in the fan base, and bring a ton of negative media attention. Not to mention what the players may think as we try and convince everyone to play for us for a discount.

 

[GhostfaceWu]

I don't know why you'd put your players through the inevitable questions that come with a signing like this. In a contract year you want this guy with his history trying to convince Leon and McDavid to sign long term?

 

[Duder54]

I'm genuinely perplexed. Is Stan Bowman's record as a GM really so good that it's worth taking on all the baggage and negative press than comes with this hire?

How do players in the room feel about this? (I assume they were consulted)

How do other GMs in the league feel about doing business with Bowman going forward?

How will future free agents feel about signing with the Oilers given Bowman's history?

 

[BlackDogg]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1816103112941117511

maybe this is AI??

 

[K1984]

Hate the hire, hate that the organization blew their goodwill into oblivion when it was at an all time high, and can't grasp the logic for a moment.

Having said that - hopefully a lid can be kept on the drama. I've already seen that a multi-page written endorsement from Sheldon Kennedy wasn't good enough. Bowman f***ed up, Bowman probably knows he f***ed up, and at at least as far as it appears now, it looks like Bowman has done all the right things in the interim to atone or attempt to atone.

Before people get emotional, claim to be "done" (laughable), or won't be satisfied until Bowman is banished for the remainder of his life, maybe just listen to what everyone has to say.

 

[Paralyzer]

Hate the hire, hate that the organization blew their goodwill into oblivion when it was at an all time high, and can't grasp the logic for a moment.

Having said that - hopefully a lid can be kept on the drama. I've already seen that a multi-page written endorsement from Sheldon Kennedy wasn't good enough. Bowman f***ed up, Bowman probably knows he f***ed up, and at at least as far as it appears now, it looks like Bowman has done all the right things in the interim to atone or attempt to atone.

Before people get emotional, claim to be "done" (laughable), or won't be satisfied until Bowman is banished for the remainder of his life, maybe just listen to what everyone has to say.

That is exactly how I feel too. Couldn't have said it better.

 

[Broberg Speed]

Why are the Oil obsessed with throwing away any goodwill they build with the fanbase

If Katz can get you to follow his team while going against your convictions over this hire, how would you define the relationship between the owner and the fan... what exactly does he own? That's power.

Even if you’re able to overlook all the controversy, given the bolded, why would this team take all the positive momentum and goodwill it made with fans this last year, and hire the one guy who had any controversy at all surrounding him? Especially when he’s 2 years removed from being in the league at all, and the last thing of note he did was re-sign Kane and Toews before turning Chicago into a bottom feeder less than a season after.

The potential benefits are nearly impossible to see, as he hasn’t done anything worthy of calling him a “good” GM in almost a decade. Meanwhile the controversy and negative attention are almost certainly going to cause rifts in the fan base, and bring a ton of negative media attention. Not to mention what the players may think as we try and convince everyone to play for us for a discount.

You're looking at it the wrong way. It's 100% melodrama.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Hate the hire, hate that the organization blew their goodwill into oblivion when it was at an all time high, and can't grasp the logic for a moment.

Having said that - hopefully a lid can be kept on the drama. I've already seen that a multi-page written endorsement from Sheldon Kennedy wasn't good enough. Bowman f***ed up, Bowman probably knows he f***ed up, and at at least as far as it appears now, it looks like Bowman has done all the right things in the interim to atone or attempt to atone.

Before people get emotional, claim to be "done" (laughable), or won't be satisfied until Bowman is banished for the remainder of his life, maybe just listen to what everyone has to say.

ya the disappointing thing is they could've literally hired anyone else and fans would have been ok with the hire...they picked the ONE GUY who carries too much baggage

that aside, he's a poor GM IMO...he made poor trades near the end of his tenure and signed Seth Jones to an awful contract that set the bar for Nurse

 

[Oildrum]

Brutal hire. Just look at all the fighting in this thread alone, why bother taking the risk? I don't care if he's trying to better himself, that's great go do that somewhere else.

There are 32 GM positions, that's it. You can't tell me there aren't at least 33 qualified individuals.

 

[McDrai]

I don't know why you'd put your players through the inevitable questions that come with a signing like this. In a contract year you want this guy with his history trying to convince Leon and McDavid to sign long term?

Yep. Idiotic. I’m hoping JJ ran this by some of the core players. The last thing we need is one of them requesting a trade or choosing not to re-sign due to this hiring.