OT: The Downfall of Paul Fenton

ConnorMcMullet

#12 Colby Cave
Jun 10, 2017
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Wow. He was willing to add to Granlund and retain salary in order to get Fiala. David Poile (Preds GM) said after the trade while laughing hysterically: "Can you believe he fell for it? What a dunce."

I think he would have proven to be worse than Chia if he stayed for another year or two.
 

Bangers

Registered User
May 31, 2006
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Wow. He was willing to add to Granlund and retain salary in order to get Fiala. David Poile (Preds GM) said after the trade while laughing hysterically: "Can you believe he fell for it? What a dunce."

I think he would have proven to be worse than Chia if he stayed for another year or two.

My biggest problem with the Oilers over the past few years isn't Chiarelli, it's that they didn't can his a** a year or so before they did (when it was apparent he wasn't a fit for the job).

But no. They kept him and allowed him to trade for Spooner and Manning and sign Kosko to a bloated extension.
 

CanmoreMike

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
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#YEG
Michael Russo: - The Downfall of Paul Fenton

I know this is extremely OT, but holy ****, if you guys have access to The Athletic, that article is damning.

This guy was somehow worse than Chia because he managed to do every bad Chia thing in a span of 14 months.

I read that article last night and I agree - it was pretty damning.

I found it hilarious that the article credits PJ Fenton - Paul's son - with the team getting Matt Boldy. Matt Boldy was going anywhere from 8th - 15th. When a player like that falls I am loathe to credit anyone in the organization with anything but walking to the stage and handing him a ball cap and jersey.

I'd like to know what Chiarelli was like behind the scenes - is there an article on that somewhere? What I have seen is that this organizations had massive divisions with the OBC and outside GMs like Tambellini and Chiarelli. Doesn't mean the outside GMs were geniuses but I kinda feel for someone working in a caustic environment.

Was Chiarelli the architect of the Oilers management culture or did he inherit a mess he wasn't able to clean out? If it was the former, then I'll agree with the masses that he should have been canned a long time ago and every team should be reluctant to hire him again. If it was the latter - let's just say I'm glad Holland and company are working from a cleaner slate than Chiarelli was.
 
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KMart27

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Jun 9, 2013
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Wow. He was willing to add to Granlund and retain salary in order to get Fiala. David Poile (Preds GM) said after the trade while laughing hysterically: "Can you believe he fell for it? What a dunce."

I think he would have proven to be worse than Chia if he stayed for another year or two.

I'm not disputing that he is a dunce but I am not sure how well it reflects on Poile to be calling him a dunce. That dunce was Poile's assistant GM for a long time.
 

CanmoreMike

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Feb 27, 2002
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#YEG
Also some damning stuff about Pontus Aberg in the article that certain Oilers fans should read.

The Oilers and Chiarelli were ripped for letting Aberg go for free only to see him score at a goal a game clip his first seven games with the Ducks.

That article articulated why three teams in about 16 months have been willing to see him go
 

Cloned

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Aug 25, 2003
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I'm not disputing that he is a dunce but I am not sure how well it reflects on Poile to be calling him a dunce. That dunce was Poile's assistant GM for a long time.

Poile is low key ruthless.
 

rboomercat90

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Mar 24, 2013
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The article reminded me of the stories we heard out of Philadelphia about Hextall and how he got paranoid, didn’t trust anyone and isolated himself from his staff. We heard similar things about Chiarelli here. I think it really shows what happens when you bring an outsider in and force him to retain the old staff. It’s dysfunctional and doesn’t work. Looked to me like Leopold and Fenton were never on the same page and that the Wild hired him without doing their due diligence on him. Looks like he was hired because he was supposed to be the next big thing. Risk you run hiring somebody else’s assistant GM. You don’t really know what you’re getting. That’s what I was worried about with the thought of hiring someone like Mccrimmon or some of the other names being trotted out. It really is a crap shoot.
 
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Cloned

Begging for Bega
Aug 25, 2003
81,237
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The article reminded me of the stories we heard out of Philadelphia about Hextall and how he got paranoid, didn’t trust himself and isolated himself from his staff. We heard similar things about Chiarelli here. I think it really shows what happens when you bring an outsider in and force him to retain the old staff. It’s dysfunctional and doesn’t work. Looked to me like Leopold and Fenton were never on the same page and that the Wild hired him without doing their due diligence on him. Looks like he was hired because he was supposed to be the next big thing. Risk you run hiring somebody else’s assistant GM. You don’t really know what you’re getting. That’s what I was worried about with the thought of hiring someone like Mccrimmon or some of the other names being trotted out. It really is a crap shoot.

For every good assistant GM hire there is generally a bad one too.
 

SK13

non torsii subligarium
Jul 23, 2007
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Edmonton
for those who do apply to the Atlantic can we have a bullet point

Fenton acquired Aberg without asking questions as to why Aberg was being scratched as the Ducks #2 goal getter during a 12 game losing streak. Boudreau hated him immediately for his lazy play and propensity to skip every optional practice. Hence why he got booted from three teams in less than a year.
 
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Jumptheshark

Rebooting myself
Oct 12, 2003
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Fenton acquired Aberg without asking questions as to why Aberg was being scratched as the Ducks #2 goal getter during a 12 game losing streak. Boudreau hated him immediately for his lazy play and propensity to skip every optional practice. Hence why he got booted from three teams in less than a year.


Isn't he the guy many posters here complain about letting go for nothing?
 

BagHead

Registered User
Dec 23, 2010
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Minneapolis, MN
I'm not disputing that he is a dunce but I am not sure how well it reflects on Poile to be calling him a dunce. That dunce was Poile's assistant GM for a long time.
I will note that at no point is Poile quoted as saying that. Those weren't the words of Poile, but of ConnerMcMullet. I'm sure Poile may - privately - share the sentiment, though.
 

ConnorMcMullet

#12 Colby Cave
Jun 10, 2017
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I will note that at no point is Poile quoted as saying that. Those weren't the words of Poile, but of ConnerMcMullet. I'm sure Poile may - privately - share the sentiment, though.
No, Poile literally said that to The Athletic.
 

TB12

Registered User
Apr 5, 2015
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Didn’t read the article but I do laugh at coaches getting mad at players skipping optional practices (re: Aberg). I get why it’s frustrating as a coach, especially with practice being limited by the CBA, but then don’t have “optional practices”. A guy like Hemsky would never come to one of those, last one on and first one off. Some guys are just wired that way.
 

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