Why does Donut Dave still have a job in the NHL? Absolutely horrendous GM
and they had guys like Loiselle, Poulin, a lot of "advisors" like Fletch for a while, Dudley - how could so many "great hockey people" make so many poor decisions? But more and more I think it's purely Kessel. I know it's fashionable to pick on Phil nowadays but when your best player isn’t (one of) your hardest workers, one who cares the most, it’s really tough to break that losing psyche.
The caring, it needs to be there.
Leafs play the Isles tonight and for a lot of years, the Isles suffered through similar droughts. Tavares was brought in as a savior but not surrounded with talent – they had a payroll that was cap circumvention and embarrassing. But the work ethic was never in question. Snow’s provided Capuano and Tavares with depth and talent (within a strict budget) and there are drastic improvements.
Nonis (and Burke before him) have severely mistaken the talent AND character of their acquisitions, their core. I think that is inexcusable for a GM. That’s what (I believe) people mean by the “culture†of the team. I don’t think you can teach players to CARE. Maybe young players who are still establishing themselves, learning how to be a pro (like Rielly, Gardiner – next year, Nylander, Percy, maybe Leivo) still have a chance but they need a leadership group that comes to work every day.
One thing I love about how Tavares has handled Long Island is that he works his tail off and has always said positive things, even under really dire circumstances. He’s always faced the media (well, it’s one guy) and put the onus on himself to be better. And the reason they are better THIS YEAR is NOT because of Tavares, who’s been average at best (by his standards), but the tenacity and work ethic of everyone on the team – Okposo, Bailey, Nielsen, Strome, Lee, Nelson, the 4th line – along with the augmented players like Leddy/Boychuk, Halak.
Nonis has completely missed the boat with this. Either he’s brought in character who can’t play (Clarkson) or are not talented enough (Winnik, Santorelli) or overspent on players that don’t care enough (Kessel). The rest are very good/serviceable – JVR, Lupul, Kadri, Franson (maybe miscast – like Bozak, Robidas, Polak). At least when Snow was laughed at, he was building a base of talent through the draft, and much of that outside the 1st round (it’s not just draft position).
What a disaster. /rant!
