Management UPDATE: Steve Staios GM and POHO, Dave Poulin Senior VP of Hockey Operations

[Tuna99]

Name me an example of when an interim GM with no NHL experience named himself GM and then went on to have success with that team.

Does having 1000 NHL games or working for the Toronto Maple Leafs in management and coaching or Edmonton Oilers in management count as no NHL experience?

 

[lancepitlick]

I doubt you will do it because you clearly have your wild bias's in full swing here. But did you listen to the presser Staios did today? It shows a true professional evaluating a team properly. Managing the media properly, understanding this is a process. No panicking and being methodical.

I just cant wrap my head around the people who defend the previous regime then chastise this one. Its like you dont want the team to be competitive. Stockholm syndrome maybe?

There were a lot of Dorion/Melnyk lovers (how I don't know, but there were) and apologists. Given that they are dead/fired and the team has stunk to high heaven, they have egg on their face. To deflect from their feelings of inadequacy they are targeting those that they feel they have "lost" to, which is the Dorion haters and by extension the new management (who the Dorion haters generally like).

To make themselves feel less inadequate they are taking pot shots at their "enemies" to avoid feeling like dunces. And to hopefully make the Dorion haters look as stupid as they currently feel and say I told you so somewhere down the line. i.e. revenge.

It's childish behaviour and obvious. Better to move on, get a new perspective and judge things for what they are, not filtered through your own butthurt ego.

Basically just a gambler doubling down after taking some Ls.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Decent presser and obviously he can't tell us too much but Dave Poulin's presence in this org is a mystery. He didn't say anything and he wasn't asked anything...the media should have been on him like hungry dogs on red meat. Hopefully he gets some pressure from hereon in.

Well, presumably, this was a collaborative approach to the info SS gave today, so it'd just be another voice.

This isn't Pierre Maguire being muzzled and locked in the basement.

 

[Norris4Norris]

Does having 1000 NHL games or working for the Toronto Maple Leafs in management and coaching or Edmonton Oilers in management count as no NHL experience?

Okay, he had some NHL experience on terrible teams.

Then, without having any GM experience, Dubas promotes himself and subsequently goes on to be a terrible GM in Toronto and now in Pittsburgh.

 

[lancepitlick]

Name me an example of when an interim GM with no NHL experience named himself GM and then went on to have success with that team.

Tom Fitzgerald no? Never was a GM, was named interim, became full-time, took team to #3 in the conference.

Not that I think you need to find an exact historical equivalent to say a decision is good or bad.

When have you seen the son of an NHL player, who also has an NHL player brother, get drafted in the top 5 overall, then become the captain of a Canadian hockey team and lead it to the Stanley Cup finals? Never? Can't work then!

 

[Beech]

Staios is kind of like Putin,

He gets the interim job and then he appoints himself the official GM.

Staios might end up being a really good GM and I have some confidence in that, but the optics are hilarious.

If it goes well then everyone will praise Andlauer and Staios' good judgement.

If Staios does not work out people will be screaming bloody murder. Nepotism hire, Staios doesn't even wait until the end of the season to crown himself king instead of actually looking for an experienced GM. People will hate Andlauer and Staios more than they did Dorion and Melnyk.

no guy no.

think back to this summer.

Craig Button on X says; Steve Staios is the next Ottawa GM. All that has happened has been that.. they did not know how to handle it and had him come in as POHO..then poof, out goes Dorion. Staios is GM.

It was clumsily handled, but I believe that was the intent all along. Dorion may have been let go later in the season or in the 2024 offseason.

This was not Staios. This was Andlauer.

 

[Beech]

Decent presser and obviously he can't tell us too much but Dave Poulin's presence in this org is a mystery. He didn't say anything and he wasn't asked anything...the media should have been on him like hungry dogs on red meat. Hopefully he gets some pressure from hereon in.

did you listen to it???

Did you get anything significant from it

" I cannot talk about the hockey Canada thing""
"we are playing better"
"we are looking for a coach, but in the summer"
"we are examining the market to see if a move can be made"

what did he say that was revealing or shocking or informative?

Mendez, Hanna and Garioch wasted $20 on gas and another $20 in wear and tear on their cars getting to the CTC. They need to bill the SENS. Steve Lloyd had to stay an extra hour on the mic. Matty Vowels was smart enough to refuse to stay.

 

[Norris4Norris]

Tom Fitzgerald no? Never was a GM, was named interim, became full-time, took team to #3 in the conference.

Not that I think you need to find an exact historical equivalent to say a decision is good or bad.

When have you seen the son of an NHL player, who also has an NHL player brother, get drafted in the top 5 overall, then become the captain of a Canadian hockey team and lead it to the Stanley Cup finals? Never? Can't work then!

Okay so one time.

I see a record of 1-1.

 

[Norris4Norris]

no guy no.

think back to this summer.

Craig Button on X says; Steve Staios is the next Ottawa GM. All that has happened has been that.. they did not know how to handle it and had him come in as POHO..then poof, out goes Dorion. Staios is GM.

It was clumsily handled, but I believe that was the intent all along. Dorion may have been let go later in the season or in the 2024 offseason.

This was not Staios. This was Andlauer.

What? Craig Button says he is the next GM in the summer?

So you are saying all of their intentions were to trick the fanbase but fumbled it.

Seems like a strong entrance.

 

[Tuna99]

Okay, he had some NHL experience on terrible teams.

Then, without having any GM experience, Dubas promotes himself and subsequently goes on to be a terrible GM in Toronto and now in Pittsburgh.

I’m a Staois fan, I liked him as a player and I like what he’s done so far here in Ottawa.

There are bodies when people get promoted in the NHL - Pierre Dorion in my opinion was replaced by a man with a plan and a set of values that have gotten him to the top in management before so he’s going to stick with that and hopefully win a Championship for Ottawa

I love Staois and Poulin together - two players who were as honest and as good of teammates as you’d want.

 

[swiftwin]

I’m a Staois fan, I liked him as a player and I like what he’s done so far here in Ottawa.

I think (like all of us) he underrated

What has he done so far in Ottawa?

Named himself GM
Hired Poulin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Hired Jacques Martin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Signed Pinto for 1yr minimum wage

Am I missing anything?

I'm not saying he's bad, I'm just saying we have nothing to judge him on right now.

 

[Tuna99]

What has he done so far in Ottawa?

Named himself GM
Hired Poulin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Hired Jacques Martin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Signed Pinto for 1yr minimum wage

Am I missing anything?

I'm not saying he's bad, I'm just saying we have nothing to judge him on right now.

He’s:

Turned an entire franchise around in 5 months
replaced the Head coach
Replaced the assistant coach with God
Replaced the G.M
Replaced the goalie coach
Hired a new head trainer
Hired a new senior V.P.
Hired Jacque Martin
Hired Daniel Alfredsson

Lost a 1st round pick from previous regime
Had a top player suspended half season for gambling

Stadium is sold out
Fans and community enthusiasm is high
Team looks good under the new coaching Staff

Moms are Happy

have you done this much in the last 5 months? Honestly what NHL G.M. has done more?

 

[BankStreetParade]

Some of you guys might actually be f***ing deranged or something. Like, all this tribalism and talking about allegiances to the "old guard"...give your heads a f***ing shake. There's pretty much no one here who gives 2 shits about Melnyk, Dorion or DJ. One guy is dead and the other 2 have been dismissed. You're so f***ing obsessed with these guys it's verging on a mental condition. Go get some fresh air or touch grass or something. You need to shake this mental block you have cause it's honestly absurd to still be reading about this shit almost 2 years after the f***ing guy died.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Some of you guys might actually be f***ing deranged or something. Like, all this tribalism and talking about allegiances to the "old guard"...give your heads a f***ing shake. There's pretty much no one here who gives 2 shits about Melnyk, Dorion or DJ. One guy is dead and the other 2 have been dismissed. You're so f***ing obsessed with these guys it's verging on a mental condition. Go get some fresh air or touch grass or something. You need to shake this mental block you have cause it's honestly absurd to still be reading about this shit almost 2 years after the f***ing guy died.

Bullshit, their impacts are very much still being felt. It's a new day, we've got plenty of great news on the way, but just because Smith/Dorion/Melnyk aren't with the team anymore doesn't mean we're not still fixing their mistakes.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

What has he done so far in Ottawa?

Named himself GM
Hired Poulin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Hired Jacques Martin, who had a regular segment on TSN1200
Signed Pinto for 1yr minimum wage

Am I missing anything?

I'm not saying he's bad, I'm just saying we have nothing to judge him on right now.

My buddy lives in the Kanata area and we went out for cokes earlier this week, and were talking hockey. He mentioned that he met Staios one day a few weeks ago.

That exact day, was the day that he fired Pierre Dorion. According to my buddy, he was alone in a booth at Johnny Canucks on Trim, just pounding back chicken wings. My buddy went to say hi, shake his hand and say good luck in the upcoming trade deadline (he's a Coyotes fan but thought it was cool to see a GM in public, especially the day of such a massive firing).

Apparently Staios just looked at him, looked at his own hands covered in chicken wing sauce, and said "uhhh thanks but I'm a little busy at the moment" and chuckled.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Some of you guys might actually be f***ing deranged or something. Like, all this tribalism and talking about allegiances to the "old guard"...give your heads a f***ing shake. There's pretty much no one here who gives 2 shits about Melnyk, Dorion or DJ. One guy is dead and the other 2 have been dismissed. You're so f***ing obsessed with these guys it's verging on a mental condition. Go get some fresh air or touch grass or something. You need to shake this mental block you have cause it's honestly absurd to still be reading about this shit almost 2 years after the f***ing guy died.

There were two pretty distinct camps throughout the rebuild. Moderation had to be very heavy. At one point the moderation even tried to enforce new rules about what could and couldn't be discussed wrt Melnyk it was so out of control. Turns out, a lot of people who were screaming were right about how rotten things were under Melnyk and the performance the people he put in place were capable of. It was basically proof in the pudding. But there was little time to enjoy said pudding. They're told now to get over it and just turn the page after arguing with these posters for like 5-6-7 years. Longer even. Not really human nature to just pack er up and call it a day and I'm surprised you're so surprised that this still lives on.

 

[Golden_Jet]

If Staios and Poulin can't fix this quickly and correctly then show them to the door.
I don't want to hear Staios and Poulin milking these positions for years and still saying"well we are still observing and evaluating, and we have a lot injuries blah blah blah.... Andlauer hired them to do the job now go out and do it. These guys should be good at reading the room and not being tone deaf.
Our team already has a lot of good pieces that I think other teams want and if you have to package 1 or 2 assets to acquire a need that we have. Everyone knows what we need to make this team better we are clearly lacking in certain areas. Now it is their job to go out and do it. We do not need, or have the patience in Ottawa as a fan base for another "blow it up" event. We are about 4 right moves away from being an excellent team. It is their job to make these right moves.....go out and do it. Get creative and make it happen so that by the end of the season you are demonstrating to the fanbase that you have taken the next step as a management team. Is it easy? No it isn't. We have talent on this team. The fine tuning will have to be precise. But that is why they get payed the big bucks.

In the off season it will happen, making it happen quickly, is forcing yourself into a bad trade, with less options available.
trading players now, you aren’t getting back the pieces you want, playoff bound teams aren’t trading their guys, and non playoff teams mostly want picks and/ or prospects.

 

[BankStreetParade]

Bullshit, their impacts are very much still being felt. It's a new day, we've got plenty of great news on the way, but just because Smith/Dorion/Melnyk aren't with the team anymore doesn't mean we're not still fixing their mistakes.

No I'm well aware that some of you are going to be carrying this cross until the team wins a Stanley Cup. I can envision it 15 years from now, some jackoff is lamenting that we never won a cup because of Dorion's [insert itemized list of blunders] and DJ's [insert list of criticisms].

I've seen the whole spectrum of excuses for why the team is bad:

1. it was never good in the first place
2. actually...the team is good but massively underperforming
3. the coach stinks
4. actually...it might be the players who stink
5. not enough veterans
6. actually...DJ played the vets too much
7. they were being fed warmed quesadillas after games
8. they didn't have a POHO to oversee Dorion
9. actually...Dorion didn't want a POHO
10. actually actually...no one wanted to be POHO in Ottawa under Melnyk
11. now that we think about...it's because Melnyk was too cheap to hire qualified, experienced people to surround him and instead ran a barebones budget basement team
12. the scouting has been mostly mediocre
13. actually...the scouting has been ok but player development hasn't been great
14. we lost too many trades
15. actually...we won some really big trades but it doesn't matter if you don't win all of them
16. we can't attract any free agents
17. actually...we did attract some great free agents in the last couple of years but it wasn't enough
18. we needed an experienced POHO
19. actually...there's a good argument to be made that a guy with 0 NHL experience at the position is ideally suited for the role
20. we need an experienced front office
21. actually...let the rookie POHO also be a rookie GM
22. etc. etc. etc.

I just wonder how long you guys will keep saying that some people can't make excuses for their performance while others can.

 

[Golden_Jet]

My buddy lives in the Kanata area and we went out for cokes earlier this week, and were talking hockey. He mentioned that he met Staios one day a few weeks ago.

That exact day, was the day that he fired Pierre Dorion. According to my buddy, he was alone in a booth at Johnny Canucks on Trim, just pounding back chicken wings. My buddy went to say hi, shake his hand and say good luck in the upcoming trade deadline (he's a Coyotes fan but thought it was cool to see a GM in public, especially the day of such a massive firing).

Apparently Staios just looked at him, looked at his own hands covered in chicken wing sauce, and said "uhhh thanks but I'm a little busy at the moment" and chuckled.

Odd he’d wish him well about 50 games before the TDL takes place, on November 1, and TDL is in March.
Damn would have been nice to see your buddy covered in chicken wing sauce instead.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

No I'm well aware that some of you are going to be carrying this cross until the team wins a Stanley Cup. I can envision it 15 years from now, some jackoff is lamenting that we never won a cup because of Dorion's [insert itemized list of blunders] and DJ's [insert list of criticisms].

I've seen the whole spectrum of excuses for why the team is bad:

1. it was never good in the first place
2. actually...the team is good but massively underperforming
3. the coach stinks
4. actually...it might be the players who stink
5. not enough veterans
6. actually...DJ played the vets too much
7. they were being fed warmed quesadillas after games
8. they didn't have a POHO to oversee Dorion
9. actually...Dorion didn't want a POHO
10. actually actually...no one wanted to be POHO in Ottawa under Melnyk
11. now that we think about...it's because Melnyk was too cheap to hire qualified, experienced people to surround him and instead ran a barebones budget basement team
12. the scouting has been mostly mediocre
13. actually...the scouting has been ok but player development hasn't been great
14. we lost too many trades
15. actually...we won some really big trades but it doesn't matter if you don't win all of them
16. we can't attract any free agents
17. actually...we did attract some great free agents in the last couple of years but it wasn't enough
18. we needed an experienced POHO
19. actually...there's a good argument to be made that a guy with 0 NHL experience at the position is ideally suited for the role
20. we need an experienced front office
21. actually...let the rookie POHO also be a rookie GM
22. etc. etc. etc.

I just wonder how long you guys will keep saying that some people can't make excuses for their performance while others can.

Now there is some serious effort! Surely, you could have hit 25 contradicting complaints for a more round number?

The complaining will shift to the new group as time moves along and it can actually be considered their team. Right now, the new group gets the benefit of the doubt for a while until they've actually put their stamp on the team. I don't love a rookie POHO and would have said that in the past, but what's 1000 times more important than that is who is deciding who the POHO is. Same goes for the other positions. It's going to take time, but fans are going to be a lot more patient and make "excuses" for the new guys unlike the old ones they felt had already burned their grace with them. They're told to "get over it" and stop talking about those other guys, but this is still basically their team and the franchise is still recovering, so it's very relevant.

It really sucks that the sale dragged on. In hindsight, the best move for the franchise was obviously to clean house this past summer in an organized fashion being able to hire from a proper pool of available candidates.

 

[Loach]

There were two pretty distinct camps throughout the rebuild. Moderation had to be very heavy. At one point the moderation even tried to enforce new rules about what could and couldn't be discussed wrt Melnyk it was so out of control. Turns out, a lot of people who were screaming were right about how rotten things were under Melnyk and the performance the people he put in place were capable of. It was basically proof in the pudding. But there was little time to enjoy said pudding. They're told now to get over it and just turn the page after arguing with these posters for like 5-6-7 years. Longer even. Not really human nature to just pack er up and call it a day and I'm surprised you're so surprised that this still lives on.

I'm not surprised that he's surprised. I am surprised that you're surprised that he's surprised. What?

 

[Senovision]

In the off season it will happen, making it happen quickly, is forcing yourself into a bad trade, with less options available.
trading players now, you aren’t getting back the pieces you want, playoff bound teams aren’t trading their guys, and non playoff teams mostly want picks and/ or prospects.

Playoff teams will want to bolster their line ups for a playoff run and add depth to their lineups. We are going to make some moves by or at the trade deadline. So there will be some moves made at the trade deadline and some moves will be made in the off season.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I'm not surprised that he's surprised. I am surprised that you're surprised that he's surprised. What?

Hahaha oh boy. Quality post.

 

[JD1]

No I'm well aware that some of you are going to be carrying this cross until the team wins a Stanley Cup. I can envision it 15 years from now, some jackoff is lamenting that we never won a cup because of Dorion's [insert itemized list of blunders] and DJ's [insert list of criticisms].

I've seen the whole spectrum of excuses for why the team is bad:

1. it was never good in the first place
2. actually...the team is good but massively underperforming
3. the coach stinks
4. actually...it might be the players who stink
5. not enough veterans
6. actually...DJ played the vets too much
7. they were being fed warmed quesadillas after games
8. they didn't have a POHO to oversee Dorion
9. actually...Dorion didn't want a POHO
10. actually actually...no one wanted to be POHO in Ottawa under Melnyk
11. now that we think about...it's because Melnyk was too cheap to hire qualified, experienced people to surround him and instead ran a barebones budget basement team
12. the scouting has been mostly mediocre
13. actually...the scouting has been ok but player development hasn't been great
14. we lost too many trades
15. actually...we won some really big trades but it doesn't matter if you don't win all of them
16. we can't attract any free agents
17. actually...we did attract some great free agents in the last couple of years but it wasn't enough
18. we needed an experienced POHO
19. actually...there's a good argument to be made that a guy with 0 NHL experience at the position is ideally suited for the role
20. we need an experienced front office
21. actually...let the rookie POHO also be a rookie GM
22. etc. etc. etc.

I just wonder how long you guys will keep saying that some people can't make excuses for their performance while others can.

You forgot to mention not having hot water.

 

[Relapsing]

Just wanted to highlight something from today's presser that may have passed certain people () over because they don't actually watch the team...

WRT Andlauers comments about Roy, and what this group might need from the next coach to continue to learn how to win, SS had this to say:

I feel like Jacques, Alfie and the staff is really laying down the foundation for what it's going to take for the next level to come in

Now, I'm just a rural, small town hockey fan lawyer, who doesn't know all that much about anything at all, but I'm gonna take some comfort in knowing that a guy who played over 1000 games, and has been a part of a few different orgs now, agrees with my assessment of what Jacques and Alfie are doing with this team.