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Habs Season Thread: 2024-25 Regular Season

Rolex said:
Just goes to show that historically when most players come here they start sucking...even at the management level

Toffoli being the exception
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There has been a lot of exceptions, however the offensive output often tends to be lower, because of the lack of stars on the team, and the defense first mentality.
 
GGpX said:
I mean, not really.

They're in cap hell because a bunch of their players are in their primes and earning a lot of money? Almost all of which could be moved in any offseason, with the exception of Stamkos? As opposed to us, where our top players are past their prime, grossly overpaid, and we've given out a ton of shitty contracts?

Tampa Bay's cap situation is enviable. I wish we were stuck with their problems.
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I understand when your contending you typically go overboard with the cap and kick the can down the road until the shit hits the fan

TB couldn't function this year without Kuch on IR the entire season

They tried dumping TJ for a ham sandwich with no success , they were in a hot shit mess trying to find 10 mil to bury

They would of needed Bettman`s support and crooked rules to find a way to start the season cap compliant with a full healthy roster

Not defending our contracts at all , but we were never capped out to the point of having to dump salary
 
this is a great thread on soccer coaching......but it can apply to hockey as well

this point stands out:
4. Related: football is an industry where practically everyone in a boardroom is a white man, so the talent pool they are drawing from is not large. There's also a fast track for ex-players, sons of senior officials, people's mates etc where intelligence is not a criterion

 
CH1 said:
this is a great thread on soccer coaching......but it can apply to hockey as well

this point stands out:
4. Related: football is an industry where practically everyone in a boardroom is a white man, so the talent pool they are drawing from is not large. There's also a fast track for ex-players, sons of senior officials, people's mates etc where intelligence is not a criterion

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My only counter would be that’s how it works in industry as well - in the US I’ve noticed alumni hire alumni.

Wall Street for example JP Morgan likes Princeton grads, Goldman Sachs likes Harvard. Boeing likes Iowa & Purdue grads. Even new age businesses: Facebook likes Harvard, Google likes Stanford. etc..

It’s driven by the concept of the “known quantity” thinking to minimize downside risk.

Look at how many decades the Habs hockey operations were all former alumni, that’s why it was so refreshing back in 2012 to see MB hired - a GM being brought in with no connection to Les Glorieux, from an org that was successful (Hawks).
 
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Havard Alumni, etc still gives you a much more diverse/skill/intelligence mix than a pool of ex-Canadian national players who basically all think the same
 
CH1 said:
Havard Alumni, etc still gives you a much more diverse/skill/intelligence mix than a pool of ex-Canadian national players who basically all think the same
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Uncle Lou hired former Habs as much as he could w NJD (Mtl Canadiens were akin to Harvard etc.), see that pro sports all the time.

“Oh that org has been successful, they must know what they’re doing, let’s hire from that pedigree”.

What Shanahan did w Leafs in essentially canning Uncle Lou and hiring Dubas is so extremely rare. Baseball is probably the only pro sport I can think of that really tries to think out of the box, and even there it’s a very strong old boys network
 
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All sports are guilty. Baseball was the first to accept some nerds into the fold. All the other sports lag; NHL is prob the worst and even the xplayer pool is largely devoid of Euros
 
CH1 said:
All sports are guilty. Baseball was the first to accept some nerds into the fold. All the other sports lag; NHL is prob the worst and even the xplayer pool is largely devoid of Euros
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Its a good topic for discussion

You need a mix of talent and skill levels , especially now with the teams expanding their departments

You need to hire inside the hockey community because they played or been in the game and are better equipped to scout or provide support on hockey decisions.

Other staff maybe better suited to marketing or analytics as they might be more tech savvy , etc...

The game is still played on the same ice surface and no hire from a university can replace a talented hockey mind
 
CH1 said:
All sports are guilty. Baseball was the first to accept some nerds into the fold. All the other sports lag; NHL is prob the worst and even the xplayer pool is largely devoid of Euros
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On the flip side, Matt Klentak was a total failure as Phillies GM, and the Eagles allowed a Harvard geek to draft Reagor over Jefferson . . . Analytics are a necessary tool in the toolbox but can’t be the only one.
 
There needs to be a mix and you can't be reliant on one thing specific aspect for your people.

For example, I don't want some former hockey player that has no education as the general manager; The same way I don't want an MBA educated genius who doesn't know his left hand from his right about evaluating players to be a scout.

Sit people in the right chair based on their competences and you'll be in the best possible spot to achieve success.
 
Krustchev said:
On the flip side, Matt Klentak was a total failure as Phillies GM, and the Eagles allowed a Harvard geek to draft Reagor over Jefferson . . . Analytics are a necessary tool in the toolbox but can’t be the only one.
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there's no guarantees...in any field.

plenty of Ivy League grads have started businesses that flopped.
 
Or a Brian Burke-type.

If you can get a former player (be it pro or just junior) with a real head on his shoulders, along with an actual education? I'd be interested.

There's a few former (one is still active in the minors) Montrealers, the Biega brothers, who all went to Harvard and from all indications, all seem to be smart guys. If they were candidates to run a hockey team, I'd take them seriously.
 
GEEMAN said:
I think Ferraro would make a great GM

Mike Johnson is a solid analyst who fit well in in hockey opps
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I like Ferraro a lot. He's another guy I would take very seriously. Maybe not as a GM automatically, but as the head of scouting? Oh yeah, sign me up.
 
GGpX said:
I like Ferraro a lot. He's another guy I would take very seriously. Maybe not as a GM automatically, but as the head of scouting? Oh yeah, sign me up.
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I am sure Ray has been asked a million times , but he has a nice cushy gig making good money

I don't think he wants a 24/7 365 day job consuming him
 
GGpX said:
Or a Brian Burke-type.

If you can get a former player (be it pro or just junior) with a real head on his shoulders, along with an actual education? I'd be interested.

There's a few former (one is still active in the minors) Montrealers, the Biega brothers, who all went to Harvard and from all indications, all seem to be smart guys. If they were candidates to run a hockey team, I'd take them seriously.
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But not guys like Mathieu Darche? Graduated McGill in marketing and international business, was VP of sales and marketing for a large corporation (1000+ employees), and has been director of hockey operations in Tampa for the past 2 years.
 
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I mentioned Darche about a yr ago -- he might still be too green in terms of NHL experience. I don't know.

But definitely someone I would interview.

That's the other thing I hate about the process -- feels like only 3-4 guys get interviewed.

Considering you're hiring the CEO of your ice team, you'd think they would try harder than interview 3-4 trendy, obvious names.
 
GrandWazoo said:
But not guys like Mathieu Darche? Graduated McGill in marketing and international business, was VP of sales and marketing for a large corporation (1000+ employees), and has been director of hockey operations in Tampa for the past 2 years.
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Not right away, no.
 
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