Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdManIn
I had intended on coming in here to explain the differences between the cities of San Jose and Nashville, but I see others have beaten me to it. I guess that's what I get for being too lazy to sign in with my phone during lunch break.
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People will say SJ market is 5 million or whatever, but that's pretty misleading. I'm sure they pull some people from San Fran, but I doubt most are willing to make the 1hr+ commute on a regular basis. If they are going to include San Francisco in their population number, we might as well include Bowling Green. SJ is less than a million. Someone will have to do the research, but I think most of their in-house fan base is from the SJ area.
But it doesn't really matter. We won't find a perfect comparison. SJ started from scratch and made it to the 2nd round time 4 times in the first 10 years, and I don't think population had much to do with. I only brought it because someone asked for an expansion team who's done better.
My main point is to look at the results. I think DP had great results in the first 5 years, and made the right bold moves (Dunham/Vokoun/Sullvain) to get us over the playoff hump. The next 2, he made some moves to make us playoff competitive (Kariya, Forsberg, Witt, etc), but the end result was a 1st rd exits. And then, we have the last year 3 years, where overall, he's been very complacent and has had his share of questionable moves.
Pittsburgh is another one that's not a good comparison, but I admire the BOLD moves Shero made. Yes, having Crosby and Malkin is a huge help, but he's made a lot of decisions that put the team over the top. He traded a bunch of decent players for Hossa, a move that sent the Pens to the finals. The next year, he canned the coach that to them the SC finals (that takes b****), combined with a bunch of other changes (trading away roster players). And, they won the cup.
I can't ever see Poile being that bold. In the past when he's tried to be bold to make a playoff competitive team, it hasn't worked out (Forsberg, Witt, Jason Allison trade in Washington). He seems to have a track record of making a good team, but lacking the ability to put them over the top.
I think to have a true playoff contender, you have to make some bold decisions. I guess I'm doubtful of Poile's ability to make the right "playoff competitive" decisions.