read the entire article, it's quite funny. he goes on about our poor drafting record and that PK Subban is taking too long to get to the nhl (!), then a few paragraphs later claims Andrei was brought into the nhl too early.
Besides all the uncalled for Gainey bashing weeks after he stepped aside, he also called Brisebois a clown, who despite being a below average defenseman was one of the classier guys to play in this organization and was happy whenever he was in the lineup on any given night.
Dude just read half a Jack Todd 'article'. A little disorientation is to be expected.
I still don't get the whole people quoting me thing, but boy is Todd a junk reporter. "The only bright spot is PK Subban, but even he's taking a long time to make it into the NHL.
REALLY? REALLY JACK?
One thing I noticed about Gainey was he was not the same person after his daughter was killed. He had a certain edge to me, bitterness almost after Laura was lost. Not in a night and day type change but more of a subtle one.
Gainey made moves and did some things the last few years as GM he would not have done before. Ripping Carbo, his best bud the way he did. Fire Dougie Jarvis...I mean come on...Doug Jarvis been with Gainey since his North Stars days. He knew what he had with Jarvis. Put his star player Kovalev off the team. Calling out the Tampa GM. It was one thing after another. Dumping Huet for a 2nd round pick on the eve of the playoffs and go with with 2 rookie unproven goalies. He let Souray and Streit both walk with little effort to resign.
Gainey was just a different person after Dec, 2006.
I still don't get the whole people quoting me thing, but boy is Todd a junk reporter. "The only bright spot is PK Subban, but even he's taking a long time to make it into the NHL.
REALLY? REALLY JACK?
We just happen to pick the moody KHL-friendly ones. If we ever got those players over here, we'd have some pretty sick players (and we still might eventually)
Free Agent Signee
Janne Lahti (Finland, signed '07)
Mikhail Johansson (Sweden, signed '09)
Andreas Engqvist (Sweden, signed '09)
So far nothing to show for a decade of drafting, signing players out of Sweden/Finland. Granted we could still see some good things from Nattinen or Engqvist, or Torp. But so far things have not panned out from that area at all.
Could we argue most prospects are a bust, and that there are also many great Euros that the Habs have drafted and developed??
The "being brought up too fast" is indeed dumb. Unfortunately, because of that statement, he doesn't give himself a chance to look credible. But the essence of what is said would need some consideration. We have had problems with Euros. We need to be better in that department.
And really, how do you actually measure who was brought up too fast, who was brought up too slow, and who was brought up at just the right time? Is the stage at when a player was brought up the only determining factor in success? Every player is different in that regard IMO, and who are the those from the outside looking in (i.e. reporters, "euro critics" etc) to judge? I think Bob and his staff (including those in the AHL), know more than most of us, and most of the media, and most hockey people for that matter, on how to develop talent. Sure, there is always room for improvement, but stories like this piss me off, as they are mainly based on pure speculation. There is no one way, and no exact science on how to develop players - there are almost an infinite number of variables involved, and this makes this really hard to evaluate. Interesting story non the less, but pure speculation IMO, and it should be indicated as such in the article.
Let's not forget what the coward's 'article' is really about. The Euro-draft stuff is just filler to make it look more legit.
He's taking parting shots at BG well after BG has left the building. If this 'scout' had told him the Habs were the top org in the league at drafting Euro players, it would not have been questioned. The motive lies elsewhere.
I'll take Jean Perron any night over this abject loser.
Jack Todd is a hack. He doesn't do his research and I doubt his sources are very credible. One interesting thing in his article was his reference to AK46, which I've only seen this board use as a name. Clearly he surfs this board, and based on the temperature in here he rides that opinion. Unfortunately many of the posters in here are kid, fanboys or grossly misinformed.
I'd like to see Todd write an article on draft dodging, a subject on which he is an authority. Perhaps an article on the negative effects of overhyped media on this organization. Leave BG alone, he's gone, can't do any more harm or good, unfortunately all his article does is attack a man who will not ( and should not ) respond to your slander.
Avoiding the war in Vietnam wasn't a bad idea for Jack Todd. I can't imagine him fitting in with the troops, not to mention the physical danger and the prevalence of drugs.
read the entire article, it's quite funny. he goes on about our poor drafting record and that PK Subban is taking too long to get to the nhl (!), then a few paragraphs later claims Andrei was brought into the nhl too early.
Besides all the uncalled for Gainey bashing weeks after he stepped aside, he also called Brisebois a clown, who despite being a below average defenseman was one of the classier guys to play in this organization and was happy whenever he was in the lineup on any given night.
I didn't read the article... I was going to but not after reading this. Andrei rushed? lol, we didn't have ANYONE else in the farm, or maybe we should have kept playing with the Bashkirov's of the NHL. Subban taking too long? huge lol. And I respect Brisebois infinitely for coming back to play for us after we boo'd him out of town. Sad journalism. Jack Todd was pretty low on my list now he's somewhere in the abyss.
edit: everyone should read this http://www.lionsinwinter.ca/2009/10/...de-gainey.html it's an essay summarizing what Gainey has done since he took over from Savard very well written and as an added bonus it rips on Jack Todd's Gainey bashing. dont read too much into the closing paragraph though as it was written not even a month into the season.
Last edited by Next Best Thing*: 03-09-2010 at 12:52 AM.
In all fairness, these picks, with the exception of Nattinen, were the 109th or later in their respective drafts. Taking a long shot on an international player who may or may not pan out is not much of a gamble and probably makes some sense economically as you avoid having to sign a player to an AHL or ECHL contract unless they develop.
Free Agent Signee
Janne Lahti (Finland, signed '07)
Mikhail Johansson (Sweden, signed '09)
Andreas Engqvist (Sweden, signed '09)
So far nothing to show for a decade of drafting, signing players out of Sweden/Finland. Granted we could still see some good things from Nattinen or Engqvist, or Torp. But so far things have not panned out from that area at all.
