I believe that we could have designed a better roster and moved some parts around even with what we spent, but not by much without bringing in more salary. When everything is said and done, we will have most likely spent at least $10 million less than the nearest team.
This is the crux of it. Sure, you might be able to construct find better parts with $15m, but Wang didn't spend $15 mil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twine Seeking Missle
Maybe it's just frustration speaking. Kind of deflating to see young kids around the league flourish while the guys we were counting on to be the center of the rebuild have for the most part failed. The losing environment, lack of veteran leadership and the circus in the front office are the main culprits. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part to hope that none of that would matter and these guys could let their talent shine regardless.
Three years ago on these boards, the "all you have to do is draft top 5 a few times in a row and you'll have an instant contender like the Penguins" mentality outnumbered the "no, it doesn't quite work that way" people 10 to 1. I'm thinking the numbers have evened out a little over the course of the season.
This is the crux of it. Sure, you might be able to construct find better parts with $15m, but Wang didn't spend $15 mil.
Three years ago on these boards, the "all you have to do is draft top 5 a few times in a row and you'll have an instant contender like the Penguins" mentality outnumbered the "no, it doesn't quite work that way" people 10 to 1. I'm thinking the numbers have evened out a little over the course of the season.
Give 10,000 people plutonium.
One powers a state for a century.
9,999 die and kill hundreds of thousands in the process.
Many just don't understand the Pens picked the right guys and we went with someone high up in power's criteria (nice boys with character) and then had our backup goalie pick them.
IMO, it's the organization, not the players chosen. In an alternate world in which the Isles select Skinner and Myers, they'd be struggling as well while we'd all boohoo about not choosing Nino, who'd be in Junior right now leading the league in scoring.
I don't believe the Isles choose the "wrong" players... they just handle them poorly and don't put them in a place to succeed.
BINGO BINGO BINGO AND THEN...BINGO.
Wayne Gretzky circa 1985 would struggle on the Islanders. Wang is the captain of this ship so if we steer towards the rocks you don't blame the other crew on board. Why is it so hard for people to see this?
If you follow the NFL you know that Joe Gibbs used to coach the Redskins and had massive success in the 80's/early 90's. He left the NFL, the Redskins were sold to Dan Snyder, and then Gibbs came back to the team and was an absolute failure under Snyder's reign.
It's the same frickin' guy...! Once he's a hall of fame coach, then he's a total bum. We could say that maybe Gibbs' changed in some way, but then you see that other hall of famers like Mike Shanahan and Marty Schottenheimer also coached and totally failed under Snyder and you can confirm where all the blame lies...
...With the Owner. Always since the buck stops with him.
That is exactly our problem here. Wang is the Dr. Nick of the Springfield Islanders. You bring Mike Ilitch in to own the Isles and we all know that we will have more success with the exact same players and coaches.
It's the owner folks. I know it's painful to face since we're basically doomed while he's owner. It's kind of like finding out there is no Santa Claus, but it's the truth.
So if I read all of Mitchy's posts right, we're likely getting more points per dollar spent than any team in the NHL!
So we're the most efficient team in the league! Just think if we spent some more money!
As odd as it sounds, it's funny but also most likely correct. We've had some bargain contracts (Nielsen, AMac) that really help, but also the "weight" of DiPietro and our buyouts.
Until we see what happens with our defense and PAP, it's hard to guess what our payroll will be for next season. Might be more of the same, but even with the status quo we might be required to add one significant salary.
9,999 die and kill hundreds of thousands in the process.
Many just don't understand the Pens picked the right guys and we went with someone high up in power's criteria (nice boys with character) and then had our backup goalie pick them.
The Pens not only sucked terribly at the best possible time, but they also consistently sucked terribly. They picked higher up and picked higher up longer than we have. Even with that, they still had some offensive talent around for Sid to play with in his first season. (http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/l...000502006.html Have a look. Don't neglect to scroll down and remember the famous last cameo of a great player.)
2002: #5 overall: Ryan Whitney
2003: #1 overall: MA Fleury
2004: #2 overall: Malkin (Ovechkin was #1)
2005: #1 overall: Crosby (they won the sweepstakes)
2006: #2 overall: Jordan Staal 2006-07 season: Made playoffs; lost in 1st round.
2007-08 season: Made the playoffs; lost in SC Finals
2008-09 season: Made the playoffs; won the Cup
That's 4 straight top-2 picks. Even our team has never sucked that badly.
2007: No 1st or 2nd round picks (Smyth trade)
2008: #9 overall: Josh Bailey (had #5 before all of the trades)
2009: #1 overall: Tavares
2010: #5 overall: Nino
2011: #5 overall: Strome
Let's coincide where Pittsburgh picked in 2002 (#5) with our 2008 (#5 for us but we traded down.) Now, let's pretend that we had the same overall picks that Pittsburgh had for the next 4 seasons (#1, #2, #1 and #2) and let's take the players who were drafted.
2008: (#5) / #9 Bailey (we'll keep this the same)
2009: #1 John Tavares (stays the same as we drafted)
2010: #2 Tyler Seguin
2011: #1 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2012: #2 to be decided
The real fact of the matter is that it isn't just the timing, but the level of suck that Pittsburgh achieved while still having some talent around for Crosby to play with in year #1. It's rare that any team gets lucky enough to get a Crosby and Malkin back-to-back. (And by rare, I probably mean that it almost never happens. I don't know enough about the history of the draft before I was watching hockey to say for certain.)
Most importantly, we haven't even finished our own 5 years of suck like they did. Using their timetable, we're due for a 1st round loss next season.
Snow and Wang are far from free of any blame. Please don't misunderstand me... but I think what has me annoyed — and what prompted my own response on the blog for Hockey Independant — Brooks did half a job.
We as fans know the problems he pointed out. But we can't sit back and forget about guys like Hamonic and A-Mac — Poulin and Nillsson. No mention of NHL hits leader Matt Martin? Sure Nino has been flubbed this season, but at 19, he is hardly a bust. What about Strome — anyone think he is sure to be an NHL bust? No way to tell.
I wrote what I wrote — mostly —*in the hopes that if he had been covering the franchise more closely, he may begin to see that there have been improvements.
As odd as it sounds, it's funny but also most likely correct. We've had some bargain contracts (Nielsen, AMac) that really help, but also the "weight" of DiPietro and our buyouts.
