Jets fan coming by to say congratulations on a good hire. IMHO JD is a good hockey man and he will get it right. Honestly I am really impressed you have as good a fan base as you do given how things have gone in Columbus over the past decade. Good luck and I wish you the success you deserve.
kind of falls into bad hockey is better than no hockey at all eh? Just kidding of course - John Davidson is much needed here. He brings experience, knowledge and confidence. We need all three traits. The proof of the whole deal will be when he gets us winning and in the playoffs - will any of the existing folks still be on staff? We shall see
kind of falls into bad hockey is better than no hockey at all eh? Just kidding of course - John Davidson is much needed here. He brings experience, knowledge and confidence. We need all three traits. The proof of the whole deal will be when he gets us winning and in the playoffs - will any of the existing folks still be on staff? We shall see
Yea hard to say who will still be around? JD is really connected and he will be able to attract people to the organization and that is a good start. Throw in 3 first round draft picks in 2013 and Ryan Murray and the future is not looking too bad at this point.
__________________
“@Aportzline: RT @skeezer1212: @Aportzline are you on record about if you think they should trade Nash, *Carter? / Not my place. Reporter, not columnist.”
Why do people keep voting in this poll? He's already been hired. And I'm pretty sure one guy voted "its too early in the season" after he was hired.
At least one person noticed what I'm doing on these boards. Honestly I don't follow the Davidson saga and didn't even know that he was hired. I even didn't read the question cause it doesn't matter for me what the teams are doing while the league is destroying itself.
John Davidson provides something that was sorely lacking with this franchise right in the beginning, up until Craig Patrick and, to a lesser extent, Scott Howson, came along: Common sense. No offense to Doug MacLean (or, he can take offense, see if I give a hoot), but he is not the kind of guy that sits you down, looks you in the eye, and tells you how it is. John Davidson just did exactly that. He has a down to earth demeanor, is the kind of guy that you could see yourself sitting down and having a beer and a chat with, and that, combined with his obvious hockey knowledge, is exactly why he's the right guy for this job.
Cheers to him for stepping out and laying it on the table. I hope this reaches as many fans as possible.
I think that this, as much as his hockey acumen, is one of the reasons he was hired. Help restore some confidence in the fan base. There has been no one that could even remotely be considered a great communicator.
I think that, as much as his hockey acumen, is one of the reasons he was hired. Help restore some confidence in the fan base. There has been no one that could even remotely be considered a great communicator.
I agree. What will have to play out is whether the ownership really understands and values this, or whether they see it as just the next "thing" to be tried.
__________________
"Every game, every point is a necessity." -- Ty Conklin, January 2007
"I'll have a chance to compete for the post of first issue. This is the most important thing." -- Sergei Bobrovsky, June 2012
Everyone has their own requirements for man crush status, I'm not sure I even have one at all. But get me in the playoffs a couple of years in a row and into the second round of the playoffs and that would be a good start.
Let's be honest, to this point this is window dressing. Results, that is what I'm looking for. I'll start judging when we start seeing him do something inside the org.
Since it's a rebuild and as Davidson said it's going to take some time before Columbus can realistically be a solid team, should we not expect Davidson(Howson) to go after any significant UFA's for the next couple of years? The Oilers plan a couple of years ago was to develop their young guns and try to to improve, one season at a time. Only UFA players they were after were to fill in some small gaps(Hordichuk, Eager, Belanger). Plus they said they didn't expect big names to sign with a team that's at the bottom of the standings. Once the team shows that they're close to competing for the Cup, that is when they plan on going for a homerun and going after a big UFA. Is that what Columbus is going to do? Wait a couple of years to let the rebuild finish then when(hopefully) they're a playoff team, go for a homerun?
Since it's a rebuild and as Davidson said it's going to take some time before Columbus can realistically be a solid team, should we not expect Davidson(Howson) to go after any significant UFA's for the next couple of years? The Oilers plan a couple of years ago was to develop their young guns and try to to improve, one season at a time. Only UFA players they were after were to fill in some small gaps(Hordichuk, Eager, Belanger). Plus they said they didn't expect big names to sign with a team that's at the bottom of the standings. Once the team shows that they're close to competing for the Cup, that is when they plan on going for a homerun and going after a big UFA. Is that what Columbus is going to do? Wait a couple of years to let the rebuild finish then when(hopefully) they're a playoff team, go for a homerun?
Judging from the way the Blues were assembled, don't expect any "big UFA signings" at all. I like how JD said it: one brick at a time. Expect the team to draft and develop it's own talent, and fill in the other pieces via trade. The Blues brought in major players like Andy McDonald, Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart, and Jaroslav Halak via trades, not UFA signings. We have some solid pieces in our pipeline, and my argument is that with a couple of talented young forwards, this team will be on the fast track to success in no time. I've never been a fan of building teams through free agency, and I think now, more than ever, drafting and developing is the key to victory.
What I'm anxious to see is that the younger players that have been hanging around and really have yet to establish themselves based on talent and draft position getting a wake up call. Someone hit the nail right on the head, unacceptable results from these youngsters hurt not only the franchise's long term success, but some are saddled with contracts based on such small windows of play that it makes them difficult to "dangle" as bait with any real success. Hoping for the best while never "preparing" for the worst has been a real achilles heel here.
I don't expect this is be a complete turnaround virtually overnight, but I do expect the significant mistakes made vs. the positive returns start to reverse themselves immediately.
Honestly, the more I think about this, and most of you know my feelings on Howson, it might have been for the best to just fire him and start fresh from the position of GM, even if it ends up being in name only, us aside on this board, there are quite a few fans who's faith in him to get a job done is shaken, be it though his own shortcomings or the preceived overbearing nature that was Mike Priest the last 5 and a half years. Priest has essentially been "reassigned", assuring (at least on the surface) that he keeps his hands out of the "competitive portion of the pie", so to speak.
Judging from the way the Blues were assembled, don't expect any "big UFA signings" at all. I like how JD said it: one brick at a time.
Not directed at you, but that phrase is going to grow tiresome very quickly. It's already starting to get on my nerves, but to be fair cliche's like that annoy me quicker than most.
Having said that, my real point in posting was to say Davidson already said we aren't going to solve this via FA. There is no reason to believe we are going to be players in that market, not that we've ever been players anyway. Sure we signed Foote and tried to sign Redden, but historically we've been fairly conservative. Based on how JD has spoken, there is no reason to even entertain anything major in the FA period.
Oh and 92% said we should hire this guy? Run in fear now. That type of consensus can't end well... :p
Not directed at you, but that phrase is going to grow tiresome very quickly. It's already starting to get on my nerves, but to be fair cliche's like that annoy me quicker than most.
Having said that, my real point in posting was to say Davidson already said we aren't going to solve this via FA. There is no reason to believe we are going to be players in that market, not that we've ever been players anyway. Sure we signed Foote and tried to sign Redden, but historically we've been fairly conservative. Based on how JD has spoken, there is no reason to even entertain anything major in the FA period.
Oh and 92% said we should hire this guy? Run in fear now. That type of consensus can't end well... :p
Just trying to understand- do you mean cliches irritate you more quickly than they irritate most other people or do you mean cliches irritate you more than most other things irritate you?
Oh and 92% said we should hire this guy? Run in fear now. That type of consensus can't end well... :p
This kind of reminds me of the "we're inherently screwed because we're the Jackets" silliness we get from a few nuts around here.
__________________
Remember - when you're a hockey fan, it's not "reckless driving", it's "good forechecking".
"Viqsi, you are our sweet humanist..." --mt-svk on the CBJ boards
Thanks, Howson, for cleaning up MacLean's toxic waste. Welcome, Kekalainen; let's get good things built!
Just trying to understand- do you mean cliches irritate you more quickly than they irritate most other people or do you mean cliches irritate you more than most other things irritate you?
The most interesting one is the third one. They talk about Erixon and Calvert, as well as some of the strategy for an abbreviated. There was some interesting insight on what Howson thought happened to Calvert last season.
Enjoy. I kind of liked the fluff pieces. One thing I noticed is that Priest looked extremely happy to have him aboard. I think Priest has been looking forward to this day.
The most interesting one is the third one. They talk about Erixon and Calvert, as well as some of the strategy for an abbreviated. There was some interesting insight on what Howson thought happened to Calvert last season.
Enjoy. I kind of liked the fluff pieces. One thing I noticed is that Priest looked extremely happy to have him aboard. I think Priest has been looking forward to this day.
This one move - coupled with Priest's genuine enthusiasm for it - has greatly improved my perception of this franchise. It will remain at this level as long as they let JD do his job and if JD is as good at his job as we think he is.
