Senators ties, no surprise there. Obviously don't know much about him. But just in time before the trade deadline looms so we might actually be able to swing a deal or two. This is of course took way too long to happen. Going to be very surprised if Martin is still doing both roles next season.
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Florida Panthers: 2011-2012 Southeast Division Champions
On the surface seems like a good hire. I liked what he had to say. Doesn't seem we will have to worry about an "assistant" GM vs. "GM"/head coach tug-of -war which will be a nice change for this organization going into next season.
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FLORIDA PANTHERS 2011-12 SOUTHEAST DIVISION CHAMPIONS 2012-13 BASEMENT DWELLERS
In 1989, Mr. Sexton, together with Cyril Leeder and Bruce Firestone, co-founded the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators. From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Sexton served as the team's chief executive officer and president where he led the organization from zero to $47.5M in revenue. From 1993-1995, Mr. Sexton served as the Senators chief operating officer, president and general manager where he added the responsibility for hockey operations. Numerous NHL players and current Senators Daniel Alfredsson and Radek Bonk were drafted during Sexton's tenure.
Seems to me that this guy has an eye for talent and can work with a scouting system. Something this franchise has been sorely lacking since Torrey left.
Last edited by ratmanfu: 01-26-2007 at 06:56 PM.
Reason: response to deleted post
Doesn't seem we will have to worry about an "assistant" GM vs. "GM"/head coach tug-of -war which will be a nice change for this organization going into next season.
That was obviously an important factor. And it's not like this guy isn't qualified either. Responsible for drafting Yashin, Alfredsson, Demitra, and Bonk. I'm satisfied.
This seems like a solid move. Martin's bringing in his crew, and from the posts above, I really like having this guy around for talent analysis (FINALLY SOMEONE GOOD). Solid move by Martin and the organization. Great news going into the 2nd half of the season. Let's see if Martin's extra time for coaching well have a positive effect on the team.
I read somewhere that Sexton was one of the guys that was key to the drafting by the sens
When you come last every year, it isn't very difficult to draft a 'good' player. He also is the one who drafted Daigle and signed him to that ridiculous contract. Sexton was good for a team that was an expansion team, but he was not an astudt judge of talent at the time. The connection to Martin does not exist from a Senators point of view because Sexton was fired and Pierre Gauthier brought in as GM, who then fired Dave Allison as coach about a month later. He then hired Martin when Sexton was already gone. They may have had a relationship after, but there was no direct Sens relationsip.
After reading up a bit on Sexton, here's my read on this.
I think Martin wants to control the talent evaluation part of the GM position. He wants little to do with the dollars & cents aspect of it. He doesn't want to deal directly with contract negotiations and business affairs. Therefore he brought in someone he knew from St. Lawrence University (where he met Keenan if you want to be pessimistic about it) who has GM experience and can handle that part of it for him.
The fact that Sexton is not preceived to a great judge of talent by some is (IMO) irrelevant. I don't think that's why JM brought him in. Whether JM himself is a great evaluator of talent remains to be seen. Let's hope so.
After reading up a bit on Sexton, here's my read on this.
I think Martin wants to control the talent evaluation part of the GM position. He wants little to do with the dollars & cents aspect of it. He doesn't want to deal directly with contract negotiations and business affairs. Therefore he brought in someone he knew from St. Lawrence University (where he met Keenan if you want to be pessimistic about it) who has GM experience and can handle that part of it for him.
The fact that Sexton is not preceived to a great judge of talent by some is (IMO) irrelevant. I don't think that's why JM brought him in. Whether JM himself is a great evaluator of talent remains to be seen. Let's hope so.
Yeah, I agree, this guy has more of a business background and was hired more for that aspect of the GM role. As far as their relationship, if they had one is news to most around here in Ottawa since they never worked together.
As far as the sens' great drafting over the years, Gauthier is more the man behind that, the only steals on Sexton's resume would be Alfredsson (round 6) and Demitra (round 9) and I'm sure Ottawa scouts would be more responsible for that anyway. Yashin was obvious as the 1st pick and the selection of Daigle, Bonk and Berard as 1st overall picks can be argued as bad choices in hindsight.
This hiring did catch me by surprise, I never would have guess this would have happened.
I was definitely waiting for Savard to be hired in the off-season.
Sorry for the late reply. I heard the news of this, but, didn't get a chance to post some thoughts, and then forgot about it. I decided to go back and dig up the thread on it.
I was suprised when I heard that Sexton was back in the game. He's a guy who's firing is generally viewed as a turning point of the Sens franchise.
He took over for the inexperienced Mel Bridgeman in the Sens first year. He was dismissed after the very disappointing first season of the Sens, and Sexton was coming from a general business background, with little to no pro-hockey experience. As a result, his tenure as GM was filled with poor hockey decisions, as, he didn't have the hockey network to be able to swing deals, or make too many astute hires.
The one guy he did have on staff though was John Ferguson Sr., who is credited with some of the key hockey decisions during that time, and the guy that brought the team some credibility on the hockey knowledge front. The Sens two biggest draft successes in those early years were the picks of Demitra and Alfredsson, and, I think the assumption is, that Ferguson would have been the only guy to really have been on top of something like this. However, there was a conflict between him and management, when he spoke out against the (first)contract holdout of Yashin (saying that the team shouldn't be going to war with it's best player). He was let go/re-signed over it.
Sexton, being an outsider, had difficulties with many of the hockey issues. He tried to make a splash with the Daigle signing, which was disastrous. The cross-expansion draft, where Tampa and Ottawa were permitted to select a player off of the new expansion team rosters was poorly handled. The purpose of said draft, was to throw a bone to Ottawa and Tampa, and give them the benefit of getting a better goaltender, as the rules were changed the year after for Florida and Anaheim. Ottawa instead used the pick to get tough guy Denis Vial.
Probably the biggest inidcation of how far outside Sexton was when he went to hire a new coach (when he fired Rick Bowness in an effort to preserve his job). At that point, his clout in hockey circles still wasn't strong, and, had no real method of drawing in a strong coach. The only guy he could get to take hte job was Dave Allison, the Sens minor league coach. Shortly after, Sexton was fired, and Pierre Gauthier brought in, who brought Jacques Martin in as the coach.
He was someone who did manage to hire some other good people in the organization, that has allowed Ottawa to remain a well-managed team in some of the intermediate positions.
Bringing Sexton back in this capacity certainly is an interesting decision. He's no doubt an intelligent executive, who was over his head in terms of hockey smarts. I still think his reign as GM in Ottawa was disatrous, nearly sinking this franchise. But, in this capacity, paired with a guy who's a great hockey mind in Jacques Martin, but lacks business experience, combined wiht the fact that he probably now is much better suited to the role than he was when he tookt he job 15 years ago, that it may end up being an excellent hire. He's probably a guy that can serve as the team's capologist, and handle that side of the job.
Thanks for the long, detailed insight discostu. You bring up some very interesting things and I can only hope that him being brought in as an assistant is more indicative of what his role will be here.
It confirms my suspicions. JM was looking for someone to handle the financial and bureaucratic aspects of the GM position. He didn't want another hockey mind to challenge his personnel/on-ice decisions. It seems Sexton is a perfect fit for the job.
It confirms my suspicions. JM was looking for someone to handle the financial and bureaucratic aspects of the GM position. He didn't want another hockey mind to challenge his personnel/on-ice decisions. It seems Sexton is a perfect fit for the job.
thirded. great post. i agree with you, atf. it's all on jacques now.
One further point, as, the question remains, what has been the relationship with Martin and Sexton, given that they have never worked together.
Martin had the luxury of seeing the output of some of Sexton's work while he was there. I'm sure he interacted with a number of people that worked with him over the years. Plus, after being fired, Sexton stayed out of the hockey business, but, he was involved in some businesses in the Ottawa area. He was a CFO of a high tech company for a while, I believe, and then got involved with the Bell Sensplex. I'm sure the two crossed paths on numerous occassions just from being in the same city.
There is a connection with the two of them both attending St. Lawrence, but, it was years apart. I'm guessing there may have bonded over that to some degree, but, it's not likely they knew each other from there. But, all of this is speculation.
