Quote:
Originally Posted by JiriHrdina
I've said a lot of this stuff in the past when this topic comes out but I'll repeat it again. It's not simply a matter of good or bad scouting. When it comes to an organization's ability to produce NHL players there are a myriad of factors at work
- Where they draft, particularly in the 1st round
- How many high round picks they have. In general Sutter has had to use picks to fill out his NHL team while asset-rich organizations like Colorado have been able to do the opposite - stockpile 1st, 2nds and 3rds to fill out the entire pipeline. More bullets in the chamber=more chance to develop NHLers.
- The development system as a whole in an organization.
- Where you draft in what years. A 15th pick one year can be the same as a 45th pick the year after depending on how deep that draft goes. There are some drafts in recent memory where guys when in the top 15 - and the year after they probably would have gone in the 2nd round. So when you suck matters as much as how much you suck. Gotta time it right. Pittsburgh, Chicago, Washington did. Calgary and Edmonton back in their down years did not.
- Luck. The Canucks had horrible luck when Luc Bourdon died. The Flames have had bad luck with Mickey Renaud, Dan Ryder, Brent Krahn, etc. Some things aren't in your control.
I think people always want to be able to blame a specific person or reason for things - and the reality is that the issue is far more complex than that. So we can sit here and complain about the lack of prospects - or we can dig a little deeper to try and understand what really is driving this.
|
Fair enough Jiri,
I take your point... but I believe that the right INDIVIDUAL, really can make a huge difference. Darryl Sutter is an individual, and yet our trade performance in terms of return (some will argue this only applies to years prior to this one) improved massively after his arrival. It's not as if the Flames organization got better at trading, Sutter, the individual made this stuff happen.
Luck is fine in explaining Renaud (who may never have made it to the show anyway) and Krahn. I do not agree with you about Ryder though. Other teams did interviews with this guy and figured out that mentally there were questions, and therefore did NOT pick him. Calgary did, and made a mistake.
If you have the right individuals in the right positions, they can affect change and Lead a team of people in the right direction. Can you honestly say Tod Button has done that? I can't.
I'll agree with you that it's probably not ONLY his fault, but that hardly means he should keep his job. Ken King's job (along with Darryl) is to make this organization better, and in some areas they have absolutely succeeded. In this area, they haven't, so therefore, I think it's time we saw some change.