Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
Cliff Fletcher never made it past Junior C. He's in the Hall of Fame as a builder.
If you like some ancient history, Tommy Gorman never played hockey at any level, but won seven Stanley Cups as GM of four different teams — some of which he also coached. He's in the HoF, too. (By the way, like Ken King, he was a newspaper man before he went into hockey management.)
It's a safe bet that Jay Feaster will never be in the Hall of Fame, but his lack of personal experience playing hockey is not the reason. He just isn't a good enough manager.
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Cliff Fletcher started out as a scout for the Canadiens and worked his way up.
Gorman was a star lacrosse player who also started out evaluating players. Both had hands on hockey related backgrounds. Feaster has never done this but has risen as a manager, with no evaluating or coaching training in any sport. I'd say this is an important part of a GMs duties. Doubly important when dealing with a meddling owner, when you can't make an argument why making a particular move is not a good idea.
Shanahan isn't the perfect candidate either but at least he has hands on experience with the game.