Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
Also, I really object to "Has Ken King even played ice hockey?" stigma. He is a president. Once again, how long does someone have to be involved in hockey before they can be considered a 'hockey guy'? Do they need to make it to a certain level? Is it necessary for them to have been NHL players? AHL? ECHL? Major Junior? AAA? When is the cut-off?
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Hockey guy has just become a term to describe a guy who knows the game of hockey from a more technical standpoint, such as understanding how the game is played and having the ability to evaluate hockey talent. Hockey players are generally seen as hockey guys because players typically know when they see a good player, but that doesn't mean they make good scouts because scouting is all about the ability to project a player. I've answered you many times it's about learning the trade and developing the skills required for the position. Ken King is a hockey executive who has to know the trade by now. But I bet that if a coach, scout, or player starts talking about the finer aspects of hockey such as hockey strategy King would be lost. So you can watch the Flames play hockey 80+ games a year for the past 25 years and not be a hockey guy. You can be the team's physician for 30 years and not be a hockey guy. You can negotiate contracts and be the team's capologist and not be a hockey guy. But an equipment manager who has made the extraordinary effort to learn the game from the coaching staff might be in a better position to coach or scout than say Ken King or Jay Feaster.
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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As Vulcan pointed out, Fletcher worked as a scout and Gorman has scouting and coaching experience. He didn't just sit in his office delegating.
The President of a hockey team not being a hockey guy is generally no where near as being as big of a problem as a GM not being a hockey guy. But accusations of meddling aside, King has been the President of a team who has been unsuccessful for many years and who have gone through GM hirings without much of an interview process. That's a problem. Owners hire GMs without much of an interview process all the time, but the smarter ones without much in the way of hockey knowledge generally have a consultant or advisor helping them with the process.