Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I haven't seen any evidence that organization attempted to do anything other than pick 1st overall but if you feel otherwise please don't hesitate fill us in on why you think they tried their best to ice a competitive team. All I see is a team that went into the season with a lame duck coach they knew they were going to replace. Didn't bother even trying to sign one of their top forwards until they were forced to. Not even half way into the season when it was evident the locker room was a mess they didn't even try to fire the head coach and let an assistant try and turn things around. They just turned a blind eye to the issues and looked straight ahead to the prize in June. Can't argue with the results. They get the coach they always wanted and the stud forward they coveted. I don't like what they did but you can't argue with the results.
|
I'll just cover the bolded. Before this season the Avs very much had a similar situation to Edmonton with Pierre and Eric LeCroix, they were their version of Kevin Lowe. And a lot of their fans were surprised to see Pierre dismissed as they thought for sure he was there until he died, literally. Eric and Sacco were good friends and him not willing to fire him was ultimately what got him fired iirc. Also, Colorado has been after Roy for years, they first tried to get him in 2009 and he rejected their offer, pretty much he was #1 in the race for their new head coach and nobody else was even close. And considering Roy was the coach and GM of the Remparts he couldn't exactly leave in the middle of their season.
Again, the old management (Pierre LaCroix) was set in the old ways and was a hard negotiator and didn't take any BS from young players (eg. Drury). So it wasn't really surprising that he refused to come down on his ridiculous demands (wanted ROR to sign for 3M or something?). Which is what ultimately got him fired. They had Denvers' version of Kevin Lowe, wasn't really tanking, just incompetent management.