Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
I like Conroy, and love having him in the organization (you could just feel his giddiness at the Gaudreau/Arnold signing), but I also wonder if he has the personality to make the hard, unpopular "gotta be an a-hole for the good of the team" decisions a GM has to make occasionally. Has he had to make those types of decisions in terms of the Heat?
If he can, then sure, I'd consider him. If he would have to rely on Burke to be that guy, I'd say he's not ready.
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Can't say for sure which moves he's had to make or not, always hard to pin those exact things down but I always go back to development camp when my eyes really opened to the idea Conroy would be a GM one day. He was being interviewed during the intermission of a scrimmage game, being asked normal soft ball questions but I was surprised with how candid, open and honest he was being about which guys have to do this, which guys have to do that. If a player was disappointing etc etc. IIRC he was almost harsh towards Horak in his critics.
The guy is definitely one of the nicest people you'll ever meet but that doesn't mean he'll be afraid of making the tough decisions in his job. Conroy was a bubble of a man off the ice but on the ice he was a serious competitor, I think that gets lost in he goofy funny loving imagine we've formed of him, he took the game and player very seriously. I have little doubt he'd do the same as GM.
Brian Burke will still be here, his role is strictly a hockey role. If Burke would be leaving Conroy all by himself, then I'd have some serious hesitation but that's not the roles Ken King and Burke described when he arrived. If Burke still needs to work some trades, I don't doubt he'd do it and they'd bounce ideas off each other. The way the Flames have structured it, it's a great, if not perfect way to bring Conroy along.
I'm a big believer in him though, I understand if some are not. Everytime he's been interviewed during his time as a manager for the Flames my eyes are constantly opened to what a sharp hockey mind he actually has.