Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Lombardi was told not to hire Sutter in L.A.

Loyal and True · 06-23-2014, 06:13 PM

I think the core players Sutter put (or kept) in place here were all good enough to be a cup contender at the time... Iginla, Kipper, Bouwmeester, Regehr, Phaneuf, Langkow, Bourque, Jokinen, Giordano ... high paying contracts (often with NMCs) designed to keep a strong core together until about 2012 before the window starts closing.

But they didn't perform up to expectations and the window seemed to rapidly close in 2010 and Darryl became desperate in trades hoping to make the playoffs.

Biggest problem was coaching. Darryl never found the right replacement for himself. If he had stayed (or returned) as coach he might have been able to get more out of his core players. Playfair, Keenan and Brent weren't doing the job. Darryl should have stepped in to coach and hired an assistant GM earlier.

At the end of the day getting the right coach is a huge part of the GM job. That's a large reason why Lombardi looks so good in June 2014 vs Jan 2012 when his job was on the line. He finally picked the right coach for his players.

06-23-2014, 06:13 PM	#61
Loyal and True Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Dec 2010 Exp:	I think the core players Sutter put (or kept) in place here were all good enough to be a cup contender at the time... Iginla, Kipper, Bouwmeester, Regehr, Phaneuf, Langkow, Bourque, Jokinen, Giordano ... high paying contracts (often with NMCs) designed to keep a strong core together until about 2012 before the window starts closing. But they didn't perform up to expectations and the window seemed to rapidly close in 2010 and Darryl became desperate in trades hoping to make the playoffs. Biggest problem was coaching. Darryl never found the right replacement for himself. If he had stayed (or returned) as coach he might have been able to get more out of his core players. Playfair, Keenan and Brent weren't doing the job. Darryl should have stepped in to coach and hired an assistant GM earlier. At the end of the day getting the right coach is a huge part of the GM job. That's a large reason why Lombardi looks so good in June 2014 vs Jan 2012 when his job was on the line. He finally picked the right coach for his players. Last edited by Loyal and True; 06-23-2014 at 06:15 PM.