Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I can agree with your assessment of the general effectiveness in Winnipeg's hockey ops. dept., but I am not convinced by the bolded part. Yes, it is an organisational problem, but one that I fear they are married to, and not likely at any point in the near future from which to escape. The problem is much deeper than merely the owner's perceived ignorance of hockey. The problem is that the team is entrenched within a perfect storm of its financial constrictions, geographical constrictions and public perception, and the unhealthy relationship between ownership and management.
As soon as Jets fans stop buying tickets, that market is in serious trouble. Unlike virtually every other market in the NHL, the team needs to sell out consistently just to be viable. Eventually, they need to win, and in the current market, they are unlikely to win without some freedom to spend some money, which they simply do not have.
And I agree with Finger Cookin—the fans deserve whatever they get.
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Chipman has actually opened the chequebook but problem is his gm is using it poorly. Starts in net with pavelec, singing him to that kind of term and money was foolish. Granted he's had to overpay to get the likes of Wheeler, Bogosian and Little to stay. But he's made some very poor decisions (Pavelec, Setoguchi) which speaks to his incompetence.
As for the "Winnipeg" problem, look back to the first incarnation of the Jets and that issue may be overblown. You had players who came there who genuinely liked playing there (Selanne, Hawerchuk) and only left because ownership wouldn't pay the market rates Tkachuk liked it there as well enough to marry a local girl and ended up moving with the team to Phoenix). Yes, there will be players that avoid it like the plague but maybe they take an approach like the Raptors do in the nba and draft more Europeans who don't have that perception of Winnipeg that North Americans seem to.