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Old 11-27-2014, 10:08 AM   #47
LChoy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny01 View Post
Feaster deserves credit for a few solid moves he made. The top of the list is hiring his good buddy Bob Hartley. Feaster made this move but I remember the sorry of Bob having to win the approval of Conroy and Weisbroad. Also not sure if it was King or Feaster but getting Conroy to move up to the front office was very smart.

Letting his scouts draft the BPA. He didn't scout Gaudreau but he did give Button permission to draft him. The 2011 draft looks like we might have 4 NHLers on our hands. 2013 he took the obvious pick in Monahan but the sportier pick over perhaps the more natural pick in Shinkaurak was wise. Again letting the scouts do their work and staying hands off was very smart.

He had some hits and misses with free agents. The Hudler signing is likely his best and even though the Wideman contract is brutal he is filling a very nice role on the team. Jooris looks like a great pickup as well.

He also cleared the books and got this team out of cap hell and left a nice canvass for Butke and Treliving to build this team with. Brad inherited a great situation with prospects, and cap space at his disposal. The table was cleared for him.

There is plenty of bad in there though which we have all harped on in the past. The handling of the Igy trade, and the RoR offer sheet looked brutal from an optics perspective and the offer sheet could have set the team back a few years. The Jankowski pick and moreso the hype he built up was a bad move. Jay was pretty bad for hyping prospects and it is part of the reason Sven is where he is right now. the trades of Bouwmeester, Regehr, and Tangauy were all pretty awful as well.

Jay deserves credit for much of the teams success but I really didn't like the perception of the team from the outside when he was here. With Burke and Treliving in place it seems like the team is gaining more respect amongst the spectators and pundits alike. So thanks to Jay for his contributions but I am very happy he no longer runs this team
Good post, I think I agree with most of the stuff you said

in addition to the perception thing:

Feaster's main impact, rightly or wrongly, was that he wanted to change the atmosphere of the Flames, and did that by becoming a total cheerleader for the team. He was very open with the media and was always promoting the team. Whether it was recruiting "The best goalie outside of the NHL (Ramo)" to "Jankowski will be the best player in the draft in 10 years." We also all loved his comments about the Oilers wandering the desert. Bringing up Sven on that emergency recall seem to support that he wanted to bring the excitement back to the Flames.

Unfortunately, Feaster's openness backfired on many occasions, and the Flames looked really bad many times during his term. For ex, the ROR situation, not counting it wasn't just the Flames that were caught by that obscure rule, it was the one job he should have expertise in, and he didn't catch it. However, if that rule wasn't there, it was actually a beautifully constructed offer sheet as the Flames put in the right price point and the signing dates prevented ROR from signing prior to UFA trade deadline (The poison pill clause). However, every misstepped from the Iggy Trade, trying to get Kipper to waive to another team, seem to expose Feaster as an incompetent GM. In other words, he was great when it comes to positive news, but could not control the message when there was a mistake.

Lastly, I tend to cut him a break for the trades of Iggy, Regehr, and Bouwmeester. In the history of all NHL trades involving star players, the team that trading the star almost always loses the trade. From other team recently, Seguin, Vanek, Nash, to name a few, were all a boon for the team receiving them, rather than the returns going the other way. History also shows that GMs are brought in to be the hatchet man, and dismissed once the hard part has been completed.

Ultimately, the perception of him as a mouthpiece cheerleader is what caused him to be released. I don't think other GMs took him seriously, and that hampered our trading potential. However, he accomplished the task of changing the Flames identity and culture, and Burke/Treliving are continuing to build upon it. The Dome is rocking again, and the Flames are gaining back their respectability in the NHL.

TL;DR - Feaster's main impact was to start the change in culture, but his cheerleading got too much, and there was too many times the Flames looked foolish under his watch.

Lchoy
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