Quote:
Originally Posted by Saqe
I don't know if you are on a personal vendetta against Tallon but this part is just nonsense.
Tallon took over in Chicago in 2005 after the Blackhawks had been terrible for almost a decade. By year four they were in the playoffs (lost in the conference finals) and the next year they were the SC champs. He built the core that made Chicago the perennial contender they are today.
When he took over in Florida in 2010 the Panthers had been a perennial loser since their existence. He had nothing to work with, their prospect pool was zero. They made the playoffs on his second year with mercenaries like Fleichmann and Versteeg but it wasn't sustainable and only last year their own prospects and drafting started coming into fruition. It's hard not to see them competing for the playoffs for the foreseeable future.
He has been handed keys to two different organizations that were completely crap and he turned them around. Whether Florida can become a perennial playoff team and a contender remains to be seen but the core is there.
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Thanks for saying it so I didn't have to. You pretty much nailed it.
Also, there's more to the Panthers than those top picks Estrada mentioned. It's just that those are significant core pieces that you move other pieces around. If someone is willing to offer sheet one of your core players simply because you don't have the resources to sign him to a max contract, well that kinda sucks if you're trying to build a perennially competitive team, which is the only thing that will bring fans into that building and stabilize them economically.
I know everyone would just as soon let the Panthers fold or move, but it's not good for the public image and financial health of the league for that to happen. It would be a lose-lose scenario for everyone.