Quote:
Originally Posted by 1qqaaz
I think Treliving's biggest apparent weaknesses have been:
-Bad coaching hires
-Bad free agent signings
-Trading away draft picks
Some things have gone pretty well:
-Drafting has been pretty good
-The Flames have actually managed to develop defensemen
-The trades have been pretty good in terms of value
I'm not sure if any of these weaknesses can definitively be credited to Treliving. What if Treliving couldn't hire big name coaches because ownership didn't give him the budget to? Maybe that's why coaches like Boudreau were never even interviewed - Treliving knew he was too expensive.
What if the Flames signed free agents like Brouwer and Neal because ownership wanted the Flames to compete ASAP? What if he was basically instructed to spend to the cap so that the team could be competitive? You could argue that the Flames should have then signed someone else, but big contracts to older UFAs are always risky. What if Treliving traded away picks because he was told that the Flames should try to compete?
I guess what I'm saying is, it's possible that many of Treliving's weaknesses could be a result of bad directions from ownership. If that's the case, we can probably still say that Treliving isn't the best at using pro scouts. Other than that, it's possible that a lot can be blamed on ownership. They may have been setting unrealistic goals.
|
It was reported at the time of his last contract that Treliving insisted on having free reign with no interference from above. I think at the time that meant no interference from Ken King but we don't know for sure the details. To blame everything he has done wrong on ownership seems like a real stretch to me. Personally I think ownership left it up to him until recently when Sutter was brought in, no proof on that, just a feeling.