Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
Yup. That's about right. He tried to force critical mass and it didn't result in anything. The Hamilton trade was a good one. The Hamonic trade was the one that set the club back. He should have held on the path of drafting and building. Hamilton was young and highly skilled, so he fit the need and was worth the long term investment. Hamonic was an over the top type trade, and the team was no where near that point. We were short some top end players that you only get through the draft. That one mistake damned us to mediocrity.
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Whose choice/direction was it to expedite the rebuild? To me it seems highly suspect that a GM who enters a situation where he presumably has at least 2-3 years of collecting assets would change course so quickly. I recall Treliving saying after he dealt Glencross, I believe, that despite the Flames being in the playoff chase they were in asset collection mode. For them to goon, make the playoffs and win a round was entirely unexpected. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that time and build your organization through drafting and development? Is this organizational direction something that Treliving decided for himself? Unlikely.
For the Flames to have made the playoffs and win a round in Treliving’s first year and then attempt to accelerate their rebuild and solidify themselves as a playoff team seems pretty consistent with how this organization has conducted itself for almost two decades. What was it that Burke said when he was hired by the Leafs? I believe it was something along the lines of ‘I’m too old and too impatient for a rebuild’. That was 5 years prior to Burke joining the Flames. To me, it seems like the objectives and barometer for success, as far as this organization is concerned, is set by ownership. I think the issues that belie this organization are deeper than the GM and whoever is the GM will have to reconcile their own ‘intellectual honesty’, as Feaster put it, and the objectives set by ownership.
I think it’s highly likely that Treliving is down to his last year short of a successful year. By that I mean, make the playoffs, win a round, and there would have to be some real evidence that the team is on an upward trajectory. This is also why I think the Flames will be ‘chips in’ on Eichel. Very interesting season ahead. It’s either going to be a spectacular failure, or an unlikely success.