Quote:
Originally Posted by Toonage
Won 2 cups (in Pitt), spent like a madman to keep that window pried open. Did what ownership wanted I suppose, just didn't have success past that 2nd cup.
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Okay, and you're absolutely right and this was largely one of my opinions about Treliving as well, and we'll get to that.
Rutherford did spend like a madman. However, that was his purview.
His job was to take a good team and put them over the top. It can be argued that he did that job and did it well.
The fact that the team was a mess afterwards...well, that is to be expected. If you want to talk about the nature of parity in the NHL then its pretty well recognized that most solid Championship teams eventually slide down the back-side of the Bell Curve.
The trick is to win those Championships while that window is open and then suffer the consequences alleviating your misery by polishing your rings.
Where I drag Treliving into this is something I've said many times before, I think he built a solid team, but sometimes you get people who can only take you so far and then you've got to bring people in to drag you over the hump to the top.
That pretty well describes Rutherford's job in Pittsburgh.
Now, does he have the skills and tools to do an entirely different job in Vancouver? I'd wager 'No' but I guess we'll have to find out.