Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
Harley Hotchkiss was a terrific guy, God rest his soul, but he and the team's co-owners just could not hire a hockey GM to save their lives. They inherited Fletcher. When Fletcher left, they gave the job to Doug Risebrough because Risebrough was already on the payroll. When Risebrough had to be sacked for incompetence, they gave the job to Al Coates – because Coates was already on the payroll. When Button was sacked, he was succeeded by Darryl Sutter – who was already on the payroll. The only GM they ever hired from outside was Button, and that hire was a complete botch.
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That says a lot right there. Already on payroll. They were concerned about what they were spending. Al Coates really wasn't terrible. He was handcuffed by tight budget. At least he brought in players who worked hard and hired Brian Sutter who get get a lot out of the players Coates brought in. He didn't push the team forward too much, partly due to money restrictions, but he didn't make moves that he though would be good for the team but turned out to be disasterous... Button did that.