Quote:
Originally Posted by DazzlinDino
What is your relationship to Brad?
When Brad was first hired I was skeptical as I didn't think he had enough experience. I still don't think he was the right guy. You might not like it but that's just my honest opinion. Conroy doesn't have a lot of experience either but coming up through the organization and being a skilled player himself those are some good intangibles. So far I think he's doing a good job.
Conroy said that Brad tended to do things on his own, but that he himself likes to involve the management team more so in the process. That may have some advantages.
I was a big fan of Darryl Sutter for a long time, I thought he did some excellent things when he was coaching here the first time, but was not a very good GM. I pumped his tires a lot on this site because I thought we needed an experienced coach, but the Darryl that arrived, was much different from the one I remember, maybe as he got older and being away from the game he lost touch a bit with the players, and of course coaching styles have changed over the years.
Lots of people know I pumped his tires a lot but there were lots of people here who didn't agree. I didn't have a problem with that, that's okay too. I thought he would be the solution for the team, in the end he didn't do a good job. My point is there's lots of people on here who don't agree with Brad, I'm one of them, and that's okay. I just find it odd that you defend him at every turn, but some people like what he did some people didn't, and that's okay. Not everybody likes oranges, not everybody likes apples, that doesn't make them bad people. It certainly doesn't make Brad a bad person. But don't be surprised on the forum with passionate hockey fans that some people are going to have different opinions about the GM. Right now people really like what Conroy is doing, but there's going to be people down the road who might disagree with some of his decisions and that's okay too.
I wasn't a fan of Brads hiring from the very beginning, I am pretty open-minded, but through his solid work he didn't really change my mind. I just don't think he was the right guy for the Calgary Flames. He did some things well but I think he lacked experience in other areas that set the organization back. My preference was to have more experienced, more proven GM before Brad was hired.
Definitely people don't have all the information so sometimes they jump to conclusions about what's happened or didn't happen or how things went down, or were run behind the scenes. But don't be surprised that some people are going to have a different opinion and not everybody was a fan of Brad, but lots of people were, and that's okay too.
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I have no relationship to Treliving.
I’ve been fairly consistent that I think Treliving deserves criticism. Every GM does because none of them hit 1.000 whether it be the draft, development, trades, signings, etc. No e of them are perfect and you can rest assured Craig Conroy will have his fair share of blemishes as well.
My defence of Treliving has more to do with the very low bar being set here by many/most. Treliving was a GM with some good and some bad. It seems though the fasionable thing to do here is label Treliving an idiot. Again, very low bar comments.
I’ll also point out a couple things relative to your own post, which was mostly fair. When Trelivjng was hired it was under a seasoned vet GM in Brian Burke. Burke also was part of the picture for Treliving’s first I think it also worth bearing in mind that any Toronto Maple Leaf fan over the age of 20 should be able to tell you that when Burke was hired by the Leafs he famously said ‘I’m not a patient man’ meaning any thought/hope of a rebuild was going to be short lived. So, it should be no surprise that the Flames followed suit in Treliving’s first year when the made they playoffs. I suspect, strongly, Treliving was told ‘we’re going for it. Mandate: make the playoffs’. This is also consistent with the organization’s direction since 2004. If there’s a chance, a hope, the Flames are going for it. I’ll say the rebuild under Treliving wasn’t short cut by Treliving, it was short cut by Burke/ownership. So that’s the context Treliving worked under. All things considered, I think he did a decent job and the claims of him being an idiot are misguided. Treliving wasn’t the idiot, or at the least, he wasn’t the only one.
Secondly, my recollection of what Conroy said is that ‘on
some things, Treliving made the decision alone’. Operative word ‘some’. If Treliving did make all the decisions along then what were Conroy, Burke, Maloney, Pascal, Smow, and the scouts doing? Why were the Flames paying these people hundreds of thousands of dollars? To just be warm bodies in chairs? And if all that is true, why would we think Conroy is a good candidate to be a good GM if all he’s been doing is sitting in his office playing candy crush or whatever he was doing. I’d bet Treliving acted alone on the Peters hire, but let’s not forget Conroy’s day with Glen Gulutzan hiking the Grouse Grind. I’d bet Conroy had input on that decision which is widely considered to be a flop. And let’s also remember that Conroy had been quite vocal is his belief that Gaudreau was going to stay.
I guess my expectations on hockey discourse on a fan forum are a bit high but the whole narrative that this GM or that GM is an idiot is a pretty low bar. We all know the criticisms of Treliving and most of them are warranted. That said, he did a lot of good too which is far less acknowledged.
Lastly with regard to Treliving and nepotism with the Leafs, that’s just a weak/lazy/stupid argument all together. Not that you said it, but others have. Frankly it sounds a bit like scorned ex-lover.