[News] Sportsnet interview with Maloney (2-parter)

[McG]

The intermission interview I could take it or leave it. It was whatever. And that should have been that. There was no need to do another interview with Francis.

Here's my bigger problem. Why is it that words like "culture" and "vision" are tossed around with reckless abandon with no real meaning behind them? I find it absolutely incredible that a so called president of hockey operations cannot differentiate between vision, strategy, and tactics. I don't expect everyone to understand this, except maybe if you have, I don't know, the word president in your title?

Vision is fine. Long term, limited to zero change, where you want to go, the guiding light for the team/organization. it can be a little bit aspirational, but generally it informs the organization and its people of what they are going towards. Sure, win a Stanley cup could be a vision, but it might be something like "make the playoffs every year".

Strategy is what you are going to do to get to your vision. seriously. Strategies change...but not every single year. Many strategies exist for 4 to 5 years...and that's because the underlying tools or events might make you adjust how you do things. Vision unlikely to change.

Tactics...this is what you do to achieve strategy. much, much more short term. like 1-2 years. so your tactics might change twice to deliver the strategic goals in a 4-5 year cycle. totally natural! tactics change because circumstances change. But your strategy doesn't. and certainly your vision doesn't.

why do I write this. and this is for you don Maloney. The Flames vision is what? Be a top 4 team consistently? Win the Stanley Cup? Are these unique? The Flames strategy would be draft and develop with free agent signings to provide star power. And the tactics would be to go after player X as a UFA, or drafting Centres for the next 3 draft cycles, or BPA for next 3 drafts or whatever. You can fill in with just about any approach here...but the point is that each of these has to be consistent for the necessary time period. You don't keep unsuccessful tactics for 5 years because they are obviously wrong if they aren't delivering the strategy to support the vision.

Here's what Maloney (and by extension, the Flames) are missing. I can sign up for the vision. I can sign up for the strategy. Tactics are meant to be flexible. The guy talks like tactics are strategy and they aren't. It is extremely mathematically improbable that the flames make the playoffs this year. Like last year. So change the tactics!!! See what I mean? Everyone loved the spirit of the flames last year...probably great culture in the room and with the fans! Hard work! Yay! Did the Flames seriously, seriously think that it was permanently repeatable? Then shame on them. And here we are where we are crying out for a change in tactics.

Flames (and Treliving previously) have been absolutely terrible asset managers over the years. You don't trade Anderson et al because you want to tank, you trade them because they are worth absolutely nothing at the end of the season. They extend or they are traded as UFAs. Are they helping the Flames win right now? Standings say no. Flames strategy might/should be to never let a player become a UFA. You make it known to players and then turn it into an organizational strength.

As Don might say...wow McG...you live in a fantasy world. But you just have to look up highway 2 to see the effect of 2 players. Lost is the fact that when you draft at the top of the first round, you draft at the top of every single other round too! And maybe you pick up other draft picks so you can draft in the 20s from other teams. And wow...it is more likely that you get the better players at the top of the draft. Parekh fell...sure. But only to the 9 spot where Flames somehow were picking without going on a "win for culture" end of season jaunt.

TLDR? McG feels that the Flames are terrible asset managers and don't have the foggiest clue about vision, strategy, and tactics.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

So it was a correct message with an awful delivery. Sounds on brand for Maloney, frankly.

I don't think it was a correct message at all.

They won't lean into the bad season. They’re surprised and confused that the team is bad. At the same time saying the team has to be a.hard working, tough out because that's the only way they can win.

Yeah Don, because they're a bad hockey team.

[Jay Random]

I'm surprised and confused that essentially the same roster that missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker last year started this season with a stretch of sub-.200 hockey and is still not in sight of a .400 record. Last year they were better than anyone expected them to be. This year they are worse than anyone had a reason to expect.

Not sure what's wrong with that.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I'm surprised and confused that essentially the same roster that missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker last year started this season with a stretch of sub-.200 hockey and is still not in sight of a .400 record. Last year they were better than anyone expected them to be. This year they are worse than anyone had a reason to expect.

Not sure what's wrong with that.

I honestly think Wolf just played amazing and a lot of players had career years. You see that sometimes with bad teams that play over their heads one season and then are bad the next.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I honestly think Wolf just played amazing and a lot of players had career years. You see that sometimes with bad teams that play over their heads one season and then are bad the next.

That's true, and I would have expected a correction from, say, a 96-point pace to a .500 points percentage. The sheer awfulness of the team this season is almost spooky.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Sure, that is why I said it is best not to communicate. Maloney is a terrible communicator but there was nothing said that indicated they would change course from the rebuilding process they have been undertaking for 3 years now. There was nothing even that said definitively they would not be trading the vets. But it was clearly a bad interview.

Talking about the Dallas model, and not believing that top picks are worth the pain it takes to get them, states pretty clearly that there is in fact a disdain for rebuilding and that they will continue with the 'try to add pieces and build on the fly' approach.

To be clear, I don't think that is a bad strategy, if you have a decent roster that you can work with.

But anyone who looks at this roster and thinks it can be fixed with some tinkering and a few draft picks along the way, is completely incompetent and should be fired immediately.

[PaperBagger'14]

A few weeks ago I said it would be nice to hear some honesty from the flames to the fan base. Well here’s a million dollar question, was that actual honesty? Is ownership and management really this out of touch or is it just flame flavoured gaslighting?

After I said it would be nice to hear some honesty I was told by multiple boneheads to “judge them based on what they do”. Well they did this interview, so there you go to those donkeys who bothered to reply to me.

What an ugly look.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

After I said it would be nice to hear some honesty I was told by multiple boneheads to “judge them based on what they do”. Well they did this interview, so there you go to those donkeys who bothered to reply to me.

Speaking as one of the bonehead donkeys: They didn't DO anything. They SAID more things. No action was taken this day. Nothing has actually changed.

Show me an actual roster move or change of staff that shows they aren't continuing with the same rebuild that, by the actual evidence, started two years ago.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I'm surprised and confused that essentially the same roster that missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker last year started this season with a stretch of sub-.200 hockey and is still not in sight of a .400 record. Last year they were better than anyone expected them to be. This year they are worse than anyone had a reason to expect.

Not sure what's wrong with that.

One can be surprised at an overachieving year, and also surprised by the magnitude of the swing to the next season, no problem there.

But overall, anyone looking at it from above, with long term vision (as a POHO should) should NOT be surprised that this isn't a good hockey team and has an aging core - that has been plain for all to see for a couple of years.

So no, no free pass for the 'surprisingly poor' start.

[Rhett44]

Don Maloney has united almost the entire forum against him.

A few days ago, I did not think this was possible. But, he really did it.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Don Maloney has united almost the entire forum against him.

A few days ago, I did not think this was possible. But, he really did it.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Don Maloney has united almost the entire forum against him.

A few days ago, I did not think this was possible. But, he really did it.

4D chess, for sure!

[FanIn80]

The President of Hockey Operations speaking publicly about the team while the General Manager is in the final year of his contract with no public talk of extension. Francis even said that the requests were to speak with Conroy and the team's response was "no, Maloney will do the talking."

This is looking like a company who is about to replace a manager, not a company letting its manager manage.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Talking about the Dallas model, and not believing that top picks are worth the pain it takes to get them, states pretty clearly that there is in fact a disdain for rebuilding and that they will continue with the 'try to add pieces and build on the fly' approach.

To be clear, I don't think that is a bad strategy, if you have a decent roster that you can work with.

But anyone who looks at this roster and thinks it can be fixed with some tinkering and a few draft picks along the way, is completely incompetent and should be fired immediately.

Well if the pieces you add on the fly to build the team are Frost, Farabee, Bahl Hanley, Bean, Lomberg, Pachal and Beecher I don’t think you have to worry about some sort of “disdain” for rebuilding. Those guys replaced Lindholm, Zadorov, Hanifin, Tanev. Kuzmenko, Mangiapane (along with losing Markstrom). Almost half those guys are probably not even really NHL players on 75% of the teams in the league. Can’t think of any other players they have really added to build on the fly since the end of 23/24. That is a pretty brutal effort at “try to add pieces and build on the fly”.

[getbak]

This is paving the way for POHO Lanny McDonald.

[Enoch Root]

Maloney actually works for Bingo! It all makes sense now.

[Roko]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

The President of Hockey Operations speaking publicly about the team while the General Manager is in the final year of his contract with no public talk of extension. Francis even said that the requests were to speak with Conroy and the team's response was "no, Maloney will do the talking."

This is looking like a company who is about to replace a manager, not a company letting its manager manage.

If that happens we are cooked. We are probably cooked anyways. My Conny-fidence is high, my baloney meter is high on the rest

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

A few weeks ago I said it would be nice to hear some honesty from the flames to the fan base. Well here’s a million dollar question, was that actual honesty? Is ownership and management really this out of touch or is it just flame flavoured gaslighting?

After I said it would be nice to hear some honesty I was told by multiple boneheads to “judge them based on what they do”. Well they did this interview, so there you go to those donkeys who bothered to reply to me.

What an ugly look.

To quote Ashsax why is it always one side of this argument who are always condescending and rude?

But if you think words are actions I don’t know how to help you.

[browna]

Said in another thread. This is the Flames worst season, this early, in 23 years and it is hard to be admitting playoffs are out of the question before US Thanksgiving. So, this is a pretty unique situation to have to navigate. And, given the social media pressures, people demand messages to placate their instant need to know.

Maloney’s being the messenger this to protect Conroy.

I also do think that a guy like Maloney is done soon. He’s served his purpose under Conroy to guide him with the ropes (for better or worse) and I think the Flames want some more horsepower in hockey ops, and to gain some more contacts and respect league wise, like Burke was a decade ago. Especially with the new building coming and the spotlight will be on the Flames as an organization.

The Shanahan talk from a couple weeks ago makes me think the ownership is looking at installing a higher profile hockey ops guy.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Speaking as one of the bonehead donkeys: They didn't DO anything. They SAID more things. No action was taken this day. Nothing has actually changed.

Show me an actual roster move or change of staff that shows they aren't continuing with the same rebuild that, by the actual evidence, started two years ago.

Self awareness, nice man good job.

Do you think this was the truth or do you think it was gaslighting?