[News] Joe Sacco Fired

[jschick88]

The shakeup with the Avalanche front office continued Sunday morning, as vice president of hockey operations Eric Lacroix has left the organization, the team confirmed.

Lacroix, the son of current team president Pierre Lacroix and a former Avs player, had served in various management capacities with the team.

The Avs did not say what Eric Lacroix's future plans are, but said Pierre Lacroix remains with the organization along with general manager Greg Sherman.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_...shake-up-after

[browna]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Were you expecting them to clean house after a 48 game season?

Like Colorado looks to be doing, CLB did, the Oilers, and I am guessing another team or two may do?
Sure, it's certainly an option.

Feaster himself said famously he wasn't going to be the guy to do the rebuild. That's the situation he's in now.

He hired his friend as coach on the premise that he was going to squeeze some of the last remnants of the team he took over from the D. Sutter era, into the playoffs.

That team is now radically different from what Hartley was hired to preside over.

The team was forced into a rebuild at least a year, probably two earlier then anticipated going into this year. Changing times call for changing measures.

[dammage79]

I can see COL hiring Lindy Ruff within a week.

[$ven27]

WOW. Sacco and Eric? Didn't expect to see Eric LaCroix at all, big changes in Colorado.

[Roof-Daddy]

If the Avs get a good coach, and can have a healthy line up next season that includes Jones/MacKinnon/Drouin on it, I'm going to be quite happy they aren't in our division anymore.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

He finished their planned tank job so his usefulness has expired. Their season was embarrassing.

Make no mistake this season went as calculated by the Avalanche.

-Never made an attempt to sign ROR and had the Flames not forced their hand or he would still be unsigned as they didn't want to help the team this season.
-Rather than make a midseason coaching change when it was apparent the team had quit on the coach in hopes of turning around the season they kept the coach despite the team playing the worst hockey of any team outside of the Panthers. In fact J.S. Giguere actually threw a wrench in the plans of finishing 30th by being the only person in the organization to motivate the team as they actually won a few games after.

Absolutely disgusting organization and if there is any justice they will get bumped to 3rd pick with a more deserving team picking first overall such as the Flames.

[3 Justin 3]

Bring him to Calgary. Need that Ekblad and McDavid.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Were you expecting them to clean house after a 48 game season?

I would be quite happy if the Flames cleaned house.

And poor results after a short season is probably the last reason.

I want them to clean house after the poor return for Regehr (who after his worst-ever season was still worth more than Feaster got), the contract the GM offered Richards, the contract he offered Smyth, the ROR offer-sheet rules debacle, the contract that offered to ROR in that offer sheet, the Iginla trade fiasco, the poor returns we got in the Iginla trade fiasco, the ill-advised public pronouncements (promising playoffs, answers are in the room, doesnt want to GM a rebuild, 'fool-me-once' speech), trying to build a hard-to-play-against team but ending up with the smallest and weakest roster in the NHL, the Anton Babchuk contract, going way off-board on a 1st rounder when the team absolutely needed more than anything else in the world to land a guaranteed player, and probably a few other reasons I've forgotten for the moment.

And that's just the manager.

Go ahead and ask me what I think of the coach.

Or Tod Button.

Or the president. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on my boss for not firing me after the first two displays of poor judgement.

Just pack an ICBM full of pink slips, and hit the dome from orbit.

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Make no mistake this season went as calculated by the Avalanche.

-Never made an attempt to sign ROR and had the Flames not forced their hand or he would still be unsigned as they didn't want to help the team this season.
-Rather than make a midseason coaching change when it was apparent the team had quit on the coach in hopes of turning around the season they kept the coach despite the team playing the worst hockey of any team outside of the Panthers. In fact J.S. Giguere actually threw a wrench in the plans of finishing 30th by being the only person in the organization to motivate the team as they actually won a few games after.

Absolutely disgusting organization and if there is any justice they will get bumped to 3rd pick with a more deserving team picking first overall such as the Flames.

Oh please. They didn't want to sign ROR because he was asking for an insane amount, the LaCroix's /Sherman have always done the bridge contract before they pay them big bucks, they're old school like that. If they really were tanking they would've taken the compensation for ROR instead of matching. I agree with the Sacco point, but a disgusting organization? No. We also tanked, are we disgusting too?

[dammage79]

Renaud Lavoie ‏@RenLavoieRDS 34m
Dean Chynoweth is a strong candidate to be the next Avalanche coach. He's working for the farm team (ahl) of the Avalanche as the head coach

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by browna

Like Colorado looks to be doing, CLB did, the Oilers, and I am guessing another team or two may do?
Sure, it's certainly an option.

Feaster himself said famously he wasn't going to be the guy to do the rebuild. That's the situation he's in now.

He hired his friend as coach on the premise that he was going to squeeze some of the last remnants of the team he took over from the D. Sutter era, into the playoffs.

That team is now radically different from what Hartley was hired to preside over.

The team was forced into a rebuild at least a year, probably two earlier then anticipated going into this year. Changing times call for changing measures.

All of those teams had regimes in place for several seasons, and their failure was consistent.

Hartley had an AHL team with a 33 year old backup beating teams in the thick of a playoff race with a measure of consistency. And shockingly, when the long-rumoured 'uncoachable' players were gone, the team was a lot more coachable.

So expecting him to be gone after 48 games when he might be the farthest thing from the reason the flames are where they are is foolish.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I can see COL hiring Lindy Ruff within a week.

Probably not until after Ruff is finished with the World's no? I also wonder if Brent Sutter will get any interest; Colorado is one of the closer teams from the farm in Viking and Red Deer as well.

I'd be surprised if Sutter goes unsigned this off-season.

[$ven27]

I think they either get Roy, or hire from within. They`re horrible with that.