[Rumour] Dowbiggin is reporting a new head of hockey ops

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Okay I thought when he became GM, he's an administrator, a lawyer who will take care of crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's but he can't even do that properly by checking if ROR is eligible to be signed to an offer sheet as a RFA without going through waivers. He's just lucky his disastrous move didn't cost us.

I can agree with that.

I don't have a terribly high opinion of Feaster as a GM. I think the Flames hired him in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. He was supposed to be Darryl Sutter's mouthpiece, the guy who would do most of the talking to the media while Sutter made the hockey decisions. Making the mouthpiece the actual GM, in my opinion, was a fairly serious mistake.

But if the club were to fire him because they suddenly noticed that he never played hockey, I'd say they were firing him for the wrong reason. Fire him based on his performance on the job, or don't fire him at all.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

You were the one who took it from silly into gonzo, by bringing family doctors and heart surgery into it.

And what did you do?

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by FAN

And what did you do?

Pointed out that it was gonzo.

You're welcome.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

But if the club were to fire him because they suddenly noticed that he never played hockey, I'd say they were firing him for the wrong reason. Fire him based on his performance on the job, or don't fire him at all.

If the club were to fire Feaster because they suddenly noticed that Feaster doesn't do anything but talk, tell others to do the work, and go with whatever John Weisbrod says, that's a valid reason to fire Feaster.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Pointed out that it was gonzo.

You're welcome.

I never thanked you.

[MissTeeks]

@FAN960Jason: Duhatschek on Shanahan joining #Flames: "I absolutely believe it's going to happen. Both sides are interested, no reason it shouldn't."

[Stay Golden]

Adding Shanny to the front office in whatever capacity is a good thing for the Flames and big win. I just wish the plans did not involve also keeping King.

The rumors that are floating around King would involved with less hockey related issues and mainly the new arena development. That would be perfectly fine.

[albertGQ]

If Duhatschek thinks it will happen,that is good enough for me.

[Roof-Daddy]

I'd imagine one aspect to adding a still relatively young, former NHL great like Shanahan to our front office is it would likely improve our recruiting of high profile college FA's, etc.

Gotta be something to having a guy like that sitting in the room when trying to lure a young kid to your organization no? Look at how many hi profile college FA's Stevie Y has brought to Tampa since arriving there.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

If Duhatschek thinks it will happen,that is good enough for me.

He's not really all that connected to the Flames anymore and I listened to the interview and it was just his opinion. Not saying it's not going to happen but he didn't have any inside information that indicated it was going to happen.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I'd imagine one aspect to adding a still relatively young, former NHL great like Shanahan to our front office is it would likely improve our recruiting of high profile college FA's, etc.

Gotta be something to having a guy like that sitting in the room when trying to lure a young kid to your organization no? Look at how many hi profile college FA's Stevie Y has brought to Tampa since arriving there.

Have videos of Shanahan fighting people playing in the background.

Shanahan: "Are you sure that you don't want to sign with the Flames?" fists clenched

[kyuss275]

I am glad that Duhatschek thinks its going to happen. I read an interview with KK online yesterday and KK said that neither his nor Feasters job or power would change when they hire for the new position. For posters that were hoping that KK would go and look after the arena and leave his current position he said that is not happening.

After reading that article i just couldn't believe that Shanny would be interested. It does not seem like the new position comes with much power. I would have to figure that Shanny could get the same job closer to home.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Alright, so you feel that someone has had to play the game competitively for some time.

Feaster does scout. I have no idea how often he scouts, but he does. I remember an interview where he said he would be going out east for 3 days or so to do some scouting. Doesn't mean he is any good, doesn't mean he is bad - just means that he does scout 'x' amount of time (and I would personally assume it would be lower than the average as compared to other GM's - but just an assumption).

As for the 'living and breathing' thing - how do you or anyone else know that Feaster or King don't live and breathe hockey? How do you know they don't PVR and watch as many games as possible?

I am not here defending Feaster - I for one have never really liked him much. However, he has been involved in hockey now since 1988 apparently - longer than a large portion of NHL hockey players now. He never did play hockey, but he seemed to love the sport enough to want to continue in this field. After he left Tampa, he did some blogging for a while about hockey - seems to have enough love for the game to do that rather than return to his law practice (or maybe he did, but still loved hockey enough to try and remain in the game somehow).

I would much rather the Flames bring in a better GM (I don't particularly like most of his moves, and his constant drivel in the media I find a bit much), but when people throw out the terms: "not a hockey guy" or use the "newspaper man" when talking about Ken King, I just kind of scratch my head at times. I do think that the Flames should hire the best guys available, but that to me doesn't necessarily mean being a hockey guy. If it was, Lowe, Tambelini and Milbury would not be the huge flops that they were. Conversely, Bowman and Lamoriello wouldn't be seen as so brilliant (though they both played competitive hockey, none played close to the level of the 3 aforementioned).

I just think being a 'hockey' guy is less and less important as you move up the organization. I think it is definitely a 'plus' that Shanahan was a great player who played the game for a while, but what is more important to the Flames to him being president is his competency at being a president in the organization, not a scout or an evaluator of talent. That is simply not the job of a president I would think, but I do agree it adds value.

I'm going mostly by the stuff like Cervenka (IIRC Feaster never watched him play, Weisbrod was the one sent off to vouch for the guy?) and Jankow (IIRC, and I hope I have the right player, they were going to trade/move down in the draft till Weisbrod (?) saw him play)...

Featser might have gone East to PRO scout, but there was an article a few days/short weeks ago saying he doesn't do any amateur scouting.

Also, I have never used the word "newspaperman" ... mostly because I don't have a problem with KK's background, as he isn't/shouldn't be making hockey decisions. But a GM, I want my GM to be at the very minimum one of the 30 best GM's in the NHL (o/w it means there are better options out there)...... and ideally, one of the best of the 30... in the large hockey community of options, do you honestly believe one of the 30 best people in the entire field can be one of the best when they never played the game? I never said Feaster is completely ignorant to hockey, I'm saying its just really hard to be one of the best if you don't have that background.

Its great that he was an underwear blogger during stints to stay current, but a lot of other former GM's scout. Has Feaster ever been a scout? As far as I know, he's always been a suit guy.

Again, not saying he doesn't know anything about hockey. Just saying there is a certain limit that I think reach without the experience, and that limit is likely below being one of the 30 best in the industry.

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I can agree with that.

I don't have a terribly high opinion of Feaster as a GM. I think the Flames hired him in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. He was supposed to be Darryl Sutter's mouthpiece, the guy who would do most of the talking to the media while Sutter made the hockey decisions. Making the mouthpiece the actual GM, in my opinion, was a fairly serious mistake.

But if the club were to fire him because they suddenly noticed that he never played hockey, I'd say they were firing him for the wrong reason. Fire him based on his performance on the job, or don't fire him at all.

I think that would be "proof is in the pudding"

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Also, I have never used the word "newspaperman" ...

Sorry, I didn't imply you. I was just talking to some recurring posts I see - I should really start to multi-quote.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by FAN

I never thanked you.

Noticed that, did you?

[sureLoss]

Johnson on Shanahan being named as early as Thursday:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...798/story.html

Shanahan, as oft reported, has been the Calgary Flames’ No. 1 target all along.
He certainly does fit most of the criteria the organization holds dear as it tentatively embarks on a brave new world of youth and vigour, one promising intense short-term pain that in a just world leads — pray the rosary here — to idyllic long-term gain.
He has, in the parlance, a lot of splash to him (while, for instance, another oft-mentioned candidate, Colin Campbell, merely experience and competence). Shanahan is articulate, exceptionally polished in public and without going all Kevin Lowe-ish here, gives off the distinct whiff of a winner, what with those three Stanley Cup rings, 656 goals and 1,354 points to back up the claim.
And this is a franchise, make no mistake, that needs someone, something, to woo back the disillusioned, inject hope, particularly with more a few more bleak winters in the offing.
Shanahan, then, has the assets to become the new face of the franchise, as the organization waits for the next on-ice attention magnet, the next Joe Nieuwendyk, Al MacInnis, Theo Fleury or Jarome Iginla, to emerge.
From angles, Shan seems to be the man.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...#ixzz2Wk4fIS22

[Jay Random]

^
Interesting article, but those '656 goals and 1,354 points' mean absolute bupkis now. It's not as if he can recycle them and put them on next year's scoresheets.

[kyuss275]

Good article by Johnson and can't disagree with anything he is saying in Shanny being a good move for the flames.

The one part i do disagree with is that he is implying that Shanny is taking over KK's role and KK is going to look after the arena. I read in an interview with KK that he is not leaving his position, giving up any power, and will still be the guy between ownership and management. He also said that he has no plans to just go look after the arena. It makes sense considering everything i have read says KK loves power. I don't see him giving up any of that.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Good article by Johnson and can't disagree with anything he is saying in Shanny being a good move for the flames.

The one part i do disagree with is that he is implying that Shanny is taking over KK's role and KK is going to look after the arena. I read in an interview with KK that he is not leaving his position, giving up any power, and will still be the guy between ownership and management. He also said that he has no plans to just go look after the arena. It makes sense considering everything i have read says KK loves power. I don't see him giving up any of that.

That's unfortunate. If they do bring Shanahan in, and King's position remains unchanged, the Flames management structure will look like the Leafs' from a few years ago; a sprawling committee of unclear and competing roles.

And Johnson tempers his enthusiasm by noting Shanahan has no management experience to speak of. He hasn't even run a junior team.

[Ozy_Flame]

Geez, Johnson makes it sounds like Shanny is taking Feaster's job.