Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
I feel thats somewhat disingenuous though.
Feaster was brought in to be the hatchet man. The guy to take the fall for trading the big names.
He did his bit and did it well. I harbour no ill-will towards him.
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Nah, he was brought in because Edwards didn’t have comfort in the control Sutter had and Feaster somehow someway got the ear of Edwards and was the anti Sutter..open, playing to Edwards frustration with Sutter. Once he got his foot in the door as assistant GM, only a matter of time before he layed it on thick to get them to punt Sutter and move him upstairs.
Again, played to his bosses the exact opposite of Sutter’s approach. He empowered King and Edwards and the owners that he was going to ask input on all major decisions, ask advice as they are all successful businessmen etc etc. Again, played those guys like a violin. Plus, he did need thier help, he had no relationships left in the league since his messy Tampa exit.
As for the public messages, turn up the music in dressing rooms, get more skilled and quicker even if that means smaller players etc. Using media mouthpieces such as Dreger to spin rumours and cuddle up to the press.
His ace in the hole and was trying to get Richards. To clear the salary decks, the terribly forced and horrendous Regher liquidation the week before at the draft. Taking a run at Ryan Smyth the same night. He likely knew he had no shot vs the Rags when it came to Richards, but it would prove that he had GM skills and contacts etc, either for his bosses, or to convince himself that he could do the job.
Sending Conroy to the minors,unannounced to the room, was another terrible, messy move. Conroy basically was forced to quit. Sure he got a job but it was about as poorly handled for a vet as was possibly and caused a revolt in the room.
By the time the honeymoon was over after the first season and a half, it was pretty clear to the owners the guy was more hot air then substance and he needed input because he had no gm’s in the league trust him, and he was pretty impotent as a GM when it came to trades. Cammaleri fell in his lap with his Montreal comments, for example, and they would’ve taken an inanimate carbon rod that night (instead they got Bourque, not far off).
His Cervenka mess up, lauding this guy all summer as the centre the Flames are waiting for Iginla, and Cervenka arrives in camp, and his first media scrum Roman acts surprised at the comments about being a centred, says he’s actually a winger first.
His rant about big changes coming if the Flames don’t pick it up this game in an intermission, and then nothing. He had nothing, no power. He had no contacts. He had no GM friends thanks to his arrogance and greasiness in his time at Tampa and on how that ended. The hockey community is pretty small in that regard and he was flailing.
Freddy Modin as one trade deadlines only acquisition? Who lasted 4 games. Again, his NHL Rolodex contained only Tampa players and personnel who weren’t upset st him. Hartley was extended family. The guy was a hack.
After the ROR near epic disaster, he was muzzled for 3 weeks, which was an enternity for him. Only poppped back up when laying ground work for the Iginls trade. If it wasn’t when it was in the season, he would’ve been fired..and still would’ve been if the Flames would’ve been able to find a capable candidate in the days following that. As Duha says that embarrassement around the league was the last straw for the owners, and Edwards made his mind up then to find someone with acutal league credibility.
Him then crapping on Iginla and his agent after the trade, then patronizingly applauding Bouwmesters agent a week later was the last straw for most agents too. Iginla certainly had some special treatment and entitlement, which he was likely promised at a pay grade above the GM, but given all the other arrogance and incompetence that this guy showed in handling situations and opening his big mouth too often, he’s not absolved from any blame by any means from the fallout. And the Bouwmeester trade was simply terrible.
As for drafts, there is a reason Wisebrod is still employed and he is not.
Bottom line, he wasn’t a hatchet man. He suckered some extremely frustrated owners, that doing and being and saying the complete opposite from Daryl Sutter was the way to go, and am sure flashed his Stanley Cup ring whenever some owners felt uneasy with his approach. He turned that into a multi year gig where through lack of proper experience and relationships, he mishandled trades, players, agents and other GMs to the point where the Flames franchise’s reputation for being honest, fair, and easy to work with, was in the toilet.
