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

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Why do we care what Friedman has to say?

Because he has valid connections, and tends to be somewhat grounded in his delivery and analysis.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'd personally hold the chants against the team, mgmt and ownership until actual moves are made to suggest they are as completely misguided as their PR this week would suggest.

Or go with "Your PR ability sucks" because that's truly what's under fire.

We would have to wait years to chant against management if we are waiting for moves that sell futures to improve the team now.

[Matty81]

Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot with the PR though, wow. I get the buffalo fear but as others have said the part that is particularly staggering is the refusal to see we are already close to that point, and if they refuse to acknowledge it and move accordingly the team will probably draft 5-10 instead of top 5 the next couple years, be deprived of half a dozen additional picks and a player or two who will be here when kadri is tweeting his shock about not being nominated for the HOF from his couch and are actually more likely to become a buffalo if you ignore it.


Hopefully as others have said this is all poker but it seems less and less likely. Feel for conroy, Maloney is a lackey and a clown right up there with feaster and riseborough (as an exec loved riser on ice)

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by This post is terrible

Have we heard from Sec214 yet? I’d be curious what insight they might have

Originally Posted by Sec214

This was about a week back, but it seems that Sec214 doesn't exactly agree with what DM said.

[shutout]

Originally Posted by bluejays

5) He did kinda insult McKenna unnecessarily without wanting to, I'm sure.

I think that it was an honest choice of words that within their own scouting staff they do not have consensus on who the top draft choice is or even how the top five are ranked. As well it signifies that the scouting group is not sure any of the players in contention for first overall are going to be franchise or elite superstar players or just star players. No malice or insults were intended.

[Table 5]

The rebuild is already happening whether ownership acknowledges it or not. Dragging it out for a few more years, instead of fully embracing it, is exactly how it goes from being a 5 year rebuild into a 10 year one.

I doubt it happens while Murray is still the owner, but a risk of changing the "culture" is exactly what this franchise needs.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by shutout

I think that it was an honest choice of words that within their own scouting staff they do not have consensus on who the top draft choice is or even how the top five are ranked. As well it signifies that the scouting group is not sure any of the players in contention for first overall are going to be franchise or elite superstar players or just star players. No malice or insults were intended.

Ya it does not look like there are any franchise players in this draft. Maybe Verhoeff depending on how he develops.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah, their fear of being Buffalo west, leaves them being careful, slow, and timid.

Professional sports are extremely competitive, and a salary cap only makes them more so. To be good, you have to be bold. FlA is bold. TBL and COL and CHI are bold. Careful is a slow death.

Add Knights to your list

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

In recent years, the Ducks, Blackhawks, and Sharks have iced some of the worst rosters, with the worst records, of any teams in modern NHL history.

Today, the players who entered the league on those teams are having fun playing winning hockey with other young talents. Their development doesn’t seem to have been harmed by being on terrible teams.

As long as you don’t let the young players run the show (like the Hall/RNH Oilers), or have a dysfunctional front office (like the Sabres), drafting elite talent leads to a winning culture.

I didn’t say anything about record. I said you need some good veterans to help mentor players

[JTech780]

Maloney hasn’t said anything different than what Conroy or any other member of the Flames has been saying for the last two years. Their plan is to continue to get younger, while setting a culture of hard work and being competitive.

He can’t go to the media and say we are throwing in the towel on this season, that’s just not feasible.

I think the biggest issue is that Maloney made it sound like winning this year is priority over getting younger or getting a high draft pick, but I don’t necessarily think that that’s what he meant to portray.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I didn’t say anything about record. I said you need some good veterans to help mentor players

When you have a young superstar or two on your roster, I doubt there's much trouble luring a couple of mentors to the team via UFA or trade.

There's always some dumb excuse with this franchise, but they refuse to start with the most important and obvious element...doing whatever they can to draft elite talent. Veteran mentors, ticket sales and marketing, higher profile coaches etc....it all gets easier when you have elite talent to build around. It's not exactly rocket surgery.

[Roof-Daddy]

By the TDL this team should be trading Rasmus, Kadri and Coleman and in the process of those trades they should be utilizing their remaining two retention slots to maximize value.

If that doesn't happen I'm going to be quite disappointed.

Currently in a great spot to add more 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks for the next couple of drafts and increase the odds that our own 2026 first is top 3.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Its absolutely maddening how unaware they are of their own ineptitude. Next to no playoff success over a period of decades, yet they want to preserve some mythical culture of winning. This will be the 4th straight season out of the playoffs, and if they dont manage to get more elite prospects into the system, who knows how much longer that could go on. They are already everything they are worried about. The period of suffering is already here -- its just a matter of whether they optimize and make it worth it, or they stumble through it and make it much more painful and long lasting than it needs to be.

Is it a culture of winning or a culture of hard work, being hard to play against, support each other, and be good people in the community.
Have that as the base, and once you add higher end talent, longer term success should follow.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I feel 'insulted' as a fan. Before anyone accuses me of trying to dig deep to prove some bias on my part, you can research my posting history and you will see that I was complimentary of Maloney, and felt that the organization needed an experienced POHO at the moment to steady the boat, and get Conroy more experience as a GM. I took his side in the battle that he had with Tippet in Arizona, and felt he got the short end of the stick there too.


What I found to be the worst parts of the interview, and why:

Sportsnet: What is your assessment of the first quarter?

Don Maloney: It's been poor, and unexpected.

Has it REALLY been unexpected, or are you lying about expectations here? Or are you simply incompetent? For me, I don't see a third option - you are either lying about the expectations, or you are incompetent. Judging by the way this team is built, how they haven't spent to the cap, and haven't traded any futures-for-now players, I would assume - just like most posters on this board - that the team was expected to do poorly. So why call it 'unexpected'?

SN: Is the narrative accurate that the directive from ownership is that there's not going to be a reset or a rebuild?

DM: (clipped) Yet we, there's a dynamic in Canada, you have 82 games, you want to sell tickets and get people to come to your games.

So you are lying to your customer base, telling them that the expectation is to 'win', and getting them to buy tickets based on that lie? Or, again, are you simply incompetent (you being the management team overall)?


Personally I found this to be rather egregious. Don't say anything - that's fine. Even his awful interview between periods didn't even start to make me upset at all. I found it rather embarrassing for him, but aside from that, absolutely no harm, no foul, and felt everyone was overreacting to it.


I know that they are in a rebuild. That's the actions that they have been taking. There are no other explanations other than this team is in the midst of a rebuild. It is fine to not declare it if you are so afraid of your season ticket holder base not buying tickets. I just 100% disagree with the organization coming out and either directly LYING about it to their fan base, or making themselves look like incompetent buffoons running the team. This organization has had some lengthy moments were it was a laughing-stock of the league, right? It got so bad that Burke was brought-in with the intention of saving Calgary's reputation. We (organization + fans) don't need or want to go through yet another 'embarrassingly cringey' period.


I think at this point, they should just shut up. Don't say anything. I no longer believe that after this interview, the team can trot-out anyone and make it better. I think it would be an embarrassment to even come out and admit: "We are rebuilding". Why? Because you are trying to appease the fans, and you just decided to shift the plan now, or because you are admitting to lying to your fan base?


Listen, I never needed (or felt the need) for this team to come out and explicitly state what they are doing. I think they SHOULD have been honest, but they weren't. I get it. A bunch of players decided that they only wanted to play in Calgary for more than they were worth, and left. Gaudreau left even after Calgary offered him a lot of money, and he took less to play somewhere else - I get it wasn't about money, and it probably wasn't even anything wrong with Calgary itself, but rather family-first. Tkachuk was all about getting out of Calgary. There was a mass-exodus here. I get why Conroy (or whomever) didn't want to announce a rebuild after going through that.


It begs the question - were the ticket sales through the last rebuild THAT bad, that they now fear a significant drop in sales and revenue? They are operating well under the cap (+ Markstrom's remaining dollars). However, they are also getting their new arena - which will be a money-maker - mostly paid for with public dollars, and it goes up in 2 seasons.


Do you really need to lie to your fan-base? In my opinion, these are the levels of respect that people (and organizations) should have:


1) Be honest. This builds trust, as well as respect.
2) Don't say anything. Not quite lying, but it is sometimes fine for people to make their own assumptions. Not ideal, but in some circumstances, it is acceptable.
3) Don't ever lie. Period.


I simply go back to the above: Is this organization incompetent, are is this organization disrespecting its fan-base (including season ticket holders) and deciding to outright lie?


I do believe they should have announced a rebuild. However, I get why they didn't, and was perfectly fine with them with them making obvious rebuild moves out in the open, and making the entire world confused (kind of funny, actually). Lying? I think they crossed a line there, and it all feels rather 'greasy', if you catch my drift. Calgary has (almost) always been a classy organization. This just feels like they pulled something on us fans (and are still trying to pull something over us), that's all.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I didn’t say anything about record. I said you need some good veterans to help mentor players

I was agreeing with you. Rebuilds don’t hurt the culture of a team if you wind up with elite players at the end of it.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

They locked him up in a cage with Conroy. He was giving us too much hope with his most recent gifs.

Maybe Conroy is Sec? After all, has anyone seen the two of them in the same room at yhe same time?

[CliffFletcher]

SN: Is the narrative accurate that the directive from ownership is that there's not going to be a reset or a rebuild?

DM: (clipped) Yet we, there's a dynamic in Canada, you have 82 games, you want to sell tickets and get people to come to your games.

Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why icing a bad team would hurt attendance for Canadian teams more than American.

[Vedder]

I am guessing Murray heard a very similar sell job on the last rebuild. Short term pain for the long term and consistent gain, etc. That one didn’t result in any sustained playoff success so I imagine the cost / benefit was massively oversold, creating skepticism to do it consciously again.

Numbers last year in a “competitive” season were maybe enticing enough compared to what’s projected during the lean rebuild years.

Or maybe they view the risk of a Buffalo situation as high enough that they can’t rationalize it (likely existential risk for a franchise to replicate that).

I don’t agree with any of that. Just trying to steel man a justification for the argument DM is trying to make. I doubt he feels that passionately about any of it, just happy to pad his retirement fund while being the yes man to Murray.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Maybe Conroy is Sec? After all, has anyone seen the two of them in the same room at yhe same time?

I haven't seen either one of them in a room at any time (unless the ice at the Saddledome counts as a room). Maybe they don't actually exist. They might be AI hallucinations.

[MissTeeks]

Part two is out.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1992315397497110850

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...oling-process/