If I was the owners kid, I would probably either leave the team or ask to be moved in the off season as far away from my bat s$$$ crazy dad as possible.
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#OHL commissioner Branch: #Flint owner Rolf Nilsen signed binding legal document in Nov. to not fire coaches or be involved in hockey ops.
If I was the owners kid, I would probably either leave the team or ask to be moved in the off season as far away from my bat s$$$ crazy dad as possible.
But he is a bat s$$$ crazy billionaire - so kinda puts the son in a difficult spot. Stand on your morals and lose your inheritance!
This ownership group seems terrible. Why fire the coach now? There's 15 games left in their season and they aren't making the playoffs. Just seems like a pointless move.
If I was the owners kid, I would probably either leave the team or ask to be moved in the off season as far away from my bat s$$$ crazy dad as possible.
By most accounts, the kid is not good enough for OHL hockey. Other teams may not want him. Especially considering his dad would still be his dad.
Pretty good read on what happened in Flint. Allegations that Kharin was angling for a spot on the team for his son next year. Also a few quotes from the owner's son in the article.
Branch said team owner Rolf Nilsen signed a binding agreement then that not only prevented him from firing his coaches again without OHL consultation, but also forbid him from meddling in hockey-related activities.
Over the last three months, Nilsen breached that pact, resulting in the team’s hockey operations being taken over by the league on Thursday after both coaches were fired for the second time.
Branch said Thursday the league has hired an independent consultant to investigate what has transpired with the franchise.
“The owner made decisions to terminate the coaching staff and violated the agreement,” Branch said. “There are other things that will come to the surface for us to undoubtedly consider that will be coming out in the days and weeks to come. But right now, our focus is on the players.
“What we did was claw back everything [Nilsen] has done in violation of the agreement and now we’re rebuilding it and putting our people in.”
Multiple sources indicated the Firebirds unravelled again shortly after the agreement with the OHL was signed in November. Nilsen quickly hired Sergei Kharin as “special advisor,” effectively serving as Nilsen’s proxy, enabling the owner to effectively remain in control of hockey operations.
Kharin, 52, played seven games in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets in 1990-91. He spent the last several years working in car sales in Michigan, also coaching in various youth programs.
Empowered by Nilsen, Kharin orchestrated the trade of New Jersey Devils prospect Connor Chatham to Windsor in early January, but sources said Kharin did so without the consent or knowledge of Flint general manager Terry Christensen.
“If he [Nilsen] was involved in trades, that is another violation of the agreement,” Branch said.
Following a dispute over the transaction, Christensen was fired by the Firebirds. He was subsequently re-hired, but demoted to a new title of vice-president of hockey operations.
Christensen, 61, is a well-connected hockey man with previous stops at the NCAA Division I level, the U.S. National Development Program, and has been invited to coach at three different NHL prospect camps.
Kharin was promoted to director of hockey operations by the Firebirds on Jan. 22. At that point, Kharin also began to be more involved with business operations of the Firebirds. Last week, the Firebirds fired their director of ticket sales. Flint had been averaging more than 3,000 fans per game in the renovated 4,000-seat Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center.
When Gruden and Karpa were fired on Wednesday, Kharin was immediately named the Firebirds’ interim head coach.
The Detroit Free Press reported that Kharin broke the news to Firebirds players, and then told them “they were playing like a Junior B team.” The Firebirds currently sit last in the OHL’s West Division. The players responded by holding their own practice, not allowing Kharin on the ice.
“We weren’t ready for Sergei,” Flint forward Ryan Moore said. “We needed our space.”
Junior hockey sources expressed concern about Kharin’s motivation behind his rise through the Flint organization. They feared Kharin was angling for a spot on next year’s Flint team for his son, Pavel, who is a 1999-born player skating with the Compuware program outside of Detroit.
Branch quashed Kharin’s coaching aspirations with the Firebirds. Along with Nilsen, Kharin was suspended by the OHL from all hockey operations activities through the end of the season. It’s unclear whether Branch has spoken face-to-face with Nilsen.
If your kid sucks then let him suck. If he cant earn the spot on the team by himself and needs daddy to do it for him then he probably shouldnt be on the damned team.
Heres a plan:
Go home, coach the suck out of your kid and then see if he can earn a spot.
Man, if theres one thing everyone hates its playing on the team with the coach's son.
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The guy only bought the team because of a narcissistic ego trip. People like that don't let it go.
Branch may as well just invoke the by-laws and revoke his ownership. If Nilsson is going to take it to court anyway, then go for the big prize - his total ejection from the sport.
I think that the legal battle will be interesting.
I can see it now
Nilsen on the stand.
Lawyer - "So according to witness testimony you sacked the coaches and caused all of this drama because your son didn't get enough ice time. Is that correct?"
Nilsen - "Of course not, don't be silly, the team was struggling and I made the move for the betterment of the team"
Lawyer - "Oh huh, Mr Nilsen is your son a bad hockey player"
Nilsen - "Huh"
Lawyer - "Is he bad, terrible, good awful, incapable of tying his skates, a probable future top pairing defenseman for the Oilers?
Nilsen - "That's not true"
Lawyer - "I remind you Mr Nilsen that you're under oath, is your son the next Justin Schultz"
Nilsen - "You can't handle the truth"
Lawyer - "I think we deserve the truth"
Nilsen - "Son, we live in a world that has hockey teams, and those hockey teams have to be stocked with kids who play hockey. Who's going to play, your son, or your son, or my son.
Who's going to push my crappy son into a top pairing role? You, Or You, or Mcllelan in Edmonton, well he probably would.
I have a greater responsibility to get my boy ice time then any other organization out there. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that my son is Eric Gryba level horrible, and that his enhanced ice time while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, probably saved my marriage.
You don't want to know the truth because you know that deep down if the roles were reversed and you bought a hockey team for your lousy untalented son to play for and get top minutes that you'd do the same thing
You don't want the truth because deep down in places that you don't talk about at parties, you want guys like me owning teams and giving untalented related hockey players more ice time. You use words like Advanced Stats and PDO and Corsi, you morons use them as the backbone of any hockey related argument, while I use words like Son and love and untalented and brutal.
Now I neither have the time or inclination to sit here and explain the decisions that an owner of a hockey team that he bought for his son to play on makes. So either buy your own hockey team or get out of my face because I don't give a damn about your opinions.
I would rather that you say tough loss, good game and thanks for the entertainment. Otherwise I suggest that you buy your own damn hockey team and tell your son that he's not good enough to play on it. Either way I don't give a damn about what you think you are entitled to."
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