[A] Mike Haviland Fired

[Pez68]

I think Stan has to call and ask if he can brush his teeth in the morning.......



As a GM I have always thought he was a puppet. Maybe he is clever, maybe he knows how to "play the game".



Nearly everything I have seen accomplished from my perspective leads me to believe he is a deer in headlights.

You really think Stan, whose father is Scotty Bowman, is walking around like a deer in headlights? There's not a chance Scotty is letting that happen, and I'd wager Stan is far more than a puppet in that organization as well. Stan put this decision on Q knowing full well he wasn't going to fire Kitchen, and that firing Havi would shine the light on Q as a fucking idiot. He has also now turned anyone that WASN'T calling for Q's head into a believer. This seems like it could have been an extremely calculated move by Stan, if you ask me. It's either that, or Q is the one with the power in the organization. If that's the case, it's Q and McD in bed with one another in a power struggle against the Bowmans. Either way, Q comes off as the idiot in this situation.



P.S. http://www.defendingbigd.com/2012/5...wks-coach-mike-haviland-be-perfect-option-for



It's funny how a Dallas blog writer gets it, but Chicago media is clueless.

 

[R K]

Chicago Media isn't clueless Pez, rather they are afraid. There is most definitely a difference. Mcdonough planted that seed very early by a couple of avenues, one being the "mora example".

 

[Lampshade_gurl]

I was VERY upset when I heard the news about Mikey when it came out. I can only imagine how Books felt! Then to hear what Q said in his conference call that it was his choice to let go Havi.......YOU SUCK ******! This organization just gets more and more shitty!



I do hope Haviland finds a job where they appreciate him instead of this bullshit of a management/staff.

 

[klemmer]

Chicago Media isn't clueless Pez, rather they are afraid. There is most definitely a difference. Mcdonough planted that seed very early by a couple of avenues, one being the "mora example".

Exactly.

 

[MassHavoc]

I think Stan is extremely calculating, every angle all the time. He's an accountant, that's what they do, analytical mind. The problem is that I think he's so intent on making daddy proud that he's over thinking it, and it's not translating to hockey right now. I honestly don't hate Stan I just hate the way things are turning out and some of the moves he's made. In all honesty, I think Stan could make a good president, with a good hockey mind at GM like a Tallon, or really any of the 3 GMS that have left the last 3 years. I can't believe that. When you think about it, it's not 2 it's 3 with Tallon that are now GMs of other teams.



I don't think it works this way (at least I'm praying it's doesn't) but does McD really understand the gravity of the situation he's put this team in? He has 3 opposing GMs now that probably hate him. That could mean 3 less teams for Stan work with, not to mention how GMs are a buddy club, and all three of those guys are well liked. It's probably only going to get worse from here. Bowman's name only goes so far and the more he's removed the less goodwill it has. I'm not ready to say that the reason he couldn't trade for anyone last year is cause no one would trade with him, but I think it could be a possibility in the future? Stan is like the nerd in the frat they keep around for the GPA so they don't get kicked off campus.

 

[Pez68]

Very good article from Jesse:



http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blackhawks/post/_/id/4671078/does-hawks-dysfunction-start-at-the-top

 

[klemmer]

Very good article from Jesse:



http://espn.go.com/b...tart-at-the-top

A little tease of a headline, but a good read nonetheless.

 

[MassHavoc]

It's interesting to me that he thinks the top is Stan. There is a lot more going on above Stan that he didn't even touch on.

 

[BigPete]

One huge element that is missing from Stan is this: HE, personally, is not a hockey guy. Tallon was a pretty good talent evaluator. He also surrounded himself with a lot of good people in the scouting office. I don't know personally, but I have a feeling that Stan has never been very involved or even left to his own devices when it comes to talent evaluation of a prospect. We know for a fact that Tallon did this often and it was a core responsibility of his under Pullford.



Until we the fans, and more importantly Stan's bosses McDipshit and Rocky, can see results we have no idea if Stan has knowledge of how to build a hockey team. That is a big reason why Scotty and many of the recent asst GMs were brought in since Dale and Rick D were dismissed.



Stan knows numbers, and not on a Moneyball or Theo Epstein level either but a financial one. He will most likely never be successful as a GM and his track record at asst wasn't something to write home about. He helped his boss, Dale, 'make it work' money-wise while building the cup winner. A good asst doesn't let his boss pay a Brian Campbell 7 mill just because the cash is there and the Pres and owner want or approve it.



None of this will matter though, once Rocky gets his head out of his ass* and replaces McDipshit with a hockey minded Pres and not some marketing hack, sycophantic, egomaniac. After McDipshit is gone, the new boss will queue in on Stan's inability to hire and manage competent coaches, recruit the right players, and move the extra pieces on and off the roster over the summers.







*I'm looking out over the next 5 years of course and holding out hope that we don't digress further before 'the core' gets too old to win it again.

 

[Tater]

One huge element that is missing from Stan is this: HE, personally, is not a hockey guy. Tallon was a pretty good talent evaluator. He also surrounded himself with a lot of good people in the scouting office. I don't know personally, but I have a feeling that Stan has never been very involved or even left to his own devices when it comes to talent evaluation of a prospect. We know for a fact that Tallon did this often and it was a core responsibility of his under Pullford.



Until we the fans, and more importantly Stan's bosses McDipshit and Rocky, can see results we have no idea if Stan has knowledge of how to build a hockey team. That is a big reason why Scotty and many of the recent asst GMs were brought in since Dale and Rick D were dismissed.



Stan knows numbers, and not on a Moneyball or Theo Epstein level either but a financial one. He will most likely never be successful as a GM and his track record at asst wasn't something to write home about. He helped his boss, Dale, 'make it work' money-wise while building the cup winner. A good asst doesn't let his boss pay a Brian Campbell 7 mill just because the cash is there and the Pres and owner want or approve it.



None of this will matter though, once Rocky gets his head out of his ass* and replaces McDipshit with a hockey minded Pres and not some marketing hack, sycophantic, egomaniac. After McDipshit is gone, the new boss will queue in on Stan's inability to hire and manage competent coaches, recruit the right players, and move the extra pieces on and off the roster over the summers.







*I'm looking out over the next 5 years of course and holding out hope that we don't digress further before 'the core' gets too old to win it again.

Great post. Another thing to consider is Scotty B might not be involved with the team at some point for whatever reason (retires, health issues.....) Who will hold Stan's hand then? It could actually get worse than it is now with only McD and Stan running things completely unattended.

 

[MassHavoc]

You bring up a good point, an important part of building a great organization is surrounding yourself with the best hockey guys that you can who trust you and are on the same page with you. McD and Stan did not really have any of those guys when they took over and they've been piecing it together ever since, McD with non-hockey guys from the likes of ticketbastard, and Stan with too old hockey guys who are daddy's friends. Were are all the genius minds and confidants that come with the guys in the most important parts of the organization?

 

[BigPete]

That is the problem, Rocky came in and said, "I want to run this organization like a business. My old man ran it like a hockey club and that was wrong."



Sorry, Rockwell, but your old man was right. The problem was that he kept relying on one certain hockey guy that wasn't very good at his job (ie Pullford). You can't polarize a professional sport's team's management like this. You have to have people at the top that at least understand it is about the product on the ice and not how you make that product look to the customer. All the banners, and ads, and commercials, and new merch, and tv spots, and web presence is great, but I want one thing....for the Blackhawks to win games and do it convincingly. Detroit understood this in the last two decades. Some other clubs get this as well. Those clubs typically win championships once every 15 years.



Rocky must find the right people to balance the fine art of building a winning club while not financially fucking up the organization. McDipshit is all about making the organization money, he doesn't care if they win the cup ever again. I don't know how any good boss of a pro sports team could ever forgo the top prize just to say he made a lot of money. It cheapens the 'win' no matter what your fucking priorities are. You might as well be the CEO of a corporate raider firm like Romney.



You know want they say, "winning is nothing if you don't do it gracefully". In the case of a pro sports team you really need to win it all to do it gracefully. (Maybe that is the problem with McDipshit - he won the big prize right away, so now he gets to coast and worry about the bottom line - profit margin)

 

[R K]

It's interesting to me that he thinks the top is Stan. There is a lot more going on above Stan that he didn't even touch on.

IMO there's a reason for that. I believe he was already spanked once this year for over stepping those bounds.

 

[R K]

Pete the ironic part of that, the Old man finally figured it out. All while Rocky was watching. The year after the lock out Pulford stuck his two cents in ONE too many times and a year later was pretty much REMOVED from that aspect. I would hear stories of Pulford seeing something, not liking it, and running immediately into Bills office to *****. From year two on, post lockout, he was not ALLOWED to do that.



Pulford was a hockey guy though. There's a big difference between him and Mcdonough. Not defending Pulford, but he was definitely a hockey guy. Doesn't mean he was a "good" hockey guy but if not for two teams, the Oilers and Penguins, Pulford would have had his name on the Cup in the Hawk organization.



Sad part, karma or not, Bill did not get to see the finish. And they are now screwing up what should and could have been years of success, Cap or no Cap.

 

[BigPete]

Pete the ironic part of that, the Old man finally figured it out. All while Rocky was watching. The year after the lock out Pulford stuck his two cents in ONE too many times and a year later was pretty much REMOVED from that aspect. I would hear stories of Pulford seeing something, not liking it, and running immediately into Bills office to *****. From year two on, post lockout, he was not ALLOWED to do that.



Pulford was a hockey guy though. There's a big difference between him and Mcdonough. Not defending Pulford, but he was definitely a hockey guy. Doesn't mean he was a "good" hockey guy but if not for two teams, the Oilers and Penguins, Pulford would have had his name on the Cup in the Hawk organization.



Sad part, karma or not, Bill did not get to see the finish. And they are now screwing up what should and could have been years of success, Cap or no Cap.

You are right, and I know that. I was here watching it too. (well I was not here in the Lou, but you know how long we've been blogging together)



Pully was finally on his way out of the UC for good, Dale was given full control, did a nice job (an effort that won us the Cup) and then Rocky hired McDumbassmotherfuckerthatisgoingtobethebainofgoodfanseverywhere!



and for the record I did note that Pullford was a hockey guy, just not the guy to get it done...especially the years after Keenan lead us to the sweep in Pittsville.

 

[Ashor-redtribe]

I just got a call, to run the PP unit. Things are going up from here on.

 

[bookjones]

I just got a call, to run the PP unit. Things are going up from here on.

Heh.

 

[Pez68]

Being a hockey guy certainly doesn't make you good at being a GM. Plenty of examples of that throughout history. Not being a hockey guy certainly doesn't make you BAD at being a GM, either. I'm in a wait and see with Stan, as his drafts have looked good. He needs a lot of work in the trade department, but that might be on his pro scouts... or it might be on Rocky telling him no significant salary. Who knows. As far as the coaches are concerned....Q was not his hire. Q is not his to fire, either. Most GMs can't just fire the head coach. It is typically a joint decision between owner, president, and GM, as you still have to pay them even if they are fired...



McDonough is not a stupid guy. If we the fans realize that the Hawks are going to have to continue to win to make money, I'm sure he does as well. As I said, he's not an idiot. He's many things, but he's not stupid. Making money is his main priority, but I think even HE realizes that they aren't going to make money if they aren't winning.

 

[MassHavoc]

This is not arguing anything you just said as mostly I agree but it got me curious because i'm not as familiar with all the other GMs around the league and throughout history, but can people name other sucessful GMs that weren't hockey guys? Or guys that had the limited number of hockey related positions before being named a GM? I just can't stop thinking about how excited people were that a Bowman was taking over, but I really don't remember him having any actual hockey positions on his resume other than with the hawks?

 

[Pez68]

This is not arguing anything you just said as mostly I agree but it got me curious because i'm not as familiar with all the other GMs around the league and throughout history, but can people name other sucessful GMs that weren't hockey guys? Or guys that had the limited number of hockey related positions before being named a GM? I just can't stop thinking about how excited people were that a Bowman was taking over, but I really don't remember him having any actual hockey positions on his resume other than with the hawks?

Well I guess that all depends on what you consider a hockey guy. I'd imagine most GMs in the NHL played hockey at some point or another. Stan put in his time in hockey operations before becoming a GM, just like any other GM. He's been with the Hawks since 2001. You don't have to be a great talent evaluator to become a GM. That's what they have scouts for.