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Toews

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Everything posted by Toews

  1. In most careers the people that work hard, that put in effort and their own time outside the job become successful and rise up the ranks. It is not the case with teachers, there are many who just got into it because it was an easy, safe career with benefits including time off etc. How do you incentivize the kind of effort you are mentioning? I believe the good ones should be getting paid a lot more. Those that aren't putting in that kind of effort need to be paid close to minimum wage.
  2. https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canucks-mailbag-whats-going-gm-jim-benning-judd-brackett/ IMac seems pretty clear here, doesn't hedge his bets, doesn't use the ol' "a source in the Canucks organization claims..." I am inclined to believe it. I have also read that Aquilini was enamored by the Bruins organization and he charged Benning with building a team with that style in mind, early interviews give similar indications. The Canucks were trying to build a tough, physical team in the mold of the Bruins and the Kings teams at the time. The 2011 loss stuck with us and I think we course corrected the scouting staff to target the type of players who would fit those roles. Juolevi was a top prospect at the time, many people thought that his upside was a Ryan Suter type of player.
  3. Yes, Jordan's resume is just far too strong. The standard he set is almost unfair for anyone to cross. There is some mythicism to it all, I agree. KAJ's longevity, an unbeatable shot should be put him in the discussion but he too has been shut out of it for the most part. I think your guy can go toe to toe with anyone but I can't put him next to MJ. Even the eye test, he is simply the most complete basketball player I have ever seen, the athleticism, the shooting, finishing at the rim, the relentless energy on defense. I needed Youtube to get a full appreciation of Michael Jordan, to me he is the greatest athlete of all time.
  4. We are going around in circles so I will just end with this... If you are a scout, heck even just an armchair one, if you couldn't come up with 14 names you would have above Jankowski then you clearly screwed the pooch somewhere. You are correct that Jankowski didn't turn out to be a complete failure so at least they have something to show for that pick but it was still outrageously bad. Filip Johansson was another such pick, the Wild GM fell in love with a player's intangibles and drafted the player at a spot where it is impossible for him to ever justify that selection. When the Flames traded down from #14 passing up on multiple good players to select Jankowski they were setting themselves up for disappointment and the eventual result doesn't make them appear any less inept.
  5. Why would I do that? The MJ-LeChina debate is over, the fat lady hath sungeth. The Last Dance series is proving we have forgotten more iconic moments from MJ than we have had in the totality of LeChina's career. The only people claiming LeChina is better are people who people who are under 30, and never saw Jordan play. Anyone born 90s onwards shouldn't even have an opinion on this topic. It would disqualify my opinion as well but I am good with that because I know far too many LeChina fanboys my age. As Shaq said recently MJ is the only '10', there is no '9', rest are 7's and 8's. LeChina was never in the discussion, it was never even a conversation until LeChina and his fanboys in the media began pushing the topic. Good luck with your residency.
  6. What you are describing imho is dog $&!# drafting strategy by Feaster and Weisbrod. If what you are saying is true, then they are even dumber than I gave them credit for. If they went into the draft thinking "i want a rapidly growing centerman", then they were doomed to failure to begin with. I wasn't referring to CDC when I was talking about the general hockey community's reactions to the Jankowski pick, they were widely ridiculed across the league. Nobody thought it was an absurd reach for Pettersson to go #5, it was a surprise for some but there wasn't consensus after Hischier, Patrick, Heiskanen. Nieuwendyk prediction was farcical. You are again highlighting the poor strategy that is need based drafting, why did the Flames need to select a center? Girgensons has played like ~280 NHL games more than Jankowski. That's nearly 3.5 NHL seasons. That has value. Same goes for Cody Ceci. Teuvo Teravainen was a far better player at age 19 (see WJC) than Jankowski ever dreamed of being. Who cares if Hertl isn't a center? He is far better than Jankowski. Then there is Vasilevski who would have solved the Flames goaltending problems for the next decade, glad they didn't pick him. Even Laughton who is probably the worst of those picks is vastly outperforming Jankowski. Those were some great times. The Flames were being managed by Dumb & Dumber, of course the Canucks had to steal one half of that tandem.
  7. @Sikhguy23 @Van40 I am sure you guys can appreciate this one.
  8. As I said I don't believe that. Strawman. Jankowski isn't Pettersson. Anyone who had watched Petey did not scoff at him being taken at #5. Petey also had the numbers in Allsvenskan to back up his claim as one of the top prospects in the draft. I believe that is the OP's point, who cares if he was taken? There were more than a few prospects in the draft with way more talent than Jankowski. The Flames under Feaster and Weisbrod were enamored with Jankowski to the point where they were willing to overlook his flaws. I truly wonder where the Flames had Janko on their draft board. It seems to me like they just threw their draft board out of their window and fell in love with the idea of Jankowski being the next Nieuwendyk. Objectively speaking and not just out of hatred for the Flames, that is one of the dumbest draft decisions I have seen in quite some time. I was following the draft in real time and people were collectively going "WTF?" the moment the Flames traded down and selected Jankowski. It was absurd, when there are far better players available and you trade out of that spot to pick up a guy that will probably be an ok player in 3-4 years.
  9. Full autonomy? No. No one gets full autonomy at any job unless they are also signing the cheques. I don't believe that Brackett is naive enough to demand that. I believe a GM of a NHL organization has a lot on his plate and should surround himself with people they can trust to the do jobs they have been assigned to do. If you can't trust someone then let them go and find a replacement. In good organizations, employees are made to feel like they have some autonomy over their work. This makes the employee feel empowered and valued. If you have worked on a project for months and then all of a sudden your boss comes in says, sorry but I am throwing out all your work and we are just going to use what I came up with. You are going to be asking yourself, "WTF am I still doing here?".
  10. How could he? The source is probably a place where the sun don't shine. You know, the place where Obama accused Hillary of election tampering.
  11. I do believe that Benning does deserve credit for our drafting success. I was just questioning the Delorme part of your argument, its not hard to spot talent. Anyone can do it, you and I could have watched Petey play and seen that he was a special hockey player who stood out from the rest. The difficult part is ranking prospects, that's why scouting is a collaborative effort. The GM cannot possibly watch everybody and a single set of eyes can easily be tricked into falling in love with a prospect. GMs have ignored the advice of their scouts and drafted great players just, as they have passed on the advice of their scouts to draft duds. At the end of the day you need the hire the right group of guys, and you need to be able to trust them as they will be doing the majority of the travelling and the scouting.
  12. You are probably giving Delorme too much credit as well. There is a difference between saying, "Hey look at this kid, he's got some skills." and saying "This is the guy that should be at the top of our draft board". Petey was making a name for himself in Allsvenskan, it doesn't matter who first spotted him first. This isn't Edler who was playing in some remote hockey town in god knows where, when Gradin found him. From everything I have read the Canucks had Makar and Pettersson at the top of their draft board. That shows that our scouts were doing their job and even if Petey was gone we would have selected a very good player.
  13. That's fine. China can have their wet markets, they need to control the sale of exotic animals, and close down anyone who does not follow guidelines. No one should be consuming bats, civets etc.
  14. Different animal, different types of virus. I was only answering your question. Those wet markets in China are worse and far deadlier than NA meat factories due to the species of animal and even worse conditions.
  15. Yes, because we aren't dealing with exotic meats. Bats for example are especially dangerous and carry many deadly viruses.
  16. That shouldn't be good enough. This is the CCP we are talking about, if they can put millions of Uyghurs in camps then they can stop these wet markets. The biggest issue I have with Adams' tweet is that he should have specified that he was referring to the Chinese government and not the Chinese people.
  17. Irresponsible but imho not racist.
  18. I haven't seen it that way but to use your words against you... Feel free to show the quotes. He was a low level scout before Linden became President. He wasn't put in a situation where had enough control to make "ground breaking" decisions. Sure Benning and Linden both deserve credit for Brackett's rise but that doesn't change who Brackett is right now, where he is recognized as one of the most successful scouts in the league. "understanding the motive" is just paraphrasing my point that you can find a justification for everything. The more objective position would be to criticize the motive. Why does a rebuilding team need to sign a 30+ year UFA to a 6x6 deal? I have been on this board long enough to know that you are allergic to such criticism.
  19. You could argue it is racist but I would consider it more nativist. Even then overemotional and idiotic would probably be a better fit. Just as you nor I are not to blame for Canada's appalling history of human rights violations against the Indigenous peoples of Canada. It is just as illogical to attribute the failings of the Xi/Modi governments on Chinese/Indian immigrants. This proposed piece of legislation is a total crock of $&!# though. Affects me as I have worked abroad and plan to do so in the future. I can see the concern that some Canadians have that someone who doesn't have to pay taxes in this country can then take advantage of expensive social programs like healthcare. The situation reminds of Melnyk who is a resident of Barbados (for tax purposes) but feels the need to come to Canada to get his organ replaced. There aren't any great solutions to this problem. It is what it is, clearly Arya's solution creates more problems than it solves.
  20. Agreed, it just as hyperbolic as saying that the other side of the argument believes there is a "grand drama", "sky is falling" etc. Nobody can "make" someone. Brackett has done the low level grunt work as a scout and risen up in the ranks, part of his rise can be attributed to Benning but more of it should be given to the President of Hockey Ops at the time Linden. Lets keep in mind that it was Trevor that preceded Jim getting hired and it Trevor who was in charge of overseeing the entire operation. Even then success is often two-fold, opportunity and ability. You can empower someone but if they don't have the ability, they cannot get the job done and vice versa. Based on everything I have heard from Linden after he resigned, Brackett was given the opportunity to run the scouting staff and he has excelled in that role. It was clear that Linden thought that Judd had an excellent eye for talent. Like I said earlier, a terrible loss. How many great scouts has this organization produced in its existence? Scouting is a collaborative effort and decisions are made collectively. You are clearly trying to diminish any value that Brackett brought the table by attributing his success to Benning. I find it just as disingenuous as those who give Brackett all of the credit for Petersson, Hughes, et al. As opposed to you who cannot criticize any move this organization makes and needs to search for a justification to excuse everything? Sorry but I think as someone brought up, you are doing the same song and dance Trump supporters do when confronted with news that is inconvenient to their belief system. They just keep bleating the same mantra over and over again. "Its all fake news"...
  21. Leipsic was going to end up in Europe anyway, he just fast-tracked himself there. I have no objection to his dismissal, the Caps have to make a business decision which is understandable. I am just looking at social media and all these people who are just ripping on this guy. Why would anyone abuse someone at the lowest point in their life? What is that supposed to accomplish, other than get likes and retweets? I wonder if they look in the mirror and see a fat hypocrite...
  22. Managing and coaching in the NBA vs. NHL is an entirely different animal. The NBA has one of the most powerful unions in sports and that's because rosters in basketball are smaller, so power can be easily consolidated between players especially the top ones (who have massive shoe deals with big name brands). Watching The Last Dance documentary, you have footage of the greatest basketball player of all time in a room with the greatest coach of all time and the hierarchy is player over coach. That was 30 years ago, if you are that caliber of athlete in basketball today, you can essentially run the entire show. This is simply not the case in the NHL. Its why you have the juxtaposition of the New York Knicks being an utter clown show while the Rangers are a competently run franchise despite being under the same owner James Dolan. The reason I point this out is that in basketball it is crucial that you manage your relations carefully and it is fairly easy to step on toes. Weisbrod did exactly what he was mandated to do by the Orlando Magic ownership group, but the way he went about it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Lou Lamoriello was far more successful (than Weisbrod) in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets but even he returned back to the NHL in part because his policies were simply not popular in the NBA. Weisbrod might cite "passion" as a reason why he came to the NHL but I think "reputation" is far closer to the mark as it relates to the NBA.
  23. I was just thinking today, I want this but as a N95 mask. If I managed to get my hands on one I would definitely go the extra mile and shave my head too.
  24. We definitely drafted with need in mind. We needed C/D and that is what they targeted. After PLD was gone, Juolevi was the next name on the list. We will have to agree to disagree on his talent as he was considered one of the top defenseman in the OHL at the time. Injuries have cost him considerable development time.
  25. Toews

    Jim Benning

    We will have to agree to disagree on the magnitude of the "loss".
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