GMGM spoke with Dan Dunleavy and Mark Osbourne yesterday from the World Hockey Championships in Halifax. Topics included "the emergence of Mike Green as a stalwart at the defensive end and as a top offensive defenseman in the NHL (18 goals and 38 assists for 56 points)," and "having to fire coach and close friend Glen Hanlon and then replace him with Bruce Boudreau who took the team to a 37-17 record the rest of the season to make the playoffs." Money quote: when asked about Cristobal Huet's future with the team, GMGM notes, "We expect to sign him."Click here for the audio.
20 comments:
GMGM, on Huet:
"We expect to sign him."
Niiiice.
Hip Hip Huet!
GMGM -- You have just set the level of expectation for this offseason.
Like I would yell (or post) during games... FINISH IT.
GMGM generally holds his cards so close to his chest that they chafe, so I read that as 'The Capitals, Huet and Huet's agent are all on the same page regarding term, etc.'
for what it's worth, I give GMGM an 8 this year; he certainly went beyond my expectations at the deadline, and took the chance on Boudreau. And he's had some good drafts that are paying dividends now.
But I think it is fair to say that he was on a little bit of a hotseat had the Caps not made the playoffs, and he bought himself another year or so of Ted's grace with the way the team performed this year. No question his proactivity and risk taking (remember how up in arms we were about 3 goalies) was instrumental
I agree that GMGM made some good moves this year, but I don't give him a ton of credit for Bruce. If he promoted him as the head coach that would be one thing, but Bruce clearly had the interim tag fo what, a month? That tells me Bruce was just a stop gap until they found a "proven" head cocach. Fortunately Bruce was able to earn the removal of the interim tag and became the coach this team sorely needed. I think Bruce's success took GMGM by surprise.
Gabby's success took everybody by surprise. If anyone (inside or outside the Caps organization) had an inkling of what he would be able to achieve, he'd have gotten a head coaching job sooner, no?
bigonetimer, just an 8, i would have to think a 9 or 10, that deadline was a thing of beauty. and as far as being "up in arms" about three goalies, i dont remember it quite like that. I just remember being thankful that we finally had ONE goalie that was good enough
Sombrero Guy,
McPhee deserves the credit for finding Bruce. He hired him for Hershey after he had been let go at Manchester. And yeah, he brought him up to the Caps with the "interim" tag, but, nevertheless, he did bring him up. He could have pulled a Waddell or a Jacque Martin and gone behind the bench himself or he could have just promoted Dean Evason. He didn't. And how do we know he didn't want Bruce right away for the spot but Ted wanted him to look for a more established coach. So I give full marks to GMGM for getting Bruce up here.
McPhee also deserves credit for calling up his minor league coach--a guy who never coached in the NHL before--and giving him the chance when his own job was on the line. Usually, the interm coach is an assistant who holds down the fort for a few games before the team brings in a replacement. That was a gutsy move on his part.
McPhee said somewhere that the original plan was to give Boudreau a shot while the organization looked for a veteran coach, but when the team started to turn around in December, he reconsidered. The interm tag came off Dec. 26 (Hanlon fired on Thanksgiving, Gabby gets a Christmas present).
Boudreau also has talked about how McPhee came up to him during the off-season and encouraged him not to give up hope that he'd ever reach the NHL--that he had too much ability to be ignored forever. I think McPhee always viewed Bruce as NHL material--a hidden gun he keeps in the ankle holster. He just didn't realize it was a cannon.
@B.Orr4
OK I'll buy that. For the record I am not a GMGM hater, quite the opposite actually. Like you said, GMGM did indeed bring Bruce to Hershey.
I can't say I (or any of us) predicted that Bruce would have the immediate impact he had on the Caps, but after making it to the Calder finals in each of his first two seasons in Hershey (including a cup win), I felt like he could have been promoted without the interim tag.
And I'll give GMGM a 7 for the season, and a 10++++ for the trade deadline.
sheesh, I gave him an 8 per the JP player grading system based on my expectations, which were pretty low. I docked him for sticking too long with Hanlon; summer FA pool didn't add much (albeit due to injury). I initially had an issue with GM not trading Kolzig or Johnson when he landed Huet to free up an extra roster spot, and to clarify some roles...that was something he dumped in Bruce's lap and it worked out, but it could have been a locker room disaster.
Deadline was superb--IMO, we could have used a D-man (Hal Gill) instead of Cooke, but I quibble... also GMGM hammered out the contract for #8, which is an EXCELLENT deal for the Caps.
I think he gets a 9-10 next year (with the bar set pretty high now) by inking Huet and Green, properly addressing the defense, AND being astute at the deadline again...is that so much to ask?
oh...and find some gems in the second round this year's draft
... and punch out a member of an opposing team's front office.
all in one year, thats an 11. i know its impossible but if the skanks on maury can be one million percent sure hes the dad, i can potentially give out elevens. and i see what youre saying onetimer, but i guess i give him a little more credit for the summer fa's(cant blame him for injuries), who had a big impact and i expect will have an even bigger one next year, combined with the ovie contract and the trade deadline, i dont know what else i could have asked for from him, except making the coaching change sooner like you said. In hindsight though, he did it at the exact right time. had he waited another game and we missed the playoffs by a game instead of winning the div. everyone would be dwelling big time. sorry for rambling
McPhee gets an easy 10 in my book. Last year's FA crop was brought in to mentor and complement our young core. Even with injuries to Nyls and Poti they did just that. Deadline deals, no question. Draft picks and acquisitions from the old sell-off are coming into their own. A stable of future NHLers (mid to late rounders too!) wait in the wings. Can't knock him for any of the coaching issues - he gave Hanlon a fair chance and fired him in the nick of time; Boudreau's success was "lucky" in one sense, but consider: McPhee hired him into the organization to begin with!
As far as my expectations go I can't ask for much more. How refreshing to be a fan of a team that makes the right decisions.
what he said
I am amazed that McPhee actually made the comment. After the disaster with Skyora (not the good one) failing to get the signed contract in on time to come over from Europe (was it two years in a row?), McPhee has been pretty tight lipped about signing players.
If GMGM is making this bold of a comment, the deal is all but done. He does not let stuff like this out.
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