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No 'Tallons' In This Hawk - Jim Kelly Editorial
I came across this article on Sportsnet's website and find it rather interesting. Hopefully you folks will as well!
Enjoy!
No 'Tallons' In This Hawk
By Jim Kelley
Sportsnet Link
Chicago general manager Dale Tallon should be regarded as a cautionary tale to other teams teams thinking of hiring an inexperienced GM.
It's been just over a week since Chicago Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon went on a mini tirade, threatened trades and warned of consequences for poor play.
The result? The team went 0-4 though Friday's loss to Columbus (a team below them in both the division and conference standings). It's part of an 0-6 run that has the Hawks challenging the Blue Jackets and the St. Louis Blues for worst overall in the Western Conference and the entire NHL.
This comes after Tallon made a slew of offseason signings, including signing goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to a contract that he can neither move nor, seemingly salvage.
We do not mention this to rub salt into the already raw wounds of the few long-suffering Blackhawks fans. They've suffered enough. We mention it because it illustrates a point we've long held in regards to the NHL: experienced management matters.
It's a wonderful thing that Tallon, a former No. 2 overall pick in the 1970 NHL entry draft, gets an opportunity to live the dream of being an NHL general manager, but cynics might argue that it would have helped had he had even a drop of managerial experience from outside the Hawks front office before leaving the broadcast booth to take the helm of the Hawks. It might be of some consequence that new head coach Trent Yawney is also a product of the Hawks in-bred system having played for Chicago and then coached its minor league affiliate for five years before moving up to the big club. We think Yawney, on merit, deserves to be a head coach in the NHL, but having just the slightest bit of exposure to an organization that does something a bit differently than a franchise that is the poster child for failure among original six teams, might have made a difference.
We also note that Yawney is the 35th head coach in Blackhawks history, an at-the-moment illustration of the revolving door to the Blackhawks bench where many a decent coaching veteran and prospect has gone to see his budding career nipped.
And to reinforce that point, we give you exhibit A: The Nashville Predators.
In most old-school hockey circles, the Preds are everyone's favourite whipping boys, a franchise that doesn't even belong in the NHL is a common refrain while the Blackhawks are mentioned with old-guard reverence, a great and storied Original Six franchise that seems to have momentarily fallen on hard times.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
While the Predators still struggle at the gate, they are efficiently run as a business and have been comfortably adding to what started out as a non-existent fan base in a market devoid of the hockey experience. The Hawks meanwhile continue to play to vast amounts of empty seats, still refuse to put their games on television and have so disenfranchised themselves from their public, that all three major newspapers in town have opted not to send reporters on the current two-game Western road swing (a seemingly unheard of event in what was once a great hockey town).
We might also point out that though the Preds struggled in their formative years, they've grown. They've done that under the expert tutelage of their experienced and respected general manager David Poile (a legitimate candidate for executive of the year this season) and head coach Barry Trotz (a legitimate candidate for coach of the year) both of whom have been with the franchise since its inception.
Poile in particular deserves your respect. He started with a building and a blank sheet of paper and used every means possible (free-agent signings, trades, the draft, walk-ons) to build his team. He still has three players from the team's initial expansion draft, Scott Walker, David Johnson and prized goaltender Tomas Vokoun and has drafted and traded well and even surprised people with a few unheralded choices that appear to be major contributors (the undrafted Vern Fiddler and Jerred Smithson are two to keep an eye on).
This all comes about because ownership has been patient with Poile and Poile has been patient with Trotz, but it also came about because Poile has a lifetime of experience in the NHL (and has a staff of able assistants headed by Ray Shero) and Trotz is a career coach who has experience in the AHL, but also junior hockey and university hockey. He's also done scouting and player personnel work and has kept a seasoned staff of career coaches intact. Trotz is both well rounded and well suited for his position.
Most importantly, there is a long-term bond between Poile and Trotz, a bond that extends to their days in building the Washington Capitals into a respected franchise at both the NHL and AHL levels during Poile's tenure there.
Simply put, experience matters. One need only look at the two central division franchises to see which one has and which one does not.
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