Couple of notes this evening....
First, Chilliwack has fired their G.M., Darrell May. The firing comes as the Bruins slowly sink out of the playoff picture in the West this year after making the playoffs their first two seasons. A "typical" expansion team usually sees a breakthrough in its' third season - not a regression like what we're seeing in Chilliwack this year, and perhaps this has something to do with the ownership's decision to make a change to the guy steering the ship.
Part-owner Darryl Porter takes over as G.M. on an interim basis until the team finds a suitable replacement for May. If the guy they want already has a job, then the Bruins might have to wait until after the season to hire somebody. We'll see.
Secondly tonight, the league has suspended Lethbridge forward Kyle Beach "for his actions at the conclusion of a game at Red Deer on January 24". Reports are that Beach fired the puck into the crowd after the final buzzer, and that the puck hit and injured a man in the stands. If this is true, then Beach could be looking at a substantial suspension. The league can't have any tolerance for players intentionally firing pucks or sticks or anything else into the stands....the liability issue here is a huge one.
The Hurricanes were already missing Dwight King, Craig Orfino, and coach Michael Dyck. Losing Beach just puts them further behind the 8-ball for the next few games as they try to move up the standings down the stretch here. I know I was looking forward to Friday night's Hitmen-Hurricanes matchup in Lethbridge as a good barometer of how good the Hurricanes might be after all their moves, but with King and Dyck definitely missing that game and now probably Beach too, it isn't going to be much of a barometer of anything anymore.
6 comments:
I took a look at the last 5 WHL Expansion teams prior to Chilliwack and looks as if 3 teams improved in the third year and 2 (Rebels & Tacoma/Kelowna). Very frustrated by the May firing today. Still makes no sense to me.
Meant to say 2 got worse in 3rd year. Going to do a further analysis of rosters to attempt to comprehend today's decision.
The last four teams before Chilliwack were Everett, Vancouver, Edmonton (now Kootenay), and Calgary. All but Vancouver improved from their second to third and third to fourth seasons....and Vancouver only took a 5 point drop from 3rd season to 4th so they were pretty much the same.
Calgary and Kootenay won WHL titles in their 4th seasons and Vancouver won one in their 5th season. Everett has not won one but they've been to the final once and the semifinal once in five years so they've been close.
The biggest problem for May might be the failure of Chilliwack's first-ever bantam draft in 2006. When setting up a franchise that first draft is extremely important and as it stands right now the Bruins have Howse and Ramsay from that draft and nothing else. A blind man could have drafted Howse at #3 overall. Compare that to, say, Everett's first-ever draft in 2003 - Hamill, Mueller, Ellington, Calla, Irving, Potuer, Sim, Harty.
The Bruins have some good 16 year olds but their 17 and 18 year olds are not a particularly strong group compared to other teams in the league and those are the guys the Bruins need to lead their team next year. I think the lack of depth in some of those key areas is what did May in....those things are directly his fault in the end.
Thanks for your response. I agree that the 1st year didn't workout as well as hoped. Drew Shore (projected 1st round pick) sure would have made a BIG difference on the team both last year and especially this year and from what I have been told May had every reason to believe Shore would come play in Chilliwack as a 17 yr. old.
I guess my big thing is that Jr hockey is a 4-5 yr. cycle and it is hard to make a decison such as this after only 21/2 years.
I do have one more question for you. If you were May would you have traded Santorelli at the deadline last year? What do you think they could have gotten for him? I know hindsight is 20/20 but based on Porter's comment about depth in his interview with the Progress I have deduced that trading Santo must be what he is referring to.
I agree with reijo29 that this is too quick on the trigger. After all, few would have guessed that the top scorers for the Bruins (Moeller and Santorelli) would be gone. And if I am not mistaken, they have had injury problems too.
As fast as the Bruins are dropping in the standings, they are dropping at the gate (okay, not quite as fast, but wait til next year). My take on the whole thing is that this spells big trouble for Bruins fans. Why? Because Porter is about $$$, which makes him impatient, and he over-estimates his hockey knowledge. Because of that deadly combo (see PG), Porter will over-manage the club
One more point: Both Porter and his good buddy Toigo (both former Ams owners) said hockey could not survive in Tri City. They led the charge to move the team. (Of course, Bob Tory disagreed).
In a fortunate coincidence, Allan has posted the attendance figures just today.
Chilliwack: 3996
Tri City: 4311
Bottom line, Porter is showing his impatience with this move.
--empty net
I don't know what kind of offers were on the table for Santorelli and Nick Holden last January, but if I were May I would have traded both of them if I at all could.
Holden was an overage, there was absolutely no reason to hold on to him when the team wasn't a contender. He was one of the best defencemen in the WHL last season, somebody would have given up something for him.
As for Santorelli....yeah, there was a chance of him being an overage this year. But the way he was tearing up the league with points last year, the smart gamble would have been to assume he would NOT be back and make a trade accordingly. He would have fetched a very good price last season and the deal could have included future considerations to protect the Bruins if Santorelli DID return this year. Which we know he didn't, and the Bruins got nothing for the best asset they've ever had as a result.
The Santorelli situation is pretty much the same as the Joel Broda situation in Moose Jaw this year - Broda could be back as an overage next year too since the Capitals have another year to sign him yet. But looking at what he is doing this year, it's not very likely that they won't sign him this summer. So Moose Jaw made the decision to trade him, and got a point-a-game 18 year old and a 2nd round bantam pick for him. How good would a point-a-game 18 year old look in Chilliwack's lineup this year if they had gotten that for Santorelli last year?
So yeah, I think those are a couple of missed opportunities by May to improve the Bruins' depth.
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