Comments on: Taxi! GM Pierre Gauthier out in Montreal

By: frozengolf

frozengolf — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:28:48 +0000

He’s not ever the worst in Montreal’s history. That “honour” goes to Rejean Houle, who went from beer salesman to pro hockey G.M. in one bound, and then traded a legend and one of the great goalies in history in Patrick Roy for a bag of pucks and a firm handshake. Horrible is too kind to describe the job he did. Montreal floundered for years after, while Colorado (where Roy was traded) won 2 Stanley Cups.

By: frozengolf

frozengolf — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:19:53 +0000

To solador78: Just for your information, back in the 1950′s Montreal wanted a young forward by the name of Jean Beliveau. However he wasn’t sure if he wanted to play for them, so he stayed with his junior team the Quebec Citadelles. The Habs wanted him badly, so they bought the entire Qubec Major Junior League just so they would “own” Beliveau’s rights. Since they owned the league, however, they also owned the rights of all the players in the league. This arangement lasted for many years, right up the the expansion in 1967. There was no conspiracy, just a good business decision.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:52:19 +0000

Then. Boycott.

By: crazemastercraze

crazemastercraze — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:09:30 +0000

maybe i’m too young to know my history, but he’s got to be one of the worst GM’s ever in sports, right?

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:07:29 +0000

Marcel Pronovost played in the OHL for the Windsor Spitfires and so I would consider him a player from Ontario.

And for the record, it’s not a logical fallacy when I’m just giving more examples of the *same* conspiracy (a subset of NHL owners manipulating the league for their benefit).

And since we love fallacies so much, your argument that a conspiracy must extend to all occurrences in order for it to be valid, is itself a fallacy (hasty generalization):

If it happened:
-once
-twice
-three times

It doesn’t mean that you can say, “That can’t be true because it’s obvious that it doesn’t happen every time!”

You’re right, it doesn’t happen *every* time, but it still happens.

By: davebabychreturns

davebabychreturns — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:12:46 +0000

Neglecting the huge logical fallacy in the assertion that just because one conspiracy theory is (allegedly) true then all others are as well..

It would seem there are lots of people who disagree with the notion of collusion to give Montreal the rights to all Quebec born players (and they can point to players like Marcel Pronovost who played for the Red Wings and Leafs without ever being associated to the Canadiens organization as proof), as usual there is a simpler and more realistic explanation – the team based in that province with perhaps the most resources in the league simply found and signed more players there than anyone else.

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:24:12 +0000

Everyone here probably already agrees that there was a conspiracy involving the NHL Board where the Canadiens received exclusive rights to all Quebec-born players, which is a big reason why they have so many Stanley Cups. Shoe other foot.

By: govtminion

govtminion — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:21:28 +0000

Nah, that was Toronto.

Admit it, you never have seen a picture of Delta Burke and Tie Domi in the same place at the same time… have you?

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:28:31 +0000

I like that even other Habs fans don’t agree with Habsman.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:04:31 +0000

I would argue that the US has some fascist tendencies and policies but it’s not a full-fledged fascist dictatorship yet. But I say ‘I would argue’ because this site is for hockey and I’d rather keep it that way.

By: homelanddefense

homelanddefense — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:26:25 +0000

doesnt she play for them?

By: davebabychreturns

davebabychreturns — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:06:38 +0000

Or go in the complete opposite direction and hire a Quebecois GM who will only negotiate trades, contracts, etc in French.

By: davebabychreturns

davebabychreturns — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:03:11 +0000

The problem is that you are simply leaping to the conclusion that every draft lottery is a scam because somewhere someone made the argument that another league did a similar thing once.

Sure it’s a possibility, but that doesn’t mean you can take it at face value as a true statement about the way things operate (and from there start making claims that this owner will never get a lottery pick, that owner would have, etc).

The fact is four teams had a 1/16 shot at winning that lottery, ten more had a 1/24 shot. One of the teams with the highest odds won the lottery.

Hardly grounds for a conspiracy theory, although I guess you could take the slightly-more-reasonable position that the league engineered the criteria for lottery positioning to help the Penguins..

By: govtminion

govtminion — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:02:32 +0000

And yet here you are on a blog about those ‘fixed’ pro sports, instead of… I don’t know, hiding in a bunker or something. Go figure.

By: habsman

habsman — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:00:07 +0000

You’re not making any sense. What does this have to do with the initial signing of Gomez? When Gainey had the final say?

By: amerika1313

amerika1313 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:59:12 +0000

If you’re convinced that everything in the game is rigged, why do you keep watching? “Fascist state” is a bit much, don’t you think? Have you ever spent time in an African dictatorship or under Sharia law in a Muslim nation? If not, talk to a few folks that have and then come tell us how bad Canada, the United States, and the NHL are. That’s just crazy talk.

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:56:47 +0000

Then you’re wrong because Gauthier could have demoted or bought out Gomez at any point.

By: habsman

habsman — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:54:09 +0000

I’d say that was all Gainey.

By: habsman

habsman — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:51:11 +0000

I’d rather have Delta Burke running the Habs.

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:49:27 +0000

Check your “facts” again:

The 2005 draft order was based on the previous 3 seasons where the Sabres, Blue Jackets and Rangers were all worse than the Penguins.

By: govtminion

govtminion — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:45:12 +0000

Sure, I remember. I also remember the previous year, where the Pens were rotten to the tune of an 18-game winless streak on their way to a last-place finish. The lockout might have been merciful for Pens fans, in retrospect.

So yeah, they got a pretty good draft pick after the lockout. CONSPIRACY! Has to be, right? No other explanation?

By: ragingyinzer

ragingyinzer — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:37:19 +0000

Hope they hire a guy who speaks only broken English and Esperanto.

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:36:04 +0000

Gauthier was Gainey’s #2 man when they both acquired Gomez.

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:34:14 +0000

You seem to be forgetting that there was no hockey the previous year due to the lockout.

By: back2backbees

back2backbees — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:31:34 +0000

too bad, this guy sucker punched the Habs more times then Horty

By: solador78

solador78 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:31:23 +0000

And you have no idea that you’re living in a fascist state, watching pro sports leagues that are run more like WWE Wrestling. We all have our faults. Get over it.

By: habsman

habsman — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:30:26 +0000

Poor Bastd inherited Gomez from Gainey. But at the end of the day, this is what’s supposed to happen when your team misses the playoffs. Brisebois or McGuire?

By: warpstonebc

warpstonebc — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:30:14 +0000

If his grip on the job was so tenuous, why on earth was Gauthier allowed to handle the team during the trade deadline?

It was a lost opportunity to hold a fire sale in order to rebuild like the Senators or Panthers just did.

By: govtminion

govtminion — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:29:59 +0000

…yeah, because it had nothing to do with the Penguins sucking the previous year and getting a good draft pick. Sure. Is there an adult keeping track of you?

By: davebabychreturns

davebabychreturns — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:26:42 +0000

Rearranging the deck chairs is what Gauthier has been up to this season.

Firing Gauthier is a great move, and while it could have come sooner I guess when you are charging the third highest price in the league it’s poor optics to throw in the towel on the season in January.