Front office Blunder help

[gregkash]

LaFontaine took one hit for the Rangers and was done. Quinn has made mistakes but not on this one. Team Doctors would not let him play so he found one that would clear him.

 

I concur.

 

LaFontaine is my favorite player. EVER. He is my hero. But he had no business playing that last year. I know how bad he wanted it, but he was at the point where one hit could've meant the end of his life.

[gregkash]

Very true, but the hit he took was not a hit, it was a collision with teammate Mike Keane I believe. Might even have been in practice?

 

Plus, his concussion wasn't all that bad, but Patty decided he'd had enough after that. He gave it one last shot, and was still able to walk away before suffering permanent damage to his brain. Good for him.

 

I'm not saying Quinn's decision wasn't a sound business move, but Patty's health was the least of his concerns, even though he made it sound that way. Rest assured, had Patty not carried the pricetag he did, Larry would've made damn sure those very same doctors cleared him. Hence another reason why I think he's a prize moron.

 

I'm sorry but I really don't believe that's true.

 

Quinn is money conscience, but he's not evil. He doesn't do things because he wants to cause harm. LaLa was done. Do you deny that? The team recognized it, the doctors recognized it, and sometimes a player won't quit without that final wake up call. What if he had played in Buffalo that final season and taken a real hit?

 

I bet your tune would be something like,

 

"Quinn let Lafontaine play that final year to set him up for the fall."

 

Sorry buddy, I really think that Quinn can do nothing right in your eyes because you blame him for the economics of our city and the NHL. Which is completely ridiculous.

 

Is he faultless? no.

Is it all his fault? no.

[tom webster]

I'm sorry but I really don't believe that's true.

 

Quinn is money conscience, but he's not evil. He doesn't do things because he wants to cause harm. LaLa was done. Do you deny that? The team recognized it, the doctors recognized it, and sometimes a player won't quit without that final wake up call. What if he had played in Buffalo that final season and taken a real hit?

 

I bet your tune would be something like,

 

"Quinn let Lafontaine play that final year to set him up for the fall."

 

Sorry buddy, I really think that Quinn can do nothing right in your eyes because you blame him for the economics of our city and the NHL. Which is completely ridiculous.

 

Is he faultless? no.

Is it all his fault? no.

 

The interesting thing is how differently they handled Connolly. In both cases there were doctors that argued both sides of the equation. In Lafontaine's case, they wanted out of his contract, in Connolly's they gave him a contract. If only Pat's father had went to school with Larry.

 

I don't believe Quinn is evil. I have repeatedly said that he has done some great things including getting the arena done on time and within budget. However, there is no denying that they were looking to cut payroll back then and that at least played a part in how they handled the situation. On top of that, there was extreme bitterness on the way things were handled and an e-mail to Jim Kelley might shed some interesting light on that subject.

[Kristian]

The interesting thing is how differently they handled Connolly. In both cases there were doctors that argued both sides of the equation. In Lafontaine's case, they wanted out of his contract, in Connolly's they gave him a contract. If only Pat's father had went to school with Larry.

 

I don't believe Quinn is evil. I have repeatedly said that he has done some great things including getting the arena done on time and within budget. However, there is no denying that they were looking to cut payroll back then and that at least played a part in how they handled the situation. On top of that, there was extreme bitterness on the way things were handled and an e-mail to Jim Kelley might shed some interesting light on that subject.

 

Exactly, which is why I don't buy the story that Quinn was looking out for LaFontaine's health. There is a huge difference in pricetag, and I have to believe that was the deciding factor, seeing as Tiny is still playing. Well sort of playing.

 

Where is the difference in these two cases that warrants Timmy being given an extension, and Patty being told to retire? Patty only missed one season due to his worst concussion, Timmy's already had two of those. The easy answer is $$$ and to a certain extent, probably age.

 

Timmy is only one hit away from being a vegetable himself, so again I agree. If that happens, we'll be sitting down saying "Timmy was done, the team knew it, and he knew it". But of course, he needs to play to get hit, I suppose.

 

I never said Quinn was evil, only that he is a "money first" kinda guy. I'll say it again, had Patty's pricetag been half what it was, I guarantee you he wouldn't have called him done as quickly as he did.

[Kristian]

I bet your tune would be something like,

 

"Quinn let Lafontaine play that final year to set him up for the fall."

 

Sorry buddy, I really think that Quinn can do nothing right in your eyes because you blame him for the economics of our city and the NHL. Which is completely ridiculous.

 

Oh come on now, that's just too easy.

 

I'm not a Quinn fan, I think he's a moron, but I never once cried about the economics of the city.

 

I've been very vocal on him spending heaps of cash on the wrong players (Vanek and Connolly), but I was all dumping #48 and #51, for instance.

 

Plus, I really don't know where the whole economics thing fits into this argument.

 

I thought he was being classless in the way he handled the situation back then, others may disagree. But to come out say I only feel that way because I hate Quinn is just wrong.

 

I would have to hate Quinn beforehand for that to be true, and it's seems like an easy answer instead of argueing your point.

[shrader]

The medical field moves so fast though. We might as well be comparing a modern procedure to the old war days of just amputating any injured limb when we're talking about LaFontaine/Connolly.

[tom webster]

The medical field moves so fast though. We might as well be comparing a modern procedure to the old war days of just amputating any injured limb when we're talking about LaFontaine/Connolly.

 

You have a point, however, when it comes to concussions, doctors have grown even more cautious unless preparing a report for the NFL. At the time of the Connolly decision, it was all about concussions and whether a history of concussions made one more susceptible to future concussions. Same as the Lafontaine debate.

It wasn't till later that doctors realized it wasn't all about concussions with Tim.

[gregkash]

Connollys had three concussions. One more and I wouldn't let him play.

 

Lafontaine had 5 or 6 at the time we let him go.

[Kristian]

Connollys had three concussions. One more and I wouldn't let him play.

 

Lafontaine had 5 or 6 at the time we let him go.

 

Very true, but LaFontaine had one concussion that caused him to miss a full season, as to where Timmy's had two of those already. Not a good sign at all.

 

But yeah, 10 years apart, so who knows how things look these days compared to 1998. Not me, for sure.

 

All I know is that Lindros didn't know when to call it quits, and kept getting concussed for years after Stevens laid him out cold.

 

Come to think of it, I think Kasparaitis started Lindros concussion history, didn't he?

[nucci]

Didn't they mis-diagnose Connollys latest concussion and after treated it as a neck muscle problem?

[Mike Oxhurtz]

Andreychuk for Fuhr, which at that time was not a bad trade at all. I just don't think anyone expected that Hasek would be the goalie that he became, and in the end, they traded Fuhr to L.A. in the deal that brought Zhitnik to Buffalo, and I thought Zhitnik was a very good defenseman for the Sabres for a number of years regardless of what people may think of him on this board.

 

Worst for me:

Hasek for Kozlov and picks that were used on players that don't play for Buffalo (although Shrader says one of those picks is Paille, but not sure about that)

Kozlov for two picks that were promptly traded away

Bob Corkum

Mike Zigomanis not getting signed because of broken fax machine

Drury and Briere go unsigned (One of those two should have been re-signed)

Signing Connolly for $2.9 million/year instead of accepting $2.9 million arbitration award for Dumont

Pat LaFontaine to the Rangers for not much in return (unfortunately LaFontaine had all the leverage and wanted to play hockey)

 

Best for me under this management (Hasek does not count as he was under Muckler)

Drafting Derek Roy

Drafting Jason Pominville

Miro Satan stolen from Edmonton (I think this may have been a Muckler move, but man what a great trade that turned out to be - they traded some terrible scab players and got Satan out of it who had some pretty productive years for Buffalo)

The Jochen Hecht trade

Drafting Ryan Miller very late in the draft

Drafting Nathan Gerbe very late in the draft

Rhett Warrener for Mike Wilson

Chris Drury for Rhett Warrener

Stu Barnes for Matthew Barnaby

Daniel Briere for Chris Gratton (absolute genius trade, too bad the marriage didn't last that long)

Doug Gilmour and J.P. Dumont for Michal Grosek

 

I think overall, this management has done a lot of good and more good than bad. But when they make mistakes, they are catastrophic, and that's the problem. Oh well, I still have faith that Darcy will have a really good draft this year and make some trades to improve the team.

 

Great post!!! I agree 100%

[inkman]

The title of this thread is truly inspiring... :rolleyes: