Tanks For the Memory Jacques!
July 7th, 2009 by Frank
I refuse to let former GM and coach of the Florida Panthers, Jacques Martin off the hook for his mishandling of the Jay Bouwmeester situation here in Florida. I don’t care how many of his other deals may have worked out or not, or what stability people think he may have added, this one particular situation will leave this franchise once again suffering through another season of not making the playoffs.
I have some real difficulty understanding how, when a player says to you, I am not signing a long -term deal, and gives you a list of teams that he would like to play for, does this 18 months ago, yet you still believe that you can persuade him to change his mind, he ends up leaving for next to nothing anyway.
Let’s face it, getting Jordan Leopold and a third round pick is nice, but no way is Leopold a replacement for Jay. Not that I think Jay is the next best thing since sliced bread, and I do believe he is highly overrated, but come on, get a hold of ourselves here. 18 months ago this guy should have been on a plane somewhere, anywhere, for some better talent and players that could have made a difference right now, this year. After trading Olli Jokinen last year for Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard, the defense was bolstered, and Jay could have been traded for some much needed scoring, a defenseman, and a draft choice, which could have been a number one pick in this years draft.
Yet Uncle Jack decided to sit on his hands and do nothing. If you all think that the Luongo deal brought back nothing, this deal brings back worse. Yes worse, only because of what the Panthers could have had. Names like Andrej Mezaros, Antoine Vermette, Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, on and on. Hindsight is 20/20 as the phrase goes, but l don’t want players on my team who don’t want to commit, who don’t want to be here, and who won’t sign long-term deals because they would rather be somewhere else. But here in Florida, that’s what happens.
It’s amazing the lashing that Mike Keenan took for trading Luongo, and the apparent free pass that many are giving JM the GM for this Bouwmeester fiasco. Look, any of you who have read my previous posts know that I like Mike very, very much and can’t stand Jacques. However when you look at both situations, there really is no comparison. Also, let’s not forget that prior to the Luongo deal, the Panthers offered Jay to Edmonton for Chris Pronger, and that somehow fell through. Imagine if that would have happened. Maybe Luongo would still be here. Maybe Olli would still be here, and maybe the Panthers would have made the playoffs.
For all the fans that think that the Keenan era set the Panthers back, I think that this deal and Jacques’ stifling defensive system and his love for third and fourth liners is worse. The Panthers had a franschise type player, who played about 26-27 minutes a nite, and end up with a 2nd pair d-man who is probably on the downside of his career, who ended up signing a one year deal, only because there were no other offers, and he views this as a chance to resurrect his career. As for the draft choice, who knows how that ends up.
People, fans will always have their dislike for Iron Mike, and while some believe his best days are behind him as a coach, his judgement of players and his analysis of them is really top notch. When you hire him as your GM, you know or at least you better know that his philosphy is to win NOW! Not in 3-5 years. That’s what Panther fans forget. Keenan brought in alot of veterans who had playoff experience and could teach and work with the Panthers youth, which seemed to be on the right track. But JM’s coaching style pissed off alot of those players, and the power struggle began. Keenan left. Why? He knew this franchise was going noplace, and he wanted out before the situation got worse. Remember, everyone signed off on the Luongo deal, Martin included, yet Keenan is the only one who catches the flack.
Martin has left the Panthers to now get one of the most coveted jobs in Hockey. Coaching the Montreal Canadiens. How does that happen? I really thought that Gainey was smarter. The only qualification that I see Jacques, I mean Uncle Jack having, is he speaks French. Great for the media, but how many French players do the Canadiens have? Doesn’t matter, he doesn’t really communicate that well anyway. With sentences like” I tink we play solid game tonite and made few mistake”, he is going to bore you all to death, and give the impression that he knows what he’s doing. Sorry JM the game has passed you by. Habs fans I feel sorry for you. Frustration will hit sometime in November!!!
Panther fans, get a grip. This should upset all of you. There is no way that this season is going to be successful. How does a team go into the draft and free agency without a full time GM? Randy Sexton? Stop kidding yourselves.
My biggest regret is renewing my season tickets. Had I seen this happening early on, I would have given them up. It’s not like the building is full anyway.
Thanks for reading.
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2 Responses to “Tanks For the Memory Jacques!”
By Judd on Jul 26, 2009
You are right on the money here. Jacques proved to be a terrible coach and general manager. Perhaps he’ll get better, but he was clearly behind the times of the “new NHL” when he was hired on.
For all of the crap Keenan takes, he’s almost always left a franchise in better shape than when he came. St. Louis still hates him for bringing in Pronger, Demitra and…Gretzky. Vancouver still hates him for bringing in Bertuzzi and turning Markus Naslund into a legit NHLer. Many in Florida (though I’m thrilled to see not all) still hate him for turning Jokinen into an NHL star, bringing Bouwmeester along to being a highly-regarded top-2 defenseman in the NHL, and bringing a sense of urgency that the franchise had never had. Even in their cup run, that was out of nowhere and as much a bonus as the Wild’s run to the WC Finals, the like we have never seen or even prepared for since in Minnesota.
Keenan’s decisiveness on talent in the NHL, at least as far as his methodology for winning goes, is unequaled. He identifies players who just aren’t going to cut it, and the detractors would be very hard-pressed to find an instance where he was wrong.
Sure, it wasn’t popular, but no one in Chicago is going to complain about a declining Denis Savard being shipped out for Chris Pronger, are they?
Good stuff, sir.
By Frank on Jul 27, 2009
Judd: Originally from Chicago I was there during the Keenan years, and yes, he made some controversial moves, as always, but he certainly changed the culture of the team.
Trading Savard while not popular made the Hawks a better team, and allowed the emergence of Jeremy Roenick.
Panther fans (most not all) have a sincere dislike for Keenan. Ultimately, Jacques Martin should have left, and Mike should have stayed on as Coach and GM. I would like to see how the team’s performance would have turned out had that happened. Instead Mike left knowing that this organization was going nowhere.