Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison delivers his insights into the world of hockey, on and off the ice.
Writing was on the wall for Doug MacLean
Comments (5)
Thursday, April 19, 2007 | 11:17 AM ET
By Scott Morrison
As many expected, and Doug MacLean feared, late Wednesday night he was fired as both the president and general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The reason? Simple. It is all about the bottom lines – winning and profits – and in both cases Columbus was struggling.
Based on that, the decision was fairly obvious.
Indeed, over the past six seasons the Blue Jackets have had the worst record in the NHL and are the only team that hasn't made the playoffs. Beyond that, their ticket sales have been in decline, profits are down and the club is trying to increase ticket prices for next season.
"I am a bit surprised it happened," said a fellow general manager. "I thought the only way it could is if the owner saw the profits dropping and the ticket sales dropping and didn't think they were coming back any time soon. I guess that's what happened."
And they don't come back (the ticket sales drive the profits) unless you can sell the fans some hope and give them their sacrificial lamb. Another season of Sergei Fedorov apparently doesn't offer that level of hope, so now it will arrive by way of a new general manager with a grand new vision.
Looking back, there were various moments that indicated the writing was on the wall for MacLean, beyond the obvious. When he was forced to make a coaching change early in the season, the ownership stepped into the process. When the Atlanta Thrashers made the post-season for the first time this spring, that applied more heat. And when Phoenix cleaned house after missing for four straight years, well, there were a lot of comparables and pressure points.
Those comparables by the way were consistent failure from organizations built in similar ways, with a lot of old friends and associates in place. Now, folks often suggest that is a bad way to operate. Not necessarily. It is only an issue if you don't succeed, then it becomes an easy thing to point to as a problem.
Bottom line is MacLean didn't win and it affected the business.
In fairness to him, he did a nice job of building up the market in Columbus but that interest was starting to fall back because the team wasn't moving forward.
So now the hiring season in the NHL is in full bloom. Interestingly, the scenarios in Phoenix and Columbus are even more alike when you consider both need a new general manager, who is going to inherit a prominent head coach – Wayne Gretzky with the Coyotes, Ken Hitchcock with the Blue Jackets.
Before the playoffs are over, there may be other openings. For instance, in Toronto a final decision hasn't been made yet on John Ferguson. Some wonder if Don Waddell and Bob Hartley are safe in Atlanta, despite making the playoffs but bowing out rather easily. And one round, if they win it, will not necessarily save the day in Ottawa. Will there be a shakeup in Dallas if the Stars go quietly into the good night? Or Nashville?
MacLean wasn't the first casualty of the spring, he likely won't be the last.
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About the Author
Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fameís 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.
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Comments (5)
Jacque
Toronto
Comments are falling on deaf ears; JFJ has done nothing wrong; it's the owners's care if it is profitting every Leaf Games; Paying fans don't care as long as they see the Leafs play win or lose; Yup, who the hell cares if you have a lousy, bottom-deserving leaf players and a Coach whose ideas are as archaic as the Leafs GM...
Posted November 7, 2007 09:53 AM
Monty
McLean had to go. You have to question some of his signings. Andrew Cassels? Trading for Sergei Federov? Alex Zherdev I've heard isn't the most mature guy. Signing Todd Marchant to big money? Trading for a washed up Adam Foote(we saw he was done in Turin)? Not leaving Gilbert Brule in junior all of last year. Rushing Rick Nash back from injury. Too many mistakes made from acts of despiration.
Posted April 19, 2007 09:21 PM
Gary
Ontario
GET RID OF JOHN IN TORONTO PERIOD. HE HAS DONE NOTHING TO IMPROVE THIS TEAM. WHO EVER TAKES OVER HAS THE SAME PROBLEM AND THAT IS THE SEATS ARE FULL EVERY NIGHT WIN OR LOSE SO THAT MEANS MAXIMUM PROFIT EVEN IF YOU HAVE A LOUSY TEAM. AND TORONTO HAS SUCH A TEAM.
Posted April 19, 2007 06:37 PM
Dave Rockley
Brandon,mb
Why every year is there complaints about Ottawa and how coaching or changes in general need to be made if the team doesn't produce farther into the playoffs. This is the 10th year that Ottawa has made the playoffs and Ottawa always has a very competitive team. Can the same be said about many other teams, I don't think so. We need to be thankful for what we have and stop putting blame on Alferdsson who has always done well for our team. Quit complaining or we'll have something to complain about!
Posted April 19, 2007 05:01 PM
shane
i think Atlanta would be foolish to let go of Bob Hartley(stanley cup winner for COL)as i am an edmonton fan i'd love to see him come to edmonton oilers as coach if they let go of craig mactavish and in nashville i would let go of barry trotz either i'd fire the GM first get a new one and see and as for john fergusun i'd let him go he jsut cant do anything right in toronto as for dallas keep dave tippit trade turco bring in some good talent make mike modano captin again and fire the GM
Posted April 19, 2007 11:32 AM