Lou out at Toronto Named Dir Hockey for Isles

[Daniel]

16 minutes ago, CommonDreads said:

There's never been any evidence that Chris Lamoriello is a talented hockey person, it would be hilarious if Lou served as a vessel to slip Chris inside the corpse of that Islanders franchise after Tavares is gone.

I'm guessing that Chris has a minor role, if any, in this.  I've heard that Lou understands that Chris's abilities are, shall we say, limited.  When Lou ruled the roost with us, he could have easily bumped him up to a more important role, but that never happened.  Chris's main role was GM of Albany, meaning he pretty much had no control over his own roster, which is basically what we think a GM's primary job responsibility is. 

I'm sure Lou wants to cement his legacy even further by turning the Isles around, and wouldn't tarnish that by demanding that someone who isn't up to the job take over for him. It's for that reason that I think Lou is confident that Tavares will sign an extension.

[mfitz804]

11 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I'm guessing that Chris has a minor role, if any, in this.  I've heard that Lou understands that Chris's abilities are, shall we say, limited.  When Lou ruled the roost with us, he could have easily bumped him up to a more important role, but that never happened.  Chris's main role was GM of Albany, meaning he pretty much had no control over his own roster, which is basically what we think a GM's primary job responsibility is. 

I'm sure Lou wants to cement his legacy even further by turning the Isles around, and wouldn't tarnish that by demanding that someone who isn't up to the job take over for him. It's for that reason that I think Lou is confident that Tavares will sign an extension.

I think that’s correct.

[titans04]

11 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I'm guessing that Chris has a minor role, if any, in this.  I've heard that Lou understands that Chris's abilities are, shall we say, limited.  When Lou ruled the roost with us, he could have easily bumped him up to a more important role, but that never happened.  Chris's main role was GM of Albany, meaning he pretty much had no control over his own roster, which is basically what we think a GM's primary job responsibility is. 

I'm sure Lou wants to cement his legacy even further by turning the Isles around, and wouldn't tarnish that by demanding that someone who isn't up to the job take over for him. It's for that reason that I think Lou is confident that Tavares will sign an extension.

The guy burnt every minor league market he stepped foot in into the ground.  Combined between the AHL and ECHL I think the teams he presided over made the playoffs 3 out of 12-14 seasons (something pretty damn close to that).  His attendance numbers even when overstated beyond belief where near or at the leagues worst consistently.  He was happy to field junk teams while spewing bs about his dedication to developing talent while winning.  All signs point to he may have been adopted.  Lou has more talent in the hair on his head.  The fact that he's already the Isles Director of Personnel is a farce, but at the same time a beautiful thing for the rest of the league.

[CommonDreads]

1 minute ago, titans04 said:

The guy burnt every minor league market he stepped foot in into the ground.  Combined between the AHL and ECHL I think the teams he presided over made the playoffs 3 out of 12-14 seasons (something pretty damn close to that).  His attendance numbers even when overstated beyond belief where near or at the leagues worst consistently.  He was happy to field junk teams while spewing bs about his dedication to developing talent while winning.  All signs point to he may have been adopted.  Lou has more talent in the hair on his head.  The fact that he's already the Isles Director of Personnel is a farce, but at the same time a beautiful thing for the rest of the league.

On EliteProspects he's listed as the Islanders' Assistant GM for 2018, which blows my hair back

https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/1470/chris-lamoriello

['7']

Yea Lou would let Tavares walk to make room for Andreas Salomonsson. Also look for Jacob Josefson to find a home in blue and orange last season

[Daniel]

7 minutes ago, titans04 said:

The guy burnt every minor league market he stepped foot in into the ground.  Combined between the AHL and ECHL I think the teams he presided over made the playoffs 3 out of 12-14 seasons (something pretty damn close to that).  His attendance numbers even when overstated beyond belief where near or at the leagues worst consistently.  He was happy to field junk teams while spewing bs about his dedication to developing talent while winning.  All signs point to he may have been adopted.  Lou has more talent in the hair on his head.  The fact that he's already the Isles Director of Personnel is a farce, but at the same time a beautiful thing for the rest of the league.

But what does the GM of an AHL team actually do?  It's the NHL GM that determines what your roster will be.  I'd also imagine that it's the NHL team's front office that decides who the head coach of the AHL team is and probably most of his staff.  Does an AHL GM even have the ability to make trades?  I kind of doubt it, or I've never heard of it before.

['7']

Just now, Daniel said:

But what does the GM of an AHL team actually do?  It's the NHL GM that determines what your roster will be.  I'd also imagine that it's the NHL team's front office that decides who the head coach of the AHL team is and probably most of his staff.  Does an AHL GM even have the ability to make trades?  I kind of doubt it, or I've never heard of it before.

Correct. The AHL GM pretty much is there to implement whatever the NHL GM pleases and relay direction to the AHL coach as to what players they want to see more of, who's coming up/down. Ice time etc. Really he's a middle man/messenger with little or no control over player personnel. 

[titans04]

13 minutes ago, Daniel said:

But what does the GM of an AHL team actually do?  It's the NHL GM that determines what your roster will be.  I'd also imagine that it's the NHL team's front office that decides who the head coach of the AHL team is and probably most of his staff.  Does an AHL GM even have the ability to make trades?  I kind of doubt it, or I've never heard of it before.

When the guy stands up in front of season ticket holders and tells you he's ultimately responsible for the on ice and off ice product I'm not sure what else to say.  It was always the same story in Albany, Lowell and Trenton.  I do agree that as an organization nobody above him gave a sh!t.  Hell in Trenton they signed a new ten year lease with the county for the arena and notified the league less than a year later they were closing the doors.  Left town without even paying their fvcking vendor bills for services that were already provided.  Lou rode in on his white horse and said without question they were going to paint the town red, they sure did for the vendors.

Prior to the Devils Trenton was always a cap team, to the point they would on a weekly and sometimes daily basis have to shuffle guys on and off the roster just to stay at the cap.  The first thing they did beside change the name of the team and institute the important sh!t like haircuts was unload the sleeper bus, cut or traded players to get below the new requirement of always being 33% below the cap going forward and when they left took the TVs off the walls in the locker room and coaches office (I mean who doesn't need used 24 inch tvs) and gym equipment that wasn't even theirs to take. All in the middle of the night.  

 

I get it most don't give a sh!t about this stuff but the guy is an absolute tool. 

 

Rant over

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by titans04

[CommonDreads]

4 minutes ago, Daniel said:

But what does the GM of an AHL team actually do?  It's the NHL GM that determines what your roster will be.  I'd also imagine that it's the NHL team's front office that decides who the head coach of the AHL team is and probably most of his staff.  Does an AHL GM even have the ability to make trades?  I kind of doubt it, or I've never heard of it before.

If my understanding is correct, I think AHL GMs do have some say over their roster. Yes, in theory their roster should be comprised mostly of prospects supplied by the parent club, but AHL staffs can have an equal part in finding talent out of junior leagues that have gone undrafted, college players who have gone unsigned, and European players that have gone under the radar. Kyle Dubas is a great example of a good AHL GM when you look at the players he brought in independent of the NHL club, see signings by the Marlies in the lines of Justin Holl and Trevor Moore, both signings for the Marlies who have been able to play themselves into NHL contracts with the Leafs.

I also can't prove it because I have no idea, but I'd also have a feeling that the AHL GM has a lot of input with the NHL GM when getting players in UFA that are meant for the AHL club. On July 1st when you get the random signings along the lines of a Bracken Kearns or a Carter Camper, I'd imagine that's a lot of the AHL GM reporting to the parent club what the farm club needs for the upcoming season.

[Daniel]

7 minutes ago, CommonDreads said:

If my understanding is correct, I think AHL GMs do have some say over their roster. Yes, in theory their roster should be comprised mostly of prospects supplied by the parent club, but AHL staffs can have an equal part in finding talent out of junior leagues that have gone undrafted, college players who have gone unsigned, and European players that have gone under the radar. Kyle Dubas is a great example of a good AHL GM when you look at the players he brought in independent of the NHL club, see signings by the Marlies in the lines of Justin Holl and Trevor Moore, both signings for the Marlies who have been able to play themselves into NHL contracts with the Leafs.

I also can't prove it because I have no idea, but I'd also have a feeling that the AHL GM has a lot of input with the NHL GM when getting players in UFA that are meant for the AHL club. On July 1st when you get the random signings along the lines of a Bracken Kearns or a Carter Camper, I'd imagine that's a lot of the AHL GM reporting to the parent club what the farm club needs for the upcoming season.

So I guess the answer is that the AHL GM has as much say as the NHL front office wants him to have.  In Chris's case is looks like he really didn't do anything while he was here, or if he did, it wasn't for very long.  So on the one hand, it probably means that Albany's lack of success didn't have much to do with him.  On the other hand, the fact that he seemed to just be occupying space leads you to believe that he shouldn't have a prominent role in any other organization.

[slasher72]

If I'm Shero, I put in a trade proposal...Travis Zajac for Anders Lee, straight up. 

Lou would bite on that in a NY minute.  

Edited May 22, 2018 by slasher72

[titans04]

45 minutes ago, Daniel said:

So I guess the answer is that the AHL GM has as much say as the NHL front office wants him to have.  In Chris's case is looks like he really didn't do anything while he was here, or if he did, it wasn't for very long.  So on the one hand, it probably means that Albany's lack of success didn't have much to do with him.  On the other hand, the fact that he seemed to just be occupying space leads you to believe that he shouldn't have a prominent role in any other organization.

He took over the Albany Rats in 2001, then Lowell and Trenton and Albany round 2.  It's a long road of sh!t results.

"Chris Lamoriello, 42, has held the dual title of senior vice president of hockey operations for New Jersey Devils and general manager of the organization’s AHL team since 2001. New Jersey was affiliated with the Albany River Rats through 2006 before buying its own AHL franchise and moving to Lowell from 2006 to 2010."

Albany Times Union

Edited May 22, 2018 by titans04

[Daniel]

13 minutes ago, titans04 said:

He took over the Albany Rats in 2001, then Lowell and Trenton and Albany round 2.  It's a long road of sh!t results.

"Chris Lamoriello, 42, has held the dual title of senior vice president of hockey operations for New Jersey Devils and general manager of the organization’s AHL team since 2001. New Jersey was affiliated with the Albany River Rats through 2006 before buying its own AHL franchise and moving to Lowell from 2006 to 2010."

Albany Times Union

Yes I understand that he had bunch of titles.  But it sure looks like he didn't do all that much.

[Chuck the Duck]

2 hours ago, titans04 said:

When the guy stands up in front of season ticket holders and tells you he's ultimately responsible for the on ice and off ice product I'm not sure what else to say.  It was always the same story in Albany, Lowell and Trenton.  I do agree that as an organization nobody above him gave a sh!t.  Hell in Trenton they signed a new ten year lease with the county for the arena and notified the league less than a year later they were closing the doors.  Left town without even paying their fvcking vendor bills for services that were already provided.  Lou rode in on his white horse and said without question they were going to paint the town red, they sure did for the vendors.

Prior to the Devils Trenton was always a cap team, to the point they would on a weekly and sometimes daily basis have to shuffle guys on and off the roster just to stay at the cap.  The first thing they did beside change the name of the team and institute the important sh!t like haircuts was unload the sleeper bus, cut or traded players to get below the new requirement of always being 33% below the cap going forward and when they left took the TVs off the walls in the locker room and coaches office (I mean who doesn't need used 24 inch tvs) and gym equipment that wasn't even theirs to take. All in the middle of the night.  

 

I get it most don't give a sh!t about this stuff but the guy is an absolute tool. 

 

Rant over

 

It sounds more like your beef is with how the parent organization ran the minor league operations into the ground during the JVB years.  I don't know what went on in Albany, Lowell or Trenton, but a lot of what you complain about seems like cost cutting decisions made from the top of the organization, that Chris would then be forced to implement, whether he agreed with it or not.  In fact, as JVB's finances became more and more of an issue towards the end of his tenure, vendors stopped getting paid at all levels of the organization, including the NHL team.     

I guess, technically, he is ultimately responsible for the on and off ice product since he was the GM in Albany during those years, but it was a paper title with little to no responsibility, especially with his father running the organization since he is notorious for being involved in every decision that is made, regardless of how insignificant it may be. 

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, Daniel said:

Yes I understand that he had bunch of titles.  But it sure looks like he didn't do all that much.

"His dad let him sit at his desk" is the translation I'm getting. 

[Daniel]

13 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

"His dad let him sit at his desk" is the translation I'm getting. 

I managed to recover long missing security footage of Chris in his office:

 

[vadvlfan]

Lou= "I would like to welcome my dear friend David Conte to the Isles organization. He'll bring credibility to the draft process"!  As he has often said, you can't teach size!

[Devilsfan118]

Lots of Isles fans seem confident he'll re-sign shortly.

Would be hilariously devastating for them if he didn't.  Fingers crossed.

[Aitchmack]

I see Mark Hunter has left Toronto as well now. If Lou manages to get get rid of Snow I could see him as the next GM there.

[NJDevs4978]

20 hours ago, Daniel said:

Per Friedman, the league has said it has no issues with the contacts.  

Of course it doesn't.  God forbid Lou did that here when he was with the Devils (talking with someone on behalf of one team WHILE STILL UNDER CONTRACT TO ANOTHER ORGANIZATION) the entire league would have been screaming and hollering for us to lose a draft pick and get fined.

[slasher72]

2 hours ago, Aitchmack said:

I see Mark Hunter has left Toronto as well now. If Lou manages to get get rid of Snow I could see him as the next GM there.

Lou would love nothing more than to have absolute control over another organization again. Better tell their players to start getting rid of their high numbers, cut their hair, and shave their dumb hipster beards.

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, slasher72 said:

Lou would love nothing more than to have absolute control over another organization again. Better tell their players to start getting rid of their high numbers, cut their hair, and shave their dumb hipster beards.

I’d appreciate the beard part. 

 

[Daniel]

2 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Of course it doesn't.  God forbid Lou did that here when he was with the Devils (talking with someone on behalf of one team WHILE STILL UNDER CONTRACT TO ANOTHER ORGANIZATION) the entire league would have been screaming and hollering for us to lose a draft pick and get fined.

I mean it could only ever be considered tampering if Lou were making a pitch on behalf of the Leafs, but he officially agreed to the Islanders job the next day.  So he was trying to get Tavares to sign an extension with the Isles, which by definition isn’t tampering.

If anything the Leafs might lodge some kind of complaint that Lou interferes with them being able to sign Tavares while Lou was technically still under contract with the Leafs.

[mfitz804]

5 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I mean it could only ever be considered tampering if Lou were making a pitch on behalf of the Leafs, but he officially agreed to the Islanders job the next day.  So he was trying to get Tavares to sign an extension with the Isles, which by definition isn’t tampering.

If anything the Leafs might lodge some kind of complaint that Lou interferes with them being able to sign Tavares while Lou was technically still under contract with the Leafs.

And, of course, it could’ve been official before that, without our knowledge. I don’t see an issue, neither did the league who presumably knows more details than us. 

 

[SterioDesign]

No other GM in history has ever lost more of his important players via free agency than Lou. So for the love of job give him that GM job asap so that Tavares goes to free agency for sure