The gms

If the Panthers get lucky tonight, then I think they have assets to move that’ll reshape the team in a hurry. Even without the luck, I think the team can respond well depending on the new GM. I am not a Florida detractor. I think the franchise does have some serious challenges, but I believe the market is not the problem.

Meanwhile weather and taxes are going to make it, forever, an attractive location.

I do have a major soft spot for Dale Tallon that I need to admit. That’s because he was drafted #2 overall in 1970; one spot after the Buffalo Sabres selected Gilbert Perrault. It’s a happy event in my formative years when the Sabres dodged that bullet named Tallon.

 

Dale Tallon in hot water. Panthers look even better cutting bait when they did, although it was time for Tallon to go anyway just based on his work as GM.

 

Bill Armstrong sent a stern message shortly after being formally introduced as general manager of the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

"I didn't realize how beautiful it is here," Armstrong said. "I didn't know until I stepped off the plane and I was like, 'Oh my God. This is incredible.' But we're never telling the players that. What we're going to tell the players is it's not a nice place to live. It's a place to come win a championship. That's why you're coming to Arizona. You're coming to win a championship. You're investing in this team with everything you have. Weather has nothing to do with it.

"As I told them in the interview process, I will see my house, the car and my office and not much of Arizona."

It's that drive and passion emanating from Armstrong that won over Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo and president Xavier Gutierrez when they interviewed Armstrong for the position.

"Bill doesn't know it, but it was probably 15 minutes into it," Gutierrez said. "Alexander Meruelo and I were talking with Bill and he texts me and says, 'I'd run through a wall for this guy.' The reality is you've seen just a little glimpse of this, but you're in his presence and he's just such a leader.

"… This was a very important hire for us. We wanted the right person, and we wanted the right human being who would also fit with us and the culture we want to create."

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Wednesday that general manager Jim Rutherford has resigned, citing personal reasons.

Patrik Allvin, who has been with the franchise in various roles since 2006-07 and was most recently serving as assistant GM, will take over on an interim basis. According to the Penguins, the search for a replacement will begin immediately and “Allvin will be able to consult with the team’s Hall of Fame owner, Mario Lemieux, for input and advice.”

“It has been a great honor to serve as general manager of the Penguins, and to hang two more Stanley Cup banners at PPG Paints Arena,” Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “I have so many people to thank, beginning with the owners, Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux, and team president David Morehouse. There always has been so much support from everyone involved with the Penguins, both on the hockey and business staffs, and, of course, from a special group of players led by Sidney Crosby. The fans here have been tremendous to me and my family. I know it’s a little unusual to have this happen during a season, but just felt this was the right time to step away.”

Rutherford, 71, was hired to replace Ray Shero in 2014 and helped build the Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup champion teams in 2016 and 2017. His current contract was set to expire following the 2021-22 NHL season.

NBC

 

JR has been an entire study in contradiction seemingly forever. People were surprised when the Pens hired him. What had he done for the Canes?! Then he made some, hmmm, odd moves.

Pittsburgh responded by winning, not one, but two Cups. Contradiction of common knowledge about how to run a team, indeed.

There’s more to the story of why he’s stepped down; a story that we’ll probably never read. (Just like: why did Pat LaFontaine step down as Pres. of the Sabres?)

Anyway, this is one of the more surprising FO moves in the NHL for a long time. Could also be a pivot point in history for the Pens. We all knew their Cup window was going to end one day. Did that window just get slammed shut?

 

I dont think 'slammed' shut, but maybe un-hinged, lol.

Whoever takes over will inherit a very good team, they are still talented... I just am curious as to who fills the shoes as new GM.

Maybe Rutherford wanted to trade a star like Letang or Malkin... he has been trade happy before and if he tried that in Pittsburgh they may have said enuff-z-nuff and politely showed him the door.