NHL Anti-Thread: Bad Business Decision Aggregator

[VampyrRabbit]

10 hours ago, spartacat_12 said:

 

Glendale's problem was that it was about as far away from the season ticket base as possible while still being in the Phoenix-area. By this point anyone who's been paying attention to this saga should know that the team wants to be close to their fans in the East Valley. Mesa has double the population of Glendale, not to mention the proximity to Scottsdale, Tempe, etc.

The two sites are still awful, both are well away from downtown, one is the site of a failed shopping mall and the other is next to a freeway surrounded by single family housing and what will probably become single family housing. The two sites are better then the location in Glendale though.

[GDAWG]

 

 

 

 

[spartacat_12]

As much as people love clowning on Tom Dundon & the Bunch of Jerks mentality, he really has managed to turn things around in Carolina. Obviously a lot of that comes from having the longest stretch of consistency on the ice, but I'm glad to see some stability for a market that was close to losing their team less than 10 years ago.

 

I've been to PNC before, and having some dining/entertainment options surrounding the rink should help a lot. It sounds like they'll be keeping a lot of the parking, so the tailgating won't be stopping.

[The_Admiral]

Turning things around, something that's probably difficult to do when you have one of Tom Dundon's subprime auto loans.

[monkeypower]

Not NHL specifically,

What a pick-up by Lethbridge!

[The_Admiral]

Babcock is back in the NHL too after doing weird psychological warfare on Mitch Marner.

[Cosmic]

The unifying superstructure behind the Bills and Sabres is being dissolved. Maybe that belongs in the Good Business Decision Aggregator? Several reports over the years that it was a pretty dysfunctional place to work. Some speculation that the Sabres will start looking for public handouts for their arena; it will be 30 years old in 2026, and I don't think it's ever had what could be considered a "major" renovation.

[The_Admiral]

Didn't it have some work done when they built out the Harborcenter around it? How'd that whole thing end up going?

[GDAWG]

 

[McCall]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

So... nothing new.

[Cosmic]

On 8/31/2023 at 8:05 PM, the admiral said:

Didn't it have some work done when they built out the Harborcenter around it? How'd that whole thing end up going?

Harborcenter has a second floor skybridge to the arena, but I think the arena itself is virtually the same as in 1996. New paint to replace the 90s office park terra cotta scheme, some new seats, ribbon board, a couple generations of jumbotron, but I think that's it. I've heard stories of things like hot water not working in some bathrooms, but for something built in the 90s (not like it's depression-era plumbing and electrical), that seems like they're maybe letting little things go on purpose so they can cry poor.

 

I think newer arenas have a little more room on the concourses, but there's really not much I would change. There's a cool project that's already happening to turn an old railroad terminal behind the arena into (finally) a proper light rail station for the arena. That's probably all the arena really needs. Since 1996, there's been a tempo-permanent "station" for the arena that's literally 10'-15' long. There's not many things the Buffalo light rail does well, but bringing people to the arena is one of them; it deserves a nice station down there.

 

Edit: A little tldr for "the whole thing"... the Pegulas seem to have bitten off more than they could chew trying to get into the restaurant and entertainment field, but things seem to be pretty steadily growing/renovating in the Canalside/arena area even with them pulling back. One of the encouraging signs is ugly little pieces of land finding uses. There's a building going up completely encircled by an off-ramp clover leaf. I think the final pit from the former Aud site is finally getting built up. There's a rich developer from DC who's been buying up everything that's not nailed down in the whole area, but he actually seems to get projects done. Overall, it's promising tortoise-like slow but steady improvement in the area.

[FiddySicks]

Edit: Absolutely the wrong thread. 

[spartacat_12]

Well, it didn't take long for Babcock to get up to his old tricks.

Apparently the Jackets & the NHLPA are investigating, but it seems like a weird thing for a player to make up.

[spartacat_12]

Seravalli doesn't hold back here, and it's hard to disagree with anything he's saying. Kekalainen's tenure in Columbus has been a mixed bag at best, and he put his reputation on the line by vouching for Babcock when most of the hockey world was critical of them hiring him. I think he's benefitted from the fact that the Jackets organization was a complete joke before he took over, so the bar has always been low.

 

I understand not wanting to replace your front office this close to the season, but this feels like another lost year in central Ohio. Might as well rip the band-aid off now instead of waiting until you've been eliminated from the playoffs.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

This is a weird situation. Like what if a player had intimate photos of his wife/girlfriend? And regardless, I'm not going to just hand over my phone. Super weird. 

[McCall]

From what I've been reading, he was only asking players if they wanted to show pictures of their families as a "get to know you" situation and that he was sharing his own pictures as well. I've also read that it was really only the younger players who were complaining and that the veterans, even the Captain, Jenner, were defending him.

 

Just saying what I've read. Which hasn't been a lot.

[monkeypower]

3 hours ago, McCall said:

From what I've been reading, he was only asking players if they wanted to show pictures of their families as a "get to know you" situation and that he was sharing his own pictures as well. I've also read that it was really only the younger players who were complaining and that the veterans, even the Captain, Jenner, were defending him.

 

Just saying what I've read. Which hasn't been a lot.

 

From ESPN

Quote

On Thursday, Marty Walsh, NHLPA executive director, and assistant executive director Ron Hainsey, who played three seasons with Columbus (2005-08), met with Blue Jackets players at Nationwide Arena after a morning skate. The trip was not previously planned and was made after the allegations against Babcock were made public.

 

They also contacted some of Babcock's former players.

 

A source told ESPN the Blue Jackets welcomed the NHLPA investigation to determine whether there was any wrongdoing by Babcock.

 

Walsh had a previously planned meeting at the NHL headquarters in New York City on Friday morning. Whatever the previous agenda was, it was overwritten by the Babcock news. The NHLPA laid out what it learned by interviewing players.

 

According to a source with knowledge of the NHLPA, it became clear that veteran players like Jenner were having a much different experience with Babcock than young players were having.

 

What was reported by Bissonnette was "the tip of the iceberg," according to a source.

 

The NHL and NHLPA submitted their findings to the Blue Jackets. Ultimately, it was the team and Babcock that decided to part ways.

 

From Friedman

Quote

According to multiple sources, one of the most serious concerns was a meeting that occurred away from team facilities that included “several minutes” of looking through a phone. That was beyond the scope of what was initially understood to have occurred.

 

[spartacat_12]

17 hours ago, McCall said:

From what I've been reading, he was only asking players if they wanted to show pictures of their families as a "get to know you" situation and that he was sharing his own pictures as well. I've also read that it was really only the younger players who were complaining and that the veterans, even the Captain, Jenner, were defending him.

 

Just saying what I've read. Which hasn't been a lot.

 

He was asking players to hand over their phones, and spent several minutes scrolling through them. Any other coach would probably get the benefit of the doubt, but Babcock has a history of playing psychological mind games on his players, and is pretty much universally disliked around the league.

 

Veteran players, especially guys with a letter stitched to their jersey, will always instinctively stand up for their coach/organization publicly. It's part of the "don't rock the boat" culture that gets ingrained into players throughout their careers.

[The_Admiral]

If the Blue Jackets had reservations about Babcock, which at this juncture would have been totally fair, why did they jump headfirst into bringing him on? If ever there were a case to hire a guy as an "executive consultant to hockey operations" or whatever before naming him coach, like the Blackhawks did with Joel Quenneville in 2008, this would be it. If this is the new, feelings-friendly NHL with its BIPOC TikTok Teen Task Force, then you need to keep an eye on him for a while to make sure he's not too weird for it, which, apparently, he was. 

 

Aside from all that, though, Babcock, like Quenneville, is unhireable not because of personal transgressions but because they were actual hockey coaches who believed in sustained puck possession, which, more than being weird, simply has no place in today's league.

[Sport]

11 hours ago, the admiral said:

If the Blue Jackets had reservations about Babcock, which at this juncture would have been totally fair, why did they jump headfirst into bringing him on? If ever there were a case to hire a guy as an "executive consultant to hockey operations" or whatever before naming him coach, like the Blackhawks did with Joel Quenneville in 2008, this would be it. If this is the new, feelings-friendly NHL with its BIPOC TikTok Teen Task Force, then you need to keep an eye on him for a while to make sure he's not too weird for it, which, apparently, he was. 

 

 

Long answer incoming. It's because the Columbus Blue Jackets ownership and team president Mike Priest are obsessed with being seen as an actual NHL operation. It's like they go "Ooooh this guy worked for the *DETROIT Red Wings and TORONTO Maple Leafs*.  ooooooh. Look at us." CBJ brass loves a name. The irony being that in the pursuit of perceived legitimacy they repeatedly trip over their own butts, which time and time again impedes their ability to do the one thing that would bring actual legitimacy. 

 

The other answer to "Why Babcock?" is they determined Brad Larsen was too soft and too much of a player's coach. They looked at a list of available coaches and picked out the biggest name with the reputation for being a dick. An over-correction if there ever was one. Also in the stew is the best run the franchise ever went on came with famous hardass John Tortorella behind the bench. They started with their criteria and worked backwards to justify it.

 

They said at the introductory press conference in July that they did their "due diligence", which we now know means they talked to guys they knew would vouch for him like Ken Hitchcock and Rick Nash who played for him for like 11 days in the Olympics. They didn't talk to any of his past players on the Leafs or Wings. Didn't talk to Brendan Shanahan. Didn't talk to any of the players at the University of Saskatchewan where he was recently assisting (and there's reports now that we wasn't getting along there either). Didn't talk to anyone who would might tell them not to hire him. Due diligence wasn't done so much as they built a case to cover their decision. If I owned the franchise Jarmo Kekäläinen and John Davidson would be gone for hiring this bozo. 

 

As for the actual transgressions, it's probably worse than we've heard, but the worst I've heard is he invited a young player over for lunch, looked through his phone for several minutes, and then made the kid leave without lunch, which is just a weird thing to do anywhere. I think if Biznasty, who I will not get into, hadn't said anything then Mike Babcock would still be the coach and the CBJ players would be quietly stewing amongst themselves, but it just got too awkward for him to continue. 

 

I wasn't a fan of the hire because the roster is similar to the roster at the start of his tenure in Toronto, we just drafted our most promising draft pick since Rick Nash, and it just seemed like a mismatch that never made sense. The only surreal part is his tenure went worse than I ever could've imagined. After a couple days of embarrassment and anger at the whole thing and this feeling like "how could you guys not see what the rest of us who follow hockey could?" the only thing I feel now is relief. This weird idiot was almost the head coach and now we came out of it with Pascal Vincent who might be great, might be bad, but he's not Babcock and right now that's a net positive.