Jacques Martin hired

[the max 0]

http://tsn.ca/news_story.asp?ID=85290&hubName=main

 

Hooray. Martin is a good hire for the team, but is Keenan qualified enough as a GM?

[CanadianChris 0]

Well, to be fair, Keenan has never been exclusively a general manager. On the plus side, he and Jacques are good friends, so I imagine Jacques will have a lot of input into the personnel decisions, which will be a good thing.

 

I envy you...you're going to have a really good team down there to watch in a year or two. If anyone's watching hockey that is.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go slit my wrists at the latest rumors that keith Acton will be the next Sens head coach.

[starvenger 0]

Isn't Keenan from the "play the veterans, not the youngsters" school of thought? I can't remember anymore...

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Thank God. I thought Vancouver might have rehired Keenan for a moment.

 

Martin is a good choice but Keenan is the anti-christ.

[treble 0]

I liked that nice little potshot Martin took at Lalime.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I liked that nice little potshot Martin took at Lalime.

Nani?

 

Explain. I'd like to know what this potshot was.

[treble 0]

He said something along the lines of, 'Here, we have an all-star calibre goalie, something we never had in Ottawa my whole time there'.

[Brush with Greatness 0]

Wow, lest we forget Iron Mike's deals.

 

First off, plucking future Hart trophy winner Chris Pronger from the Whalers. Sure, it came at the price of Brendan Shanahan, but Keenan was one of a few people who still saw potential in Pronger after Pronger was being hailed as somewhat of a bust after his second season (which is funny considering he was taken #2 behind Alex Daigle - but Daigle actually was pretty good his first two years on a BRUTAL Sens team). On a side note, its funny looking back on that class of 93 and how much hype they had surrounding them. The top 10 (and especially the top 7 were all hailed as superstar potential players at the time of the draft).

 

On top of that, Keenan nabbed Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe and a 3rd rounder (Jarkko Ruttu) from the Isles for Trevor Linden. Again, Bertuzzi was considered by many to be a bust, the potential was there but he couldn't put it all together. Keenan took advantage of this and grabbed him. Not to mention a defenceman who turned out to be pretty good (not his fault Vancouver gave him up for virtually nil). Meanwhile, Linden went on to score 18 goals and 47 points while being a -13 the next season in Long Island.

 

Mike Keenan has one of the greatest eyes for talent around and will only help benefit the Panthers. Keenan's lone weakness has been letting his coaching conflicts play too much emotionally with his GM duties and sometimes as a result he is too eager to get rid of players in his dog house. This time around as only G.M., there will not be those problems. And hopefully this answers the first question about whether he is qualified or not.

[the max 0]

My only gripe with Keenan is that he wasn't getting through to the Panthers. Jokinen wasn't responding to Keenan, and repeatedly was in the 'doghouse'. Does that mean that they trade one of their biggest offensive weapons? Stephen Weiss saw time in the 'doghouse', and as a result saw games where he dressed, but never played. Nathan Horton was the same way. I understand that Keenan is a drill sergeant in that he respects the players that respect him, but having a guy at the helm that is quick to pull the trigger on a trade because he doesn't like someone doesn't exactly make me jump for joy.

 

I realize that's why he brought Martin with him, and that will certainly help the cause, however, Martin's rep preceeds him. He's soft. He's EXCELLENT with younger players, as we've seen in watching Hossa and Alfredsson develop into stars. But once those stars need a push to get into the elite status in the league (cough*ROBERTOLUONGO*hack) he can't provide that push (Martin). Keenan can, but Luongo never responded to Keenan either. Does that mean that they trade arguably the best young goaltender in the league?

 

This move has the very good potential to be the turning point of the Panthers franchise, but I'm still questionable about it.

[nl5xsk1 0]

While I think it's a great move for the Panthers, I'm not 100% sold on Martin being a Cup-caliber coach. He'll work well with Keenen, and the duo will definitely help that team improve. With them, and the young talent that they have, the Panthers could end up being a pretty good team in a year or two.

[Red Baron 0]

Florida getting Martin will definitly bolster the team confidence, and making them a stronger team, especially in a weak divison