Over the summer, I wrote an article titled, “General Managers, The Good and the Bad.” In this article, I was comparing the decision making of Penguins and Flyers general managers Ray Shero and Paul Holmgren. Furthermore, I discussed how Shero has been the standard for general managers not just in the NHL but in all major sports across the board. Shero continues to make good, solid decisions for the Pens organization. Holmgren, on the other hand, has the Flyers looking lost and desperate, most notably with the signing of two aging players, Vincent Lecavalier and Mark Streit, to premier contracts.
Fourteen games into the season, Shero has his club in prime condition, looking to avenge their disappointing exit from the playoffs last year. Even through all the criticism, he stood behind Dan Byslma extending his contract another two years, and making it clear that Marc-Andre Fleury is in fact the number one goalie in Pittsburgh. Fleury to this point, has been outstanding in net. On Friday, Fleury stopped a season high 37 shots to lead the Penguins to a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Furthermore, Fleury earned his 10th victory of the season, which leads the NHL.
However, as we all know, Fleury will not be graded for his performance until the playoffs start. Fleury has been arguably the best regular season goaltender the last five years, as he’ll will be looking for his fifth 30-win season in six years. Shero knew that for Fleury to succeed this year, he had to bolster his defense and what better way than to bring back Rob Scuderi, and just as important to hire Jacque Martin. Martin is known as one of the best defensive-minded coaches in the NHL, and the Penguins as a whole have been much improved in their own end.
I previously stated that Holmgren has the Flyers organization in a tailspin. Twelve games into their season, the Flyers are basement dwellers of the Metropolitan division showing no signs of life. Three games into the season, Holmgren made a drastic decision when he fired, Peter Laviolette. Instead of bringing in a qualified head coach, Holmgren promoted assistant coach and former enforcer, Craig Berube. Berube played 1,054 games in the NHL and amassed 3149 penalty minutes in his career. On Friday, the Flyers picked up 99 penalty minutes in a 7-0 drubbing to the Washington Capitals who were without, Alex Ovechkin.
Earlier this week, with the Flyers looking for a scoring winger, Holmgren traded a Stanley cup hero and solid player in Max Talbot to the Colorado Avalanche for a “used puck bag” and Steve Downie. Downie, a former first round pick of the Flyers, is exactly the type of player the NHL needs to get rid of. Downie, 26, has been suspended for 20 games twice in his career for dirty hits. While the majority of the teams in the NHL are looking to get rid of these players, the Flyers are stockpiled with Zac Rinaldo, Jay RoseHill, and now, Steve Downie. Since 2006, Holmgren has reacquired 11 players since he assumed his GM post in 2006.
Shero has made many great moves in his position since he was hired in 2006 with players such as Chris Kunitz, James Neal and Pascal Dupuis. In 2013, Shero acquired Jarome Iginla, Brendan Morrow, Douglas Murray and Jussi Jokinen without giving up a single player on the Pens’ roster. Shero was later named the NHL General Manager of the Year in 2013. Over the summer, the Flyers hired former Flyer Ron Hextall as their assistant general manager. During Friday’s loss to the Capitals, the fans at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia were chanting, “Fire Holmgren!”
It’s a story of two general managers taking their teams in opposite directions.
