Gainey's Subtlety is often overlooked
Ok so I know that at times he fails to make that "big move" but again if it was up to the Montreal fans(media) we'd trade the whole team each year.
While a lot of people are quick to bash guys like Smolinski (Free Agent, one year, what's the big deal?) and were all up in harms about the Hamerlik signing. Which brings me to my point, Hamerlik. When he was signed most people and media crying afoul hadn't even seen him play a single game as he was out west, they just looked at his aged and figured he was another end of his career.
Now though these loud mouths avoid the topic of Hamerlik, how good he is to a very young team. He's probably going to shave O'Byrne 2 years of learning from his career and make him a great player faster. And defensively the guy is a genius and knows how to position himself perfectly. If he makes a mistake he rectifies it just as quickly. His offensive abilities aren't to be overlooked either. I think 4 years of Hamerlik is a blessing to this relatively young team and since putting on the Mic the other game I'm now convinced of it.
Then you have guys like Kostopoulos who don't get the credit they deserve. Since the beginning of the season he hasn't backed down from a battle and lays the body much harder then I expected, lending some of the much needed physical presence to Montreal (while more is still needed). Also is a great locker room addition and I think fills the void that Aaron filled well (not much of a player but a great guy all around)
And how has these people forgot that Gainey managed to get rid of the plague that was Samsenov? They blame Bob for signing a guy who was Rookie of the year who happened to suck but don't lend the credit of managing of getting rid of him without having to buy out his contract.
Or what about the foresight to draft Carey Price, these people are praising this young goalie but were just 2 years ago were up in arms about Gainey drafting him thinking Theodore was the Savior. Which brings me to the next exploit, getting rid of him and his 6.25 millions a year contract just before (or arguably during the beginning) of his demise.
So it's easy to criticize Gainey about not signing Briere to a 52 Million Dollar contract (although he offered 49 all knowing everyone would cry foul at the first 3 goal less game streak) or not trading for Lecavalier but a lot of people fail to see the Subtle actions that, while not enough to get a Stanley cup or many playoff rounds, slowly crawls a better and better team each year that constantly competes and doesn't fall to the bottom ranks.
And being able to show himself up to the tasks of the Job when having lost his daughter says a lot (and people often forget it or bluntly act as if it's nothing)
I'm just saying that Gainey isn't constantly inactive, the team's look as drastically changed from 5 years ago and his subtle actions are too often overlooked. We don't have that bad of a team and we don't have that bad of a GM.
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Gainey's Subtlety is often overlooked
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