From the Editor: The NHL Brass
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by Clayton Hansler in From the Editor, HQ1-3
NHL free agency allows us all a first look at where our favourite team is headed the following season. Questions about change are answered. As are the questions about a general manager’s sanity and his willingness to ink a $10 million x 10-year deal in the salary cap era.
During this time sandwiched in between the hoisting of the Stanley Cup and the start of training camp, when most of the world has forgotten about off-sides and icings, the league’s GMs are tirelessly working. Fielding calls from agents, examining foreign talent and constantly running dollar amounts through their heads. And to these men, Hockey Quarterly dedicates this issue.
Where in the past, 29 GMs seemed to simply copy the mould set out by the team that had last won Lord Stanley’s Mug; the lockout, the CBA and its subsequent effects have mutated the league so it now has many different building strategies.
Sather still believes he can buy himself a championship while Lombardi continues to lean on the Kings drafting depth. Lamoriello would dress 18 defensemen if he could, while I’m quite positive George McPhee wouldn’t be happier than if Varlamov started taking shots from the point. And then there’s Brian Burke. Top six, bottom six. Pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence. Every general manager has his way, and it has made the game more exciting.
Starting with this issue, HQ is also adding a new dimension to our online publication. The AHL has long been an outstanding affiliate league, breeding top talent and providing veterans a place to play another couple years before retirement. With 30 AHL clubs scattered throughout North America, developing draftees and providing fans with high quality product, it’s only appropriate that Hockey Quarterly set aside a part of each issue to examine these teams, coaches and players.
We are pleased to introduce to you D’Ann Faught, the latest addition to the roster, and our AHL writer. Keeping with the theme of the rest of the issue, D’Ann profiles the Texas Stars’ GM, Scott White, and gets his thoughts on the outstanding inaugural season. We hope you all enjoy.
Clayton Hansler
Hockey Quarterly, Editor in Chief