Al Strachan wrote today on Fox Sports that most GMs today are hand picked by Bettman. Examples cited are David Poile and Brian Burke. He then states that since Bettman is telling owners whom to hire, his choices then blindly follow his direction.
(Anyone who believes that Bettman or anyone for that matter can tell Burke what to say or do, I have some swamp land in the desert I can sell you really cheap.... yikes!)
As further evidence of my take, there was a GM conference call today where Burke pushed his idea that to facilitate trades that teams should be able to salary share. Bettman made his case against Burke on this... evidence I suggest contradicts Strachan’s take outright.
Later in the same article, which can be read verbatim here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7489988
Strachan infers that Lombardi may be replaced by Robitaille who is being lauded for the excellent job he is doing on the business side of things by those inside and outside the organization.
The article speaks for itself. My two cents suggest that I concur Robitaille is excelling off the ice, just as he did on the ice. He works hard and generally speaking with the right individual, effort begets results. Robitaille has proven to be just such an individual over his lengthy career.
To then leap to, therefore Luc is replacing Lombardi, is a claim I don't buy, and I question whether Robitaille would be either. Lombardi has been here one and a quarter seasons and was empowered to rebuild the entire organization from bottle cap washers, to travel agents, to ... you get the idea. The Kings’ house cleaning is one of the most comprehensive I have ever seen in this league, or any other as well.
The notion that he would be terminated now, or his job was in anyway in jeopardy in such a short span after giving him that much power is impossible to fathom. In fairness, I have no inside information and my take here is my own.
Any thoughts, comments or further fodder on Strachan's Lombardi takes, or his further statements that Campbell is the next Bettman designee who will be gifted a GM job?
Carla Muller
[email protected] 
Join the Discussion:
»