Thoughts in Bold: yesterday's press conference featuring Michael Andlauer, Steve Staios and Dave Poulin
Yesterday afternoon brought forth an unexpected announcement that Steve Staios would remove the interim tag from his General Manager’s title, Ryan Bowness would be promoted to an Associate General Manager position and TSN broadcaster Dave Poulin would be joining the organization as the Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
As I discussed in my early analysis of the announcement, it flew in the face of many assumptions and left a lot of questions unanswered. I was hoping that the organization’s 4 pm press conference would address some of the questions I had.
The entirety of this press conference can be heard courtesy of TSN 1200 here, but I have translated the interesting pieces of it below.
If you are unfamiliar with the structure of this article, I’ve transcribed the responses to each of the media’s questions below. After each of Andlauer, Staios or Poulin’s responses, I’ve shared thoughts of my own which are highlighted in bold.
Here we go.
On how this hockey operations model fits with the two-headed monster vision that he outlined a preference for earlier in the season…
Andlauer: “It stays with the same vision of the two-headed monster. It was a fluid approach to the whole decision-making process. But, the more we looked at things, the more I realized that Steve (Staios)’s passion from all aspects – relationships with the players, communication with the coaches, his experience with agents who he had in the OHL. Just his passion. He’s really good at it. He’s a natural. For me, I want to deal with people when they feel the most comfortable in doing. That’s how you succeed – when you’re passionate in what you’re doing. I feel that Steve brings that, but as I said before, this is a two-headed monster. This is not something that you can do single-handedly. So, now the task was, ‘How do we find somebody that can complement Steve? Has the same philosophy and same vision.’ I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dave (Poulin) for many years. It’s not as if I hadn’t been… had people email me and ask… and show their level of interest (in the general manager’s job). But, to me, and the fact that they know each other, I think they complement each other perfectly for this organization.”
When Staios inherited the General Manager’s role, my assumption was that would be a short-term move. Simply because it felt like, given the relationship between Andlauer and Staios, the latter would never want to inherit a role that would expose him to the possibility of eventually being fired. Like many others, I believed that Staios would take on the responsibilities temporarily until quality external candidates would be made available during the offseason.
Now that does not seem likely to happen.
I wish someone asked Staios or Andlauer what changed over the last two months to determine that Staios could remove the interim tag, but that never happened.
Adding another respected voice in Poulin to the mix is not a bad thing. Those who have experience working with him describe him as being a high-character person with great communication skills. After years of enduring the Melnyk/Dorion era, any opportunity to add quality people at high-level positions is a welcomed change.
The Senators still have one of the thinnest hockey operations departments in the league. The adage many hands make light work often rings true. If the organization is willing to use capital to invest and create a more efficient front office, that’s another great departure from the previous regime.
That said, where there is concern is that Poulin represents something that the organization already has. He is a former player who has front office experience.
The hockey operations department is now comprised of a President of Hockey Operations/General Manager who has one year of experience in an NHL front office, an Associate General Manager who was a Director of Professional Scouting before stepping into an Assistant General Manager role last season and a Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations who last worked in a front office one decade ago.
On whether Staios feels that it is full steam ahead and he can now put his fingerprints on this organization…
Staios: “Yeah, I mean, I think this really stabilizes the management structure for us. It’s a big job. There’s a lot of work to be done. Having (Poulin) alongside and doing the work with us along with Ryan Bowness and the rest of the staff, it’s an opportunity for us to move forward.”
One of the recurring themes since the Senators gassed Pierre Dorion is the need for stability. Following the Shane Pinto suspension, the Evgenii Dadonov fallout and another disappointing start to the season, it is hard to blame anyone within the organization for wanting to avoid more turmoil.
On what the priority is for the organization now and his assessment of the team now with its struggles…
Staios: “I think the next priority is to… you know, we make a change in the coaching staff. I’m waiting to see this resonate with this group. It’s obviously a different approach with Jacques (Martin), (Daniel Alfredsson) and (Jack Capuano). The dynamics have changed. We’ve talked about adding discipline and structure to our game. I think we’ve seen some signs of it. Two games prior to our last game, it looked like it was moving in the right direction. We dropped off again. I think time will tell, but I think there’s got to be an element… we talk about process a lot. To make an evaluation on something without all the information is not the right way to do it. I want to see how this coaching staff can resonate with this group. I know they’re sending the right message. We need to learn how to play the right way. We can have all the talent in the world. You see in the National Hockey League, watch games every night, if you drop off just a little bit in your gameplay, there’s relatively no chance of winning. We still have to build that up. I believe we have the right coaching staff in place to implement those right core values to play the right way, but as time goes on, you start to evaluate the roster. You see how everybody fits in and what the dynamics are and what changes have to be made at that point.”
Making the most informed decision is the best course and given the team’s start to the season, the front office can afford to be patient. Allowing this group to play under Jacques Martin and prove that they are capable of playing a better two-way game is an appropriate step. The last thing this organization can afford is to reactively move a player prematurely before they have a chance to prove their worth and risk the possibility of losing another trade.
On what the most attractive part of joining the Senators was…
Poulin: “The people I’ll be working with. I’ve been really fortunate in my career. I’ve had this eclectic career. It hasn’t been a straight line at all. I’ve done some things. I’ve done some things away from the game that have added to my skillset for the game. But, this is about joining people. This is about Michael and Steve and the people they are putting in place. I know them well and this is an opportunity to be with, what I believe, is a very special group.”
An encouraging part of this front office is that the Ottawa Senators have become a desirable place of employment. For years, this organization could only hire retreads looking to get back into the league or inexperienced and inexpensive candidates looking to make their mark. Under Eugene Melnyk’s ownership and Pierre Dorion’s stewardship of the hockey operations department, this situation was toxic. Good candidates for hire simply did not want to be here.
On how the front office dynamic will work moving forward…
Staios: “Well, (Poulin) will be involved in all hockey ops decisions. Ultimately, it will lay on… I’ll make the final decision, but it’s a collaborative approach. I think, far too often in the past here, it hasn’t been that. Having a process and a collaborative approach to all of our decision-making and creating that environment is hugely important. I think that resonates with not only the staff and the players, but the product on the ice. As far as a role, I think with (Poulin), he’ll be able to take a longer look at the long-term vision of the group – look at processes that we can put into place, look at areas of need that we’ve spoken about already on how we can build this up. We still need to build a foundation. There are areas of this organization where we still need to build a foundation. (Poulin) will focus in on that along with the day-to-day hockey ops, as well. But, (he’ll focus) on the big vision and executing on the vision long-term for the group.”
This is where the interview got meaty. Discussing the need for a collaborative process and shitting on the previous regime in the process is a new development. Dorion was fired for his failure to perform due diligence in his handling of the Evgenii Dadonov trade, but as more time passes, it is quite clear that he never would survive the season. His mistakes continue to become more blatantly transparent over time.
If Dave Poulin is responsible for the long-term vision, I want to hear more about it in the future. Even though he has a ton of experience watching this group because of his broadcasting career, obviously it will take him time to get a familiarity and understanding of the inner workings of this group.
Similarly, I would have liked to hear more about what he learned from his time in Toronto. As their Vice-President of Hockey Operations from 2009 to 2014, Poulin was part of a front office that oversaw arguably one of the worst stretches of hockey in Maple Leafs history. I don’t necessarily blame him for his involvement, but it would be good to hear about lessons learned and how he plans to help address the modern evolution of the game.
One of the criticisms of the Leafs’ front office was their unwillingness to accept and adapt to the infusion of hockey analytics. Under Steve Staios in Hamilton, he was a proponent of analytics, so any concerns that the Senators will be hesitant to implement them should be shelved. The hiring of Sean Tierney only bolsters that sentiment.
In saying that, however, I wished someone asked Andlauer or Staios whether there were any imminent plans to add or make changes to their staff. To this point, there have only been high-level additions or changes to titles, but little is known about whether there have been additional hires or changes to other parts of the department.
On Ryan Bowness being promoted to an associate general manager position and whether his duties will expand…
Staios: “Yeah, so I think when we’re talking about structure and how we’re putting this together and the opportunity to bring Dave on board… I think the world of Ryan Bowness. I think he adds a great deal to our group. In fact, when we started looking at other general manager candidates that we looked at across the league that we were open to maybe starting to talk to in a process… I kept turning back and saying, ‘We have the candidate here.’ Ryan has not been with the organization for very long. He came from a winning organization in Pittsburgh. Two Stanley Cups. He’s seen what it takes to be a strong front office and to move an organization along to championship form. Ryan’s elevated role… he’ll be part of the collaborative… with all of my group that’s here, we’ll collaborate and develop the processes to be best in class.”
I wish someone asked Staios or Andlauer about what Ryan Bowness has done to this point to have his superiors wax poetic about his abilities. To be clear, I’m not saying he isn’t deserving of these acknowledgements, but as an outsider, nobody has a strong lens to assess his work. For a guy who spent a few years as the Director of Pro Scouting in Pittsburgh before jumping to Ottawa as the Assistant General Manager, his track record here is relatively short. He has been tasked with managing the AHL franchise in Belleville and that organization has struggled. The Senators’ transaction record these past two years has not been particularly strong either, but as Staios alluded to earlier, maybe Pierre Dorion’s inability (or refusal) to collaborate works in Bowness’ advantage.
On Poulin’s viewings of the Senators through the broadcast lens and what he believes the Senators need…
Poulin: “When you’re putting a team together, it’s tempting to look at all the pieces and think you have all the pieces. But, they’re not perfect if they don’t go together. I think that’s the challenge that a lot of teams face in the National Hockey League. So, the process of starting to identify with our scouts, both pro and amateur, on what does an Ottawa Senator look like? What are we looking to do here? What are the necessary ingredients to be successful? And then, finding the pieces that fit together because it’s not always what looks good on paper doesn’t necessarily work on the ice. On the players’ side of it, the consistency thing is the biggest factor. Every team in the National Hockey League is capable on a given night. We watch it. We watched wild swings. We’ve got to better equip this group with how to handle those wild swings. Some of it is physical, some of it is mental and some of it is flat-out experience. We ask a lot of a 20 or 21-year-old that we look at and take for granted. We’d like to accelerate that. Some of it does take time, but some of it can also be shared experience.”
It sounds like Poulin believes that, despite the inherent individual talent level of the players here, there simply is not the right mix to produce sustained success. He emphasized the importance of experience twice in the later stages of his answer, so that is certainly going to be something to keep an eye on down the stretch and into the offseason.
On the potential to start to see player movement with this team’s young players if the group continues to struggle…
Staios: “Inevitably, there’s always roster movement. I think your question is directed at the core of this group. Again, I think, I’d like to see them with more time with Jacques, Alfie and with Cap. I’ll go back to that. I do think there’s potential with this core. I do believe in this core. I do believe they have the potential to do it. They just haven’t done it consistently. To (Poulin’s) point, is it experience? Is it accountability? Those are the types of things that we still need to evaluate moving forward to be able to make an accurate decision on the roster in general. Those core components, again, we believe in those core components. We believe in the character of them. They never cheat us on effort. I’ve never left the rink thinking that they didn’t lay it on the line, but it just hasn’t worked so far yet with them. Inevitably there are changes on the roster as you move forward. We’ll have free agents. We’ll look at all components of it and see where we could maybe tweak to help out this core roster. To make sure that there’s maybe some more experience or different components of players to make them more successful.”
Oh shit, Staios mentions the possibility of adding more experience here, as well. I do appreciate him emphasizing the importance of giving these players a chance to showcase their capabilities under a new coach before making any crucial judgments on their respective futures.
On the coaching staff and the long-terms plans there…
Staios: “No plans on changing the coaching staff. I do think that they can implement the things that we’re looking to implement for this group from now until the end of the season. We can take a longer look at it from that point.”
It will be interesting to see what happens if the Senators start playing encouraging hockey down the stretch under Martin. He is 71 years old, so he may simply relish the job security of being an advisor to the coaching staff. Then again, I felt the same way about Staios an his interim General Manager’s title. If Martin is invigorated and his team has success, he may want an opportunity to see this thing through. It may be his last chance to ever be a head coach in this league.
On why Poulin is coming back to join hockey operations department now and whether there is unfinished business…
Poulin: “That’s part of it and I have been a part of a Stanley Cup team. I was part of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 in their Stanley Cup Final against the Ottawa Senators. I went to the Finals three times as a player. I went to the Conference Final six times as a player and didn’t win it as a player. That’s a little bit of it. But, this is, as I mentioned about the people, one of the skills that I really enjoy is the ability to ask the right questions at the right time. About finding answers, we have got to have the right questions. I really enjoy that and I’ve enjoyed my conversations over the years with Steve. I mean, we’d get together, have breakfast and talk about his junior team. I really like the interactions we have, the discussions we have. We see alike on a lot of things, but we already challenge each other on a lot of things. We did that when we weren’t working together. So, it was just like, why do you think that? Or, how do you think that? Or, what about this? And, I think those are really healthy conversations to have as a management group.”
A criticism of mine, and it’s no fault of the front office, is that this group is pretty like-minded with similar skills. If the Senators simply don’t hire anyone else, I’d be concerned that they have not broadened their background enough to develop a well-rounded group that can cover the blind spots. Analytics is the most obvious one because no one in the group has any experience helping build an NHL analytics department from the ground up. These concerns could be shelved with the addition of more hockey ops hires, but unfortunately, no one asked about whether more prospective hires were forthcoming. Similarly, there were not any questions about making changes to or increasing the size of the pro and amateur scouting staff.
On whether Staios formally got to the point in the process where he interviewed prospective general manager candidates…
Staios: “No, we didn’t. I think, as we continued to discuss this, and then the idea of Dave coming on board… anytime we started to look at this position, Michael was desirous of me being the general manager. I’m excited about the opportunity and any of the candidates that we looked at, that’s where we went back to Ryan Bowness. And, we already had (him) internally, so we started looking at the structure and the foundation of the group and we felt really confident about that.”
Again, I’d like to learn more about Bowness and his work. If you were to compare his work to that of Eric Tulsky, I feel like the scales would be heavily tilted towards the Carolina Assistant General Manager.
On the Senators’ cap situation and how confident he is that he can manage it effectively in the New Year with the imminent return of a few key players…
“Well, it’s challenge but I’m confident we can get it done. The situation that we’ve inherited and what we’re in is not ideal, but certainly, I’m confident we’ll be fine.”
Another shot to Pierre Dorion’s body of work. I love it.