GM of the year

[dash]

NEW YORK (May 13, 2013) -- Marc Bergevin of the Montreal Canadiens, Bob Murray of the Anaheim Ducks and Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins are the three finalists for the 2012-13 NHL General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today. Each is a finalist for the first time.

Voting for this award was conducted among the 30 Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, with more detail on format to be released at a later date.

Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for NHL General Manager of the Year:

Marc Bergevin, Montreal Canadiens

Under the direction of Bergevin, in his first season as an NHL general manager, the Canadiens were the NHL's most improved club. After finishing fifth in the Northeast Division and 28th in the overall League standings in 2011-12, the Canadiens (29-14-5) rallied to clinch the Northeast title and the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed on the final day of the 2012-13 season. Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach for his second stint behind the Canadiens’ bench; selected C Alex Galchenyuk with the third overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft; strengthened the roster with summer signings D Francis Bouillon, LW Brandon Prust and RW Colby Armstrong; and acquired RW Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks

Murray oversaw a Ducks club that enjoyed its finest regular season in franchise history, capturing the Pacific Division and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a club-record points percentage (.688, 30-12-6). He strengthened Anaheim's goaltending by signing Sweden native Viktor Fasth as a free agent last May. Fasth went 15-6-2 with a 2.18 GAA, .921 save percentage and four shutouts in his debut season in North America. Murray also bolstered the defense corps with the offseason signings of Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen and midseason trade for Ben Lovejoy. In addition, he enticed forward Teemu Selanne to return for a 20th NHL season and signed forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to eight-year contract extensions.

Ray Shero, Pittsburgh Penguins

Shero made key additions to an already-strong roster throughout the year that helped propel the Penguins (36-12-0) to a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season, their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goaltender Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and later brought RW Jarome Iginla, LW Brenden Morrow, C Jussi Jokinen and D Douglas Murray to Pittsburgh in deals leading up to the trade deadline. Pittsburgh reeled off 15 consecutive victories from March 2-30, the second-longest winning streak in NHL history and the League’s longest winning streak in 20 years.

 

[DChero]

Since the rest of the GMs make up a large portion of the voting, I think that it just got tougher for Ray Shero to win... unless they're still under his Jedi mind trick.

 

[dash]

No love for Stan Bowman?

 

[DChero]

You know how these NHL awards work. It's typically the best player on a mediocre team or a coach (or front-office type) that changes the most around with their division winner.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Poile and Tallon were finalists last year

in the draft lottery this year

 

[awaz]

edit: deleted my babbling. i dont know how to say what i want to say. GM of the year is hard to qualify.

 

[dare2be]

DChero...RShero...I smell a corporate shill in our midst.

 

[DChero]

DChero...RShero...I smell a corporate shill in our midst.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

No love for Stan Bowman?

He would be my choice.

I find it amazing that it seems like the Blackhawks don't exist in the post season awards. How soon the people who vote on these things forget who the best team in the league this year was. I know they don't need any motivation, but it might tick off the organization just a little bit.

 

[awaz]

He would be my choice.

I find it amazing that it seems like the Blackhawks don't exist in the post season awards. How soon the people who vote on these things forget who the best team in the league this year was. I know they don't need any motivation, but it might tick off the organization just a little bit.

i think it's because everyone just thinks everything is so good about the blackhawks.. which makes bowman kind of a perfect choice for best GM IMO

along the same lines as the hawks though, the pens are just as stacked as they are, so why do they get nominated for all the awards, including GM?

i dno, GM of the year just throws a wrench in to everything IMO.. is it the player(s) that had a good season? does the GM get credit for having the right guys or did the coach 'get the most out of his players'? and if he did 'get the most out of his players' does the GM get credit for hiring the coach that did that? just a mess IMO

 

[esls79]

I thought Craig MacTavish was a darkhorse candidate. Apparently I was wrong.

 

[forty_three]

i think it's because everyone just thinks everything is so good about the blackhawks.. which makes bowman kind of a perfect choice for best GM IMO

along the same lines as the hawks though, the pens are just as stacked as they are, so why do they get nominated for all the awards, including GM?

i dno, GM of the year just throws a wrench in to everything IMO.. is it the player(s) that had a good season? does the GM get credit for having the right guys or did the coach 'get the most out of his players'? and if he did 'get the most out of his players' does the GM get credit for hiring the coach that did that? just a mess IMO

Do you REALLY need to ask that question?

The GMs job is to give the coach the pieces he needs to be successful while planning for the unpredictable periods of injury. They have to think right now, next week, and next year.

The Coaches job is to get the most out of the pieces the GM give him.

The player's job is to perform at or above the level they are expected in the scheme the coach has laid out.

The fact the BlackHawks are as yet shut out of post season awards is a fucking travesty. Every cog in that machine performed absolutely perfectly from the equipment managers up to the owner.

 

[dash]

You could also make a pretty strong case for Doug Wilson, who was both "a buyer and a seller" at the trade deadline.

 

[dash]

The fact the BlackHawks are as yet shut out of post season awards is a fucking travesty. Every cog in that machine performed absolutely perfectly from the equipment managers up to the owner.

Saad is up for the Calder, but your point is well taken.

/In fact, it's probably makes an even better case for Bowman as obviously one of the main areas in evaluating a GM is how well he drafts.

 

[awaz]

Do you REALLY need to ask that question?
The GMs job is to give the coach the pieces he needs to be successful while planning for the unpredictable periods of injury. They have to think right now, next week, and next year.

The Coaches job is to get the most out of the pieces the GM give him.

The player's job is to perform at or above the level they are expected in the scheme the coach has laid out.

The fact the BlackHawks are as yet shut out of post season awards is a fucking travesty. Every cog in that machine performed absolutely perfectly from the equipment managers up to the owner.

i was being a little sarcastic w/ that one, probably could've made it clearer haha

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

i think it's because everyone just thinks everything is so good about the blackhawks.. which makes bowman kind of a perfect choice for best GM IMO

along the same lines as the hawks though, the pens are just as stacked as they are, so why do they get nominated for all the awards, including GM?

i dno, GM of the year just throws a wrench in to everything IMO.. is it the player(s) that had a good season? does the GM get credit for having the right guys or did the coach 'get the most out of his players'? and if he did 'get the most out of his players' does the GM get credit for hiring the coach that did that? just a mess IMO

The difference between Shero & Bowman is huge.

Bowman took over a mess. Shero inherited a GM's dream.

 

[dare2be]

The difference between Shero & Bowman is huge.

Bowman took over a mess. Shero inherited a GM's dream.

But we're not talking about 3 years ago, or 6 years ago. We're talking about this year.

There's no denying that the pieces that were added by Shero (Vokoun, Sutter for Staal, Iginla, Morrow, Murray, Jokinen) while not giving up too much of the future is nothing short of amazing. The Blackhawks' incredible performance this year aside, what kind of changes did Bowman implement this year to affect that? I'm honestly asking as I haven't followed the Hawks' business moves.

 

[esls79]

Having Iginla fall in your lap does not make a GM of the year, especially when dealing with Feaster. Using the Jedi mind tricks on a feable minded Joe Nieuwendyk does not either. If he can keep the stars of this team together beyond next season, then he deserves a gold star.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Having Iginla fall in your lap does not make a GM of the year, especially when dealing with Feaster. Using the Jedi mind tricks on a feable minded Joe Nieuwendyk does not either. If he can keep the stars of this team together beyond next season, then he deserves a gold star.

THIS.

 

[dare2be]

I'll give you Iginla, considering he had a short list of teams, so the cards were already stacked in his favor, but as you say, if anyone could have used the Jedi mind tricks on "feeble minded Nieuwendyk", then why didn't they? You are also ignoring all the other moves he made, not the least is Vokoun and Jokinen.