Habs Scouts

[seventeen]

I was listening to an on line discussion about the Habs’ recently released video. Billy Ryan was the guy promoting Jacob Fowler. He was hired last year along with former BU coach Albie O’Connell to be their American scouts. Ryan’s title is Director of player evaluation (whatever that means). Ryan was with Florida until they hired Shane Churla, a Habs employee. Rysn looked after Florida’s 2020 draft. Notable selections were Anton Lundell at 12, Emil Heineman (where have I heard that name before?) at 43 and Devon Levi at 212.

I would think Ryan would see a LOT of USHL games so Fowler would have been scouted thoroughly

[habsorbed]

Scouted thoroughly in a pretty small pool. I'm guessing he never saw many of the Europeans or Canadians, or anyone outside the US, except maybe the odd tourney. He better be right on Fowler as he sure was pushing hard.

[Willie Dog]

Sept 5, 2023 9:54:09 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Scouted thoroughly in a pretty small pool. I'm guessing he never saw many of the Europeans or Canadians, or anyone outside the US, except maybe the odd tourney. He better be right on Fowler as he sure was pushing hard.

Fowler was a pretty confident guy when he was interviewed after being drafted

[Skilly]

I’m more concerned on what Martin Lapointe’s credentials are. He sure does seem to take up a lot of oxygen around the draft table

[seventeen]

Sept 5, 2023 9:54:09 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Scouted thoroughly in a pretty small pool. I'm guessing he never saw many of the Europeans or Canadians, or anyone outside the US, except maybe the odd tourney. He better be right on Fowler as he sure was pushing hard.

I have read that HuGo want their scouts to have at least some idea of the guys not in their immediate area of responsibility. I believe that meant they had to watch some of the games from other areas (Europe, CHL etc.). Now I have no idea if that was implemented at all, but from an organizational standpoint, it makes sense to remove silos. FYI, the debate was between Fowler and Adam Gajan, who Chicago took at #35 and who was the first goalie picked in the draft. That tells us Chicago thought Gajan was a better prospect.

As I mentioned above, Ryan was in charge when Florida picked Devon Levi in 2020 in the 7th round.

[NWTHabsFan]

Fowler had a great season, and Ryan is right…he has a history of winning in the past too. I am glad Ryan was so vocal about Fowler, as I think he is right. An astute pick at that point after the big run on goalies in the second. The kid has a chip on his shoulder and has something to prove!

[folatre]

Sept 5, 2023 11:29:41 GMT -5 Skilly said:

I’m more concerned on what Martin Lapointe’s credentials are. He sure does seem to take up a lot of oxygen around the draft table

Yeah, good question. He gives me the 'hey I played a long time in the league so obviously I am an expert on all things hockey' vibe.

Maybe this is my bias and it is not entirely fair to Lapointe, but basically I only think he got his foot in the door because he was Bergevin's bud. And frankly it irks me that Lapointe is more than happy in retirement to come home to Quebec and suck up a paycheque each month from the Canadien after flirting with Montreal when he was a UFA only to spurn the Habs and choose Boston.

Honestly, the duo of Bobrov and Lapointe at the top of amateur scouting makes me uneasy.

[Cranky]

One of my core beliefs for management is that one has to be competent in most duties of the people you are in charge of.

One doesn't have to be a certified welder to know what a good weld looks like or an accountant when reading a budget report.

I wonder who is supervising the scouts and does that person know the scouts weaknesses? What may be one scouts "a bit weak skating" may be another scouts "skates like he tied his shoe laces together".

I don't know about the last few years but back in the early 2000s i seriously doubt some Hab scouts ability to understand some huge fundamental issues. Ward and Komi are prime examples of scouting failures.

I wonder who the GM was...

[IamCanadiens]

I could handle certain specialized scouts to complement your head scout. Why not have a scout for skating only? Or other skill specific scouts that had a sole purpose of evaluating that skill instead of having scouts do it all? Eliminates some bias. I think