Clark made Mike Gauthier the Scapegoat

[Knuckle Chucker]

Mike was made the scapegoat on a sinking ship. He was the one to go because he is the guy most of the players looked up to. They are sending a message to the team by trading thier leader. This concept is not new but we have a GM who just traded a very tough kid (who loved playing in PA) for a D-man who had a total of 13 PM's last year. Nothing against the new player but who is going to be a tough presence on the ice now?

The way he was told about the trade was bush. The trade was made late last night but they let him come to the rink in his suit this morning. He was called from the bus and told he was traded because HE needed a change. He had an hour to pack up his stuff and drive to Edmonton.

Great treatment for a kid who gave it his all for 4+ years.

Clark sees the writing on the wall and is making trades in panic mode. Lets hope the BOG gets rid of him before he totally destroys this team we all love

[hobster]

As us Blade fans and Raider fans argue about our beloved teams when it came too the Klotz and gauthier thing,even i clearly see that gauthier was treated very unfarrely .As well what would the ciy of Prince Albert ever do if Don clark decided he wanted too run for city mayor lol.

[hobster]

Hey Knuckle Chucker hows that saying by Jim Lahey again ? the winds of **** are blowing through pa right now haha

[dagley]

*breaths a sign of relief* Damn!, Kamloops comes to Brandon this year...hopefully Gauthier keeps them elbows and cheap shots down!

[Knuckle Chucker]

*breaths a sign of relief* Damn!, Kamloops comes to Brandon this year...hopefully Gauthier keeps them elbows and cheap shots down!

Is your new goalie as good an actor as Plante?

[Triton]

Is your new goalie as good an actor as Plante?

It worked didn't it? :clap:

[Dwight Schrute]

It worked didn't it? :clap:
yep but it was pathetic and in poor taste. the 2 game suspension was a joke.

[Dwight Schrute]

Great treatment for a kid who gave it his all for 4+ years.

Clark sees the writing on the wall and is making trades in panic mode. Lets hope the BOG gets rid of him before he totally destroys this team we all love
well i wish gauthier the best and hope he has a great finish to his dub career closer to home. as for all the comments about drinkin in the other thread, guess what he is of age and is allowed. what a terrible way to trade him.
is there a way we could start some kind of petition to get rid of clark ?

[localguy]

as for all the comments about drinkin in the other thread, guess what he is of age and is allowed.


Of age or not, many of these kids aren't of age, and they are supposed to be in this league to play hockey, not go drinking and partying. If you want to go outside of team policies (if there are any), go play in junior A, where that kind of thing seems to be allowed more. He was supposed to be a leader, what kind of example is that setting for the young kids just starting out in this league.
For the record, this is based on a rumor about the raiders, and if it is not true good. However, this league has produced it's fair share of alcoholics (ie: Theoron Fluery, Brantt Meyhers, etc). To me that is sad, you should not take addiction away from the ice, just skills. Veteran players have a responsibility to teach that to new guys. imo

[Dwight Schrute]

Of age or not, many of these kids aren't of age, and they are supposed to be in this league to play hockey, not go drinking and partying. If you want to go outside of team policies (if there are any), go play in junior A, where that kind of thing seems to be allowed more. He was supposed to be a leader, what kind of example is that setting for the young kids just starting out in this league.
For the record, this is based on a rumor about the raiders, and if it is not true good. However, this league has produced it's fair share of alcoholics (ie: Theoron Fluery, Brantt Meyhers, etc). To me that is sad, you should not take addiction away from the ice, just skills. Veteran players have a responsibility to teach that to new guys. imo
say he was bringing minors into the bar with him on a school night, or something to that extent i would see a problem. but if curfews are being broken id also see it as a problem, im just saying that if a 19-20 year old wants to sit in a lounge it shouldnt be frowned upon any more then any other kid there age. once again this is all heresay. but as a former boston pizza employee, it is(or was) the usual hangout after the game. and they were usually id'd pretty closely (waitress's didnt like em much cause they never tipped well, if ever haha).

[Drop em' eh]

...waitress's didnt like em much cause they never tipped well, if ever...

what kids ever do tip well or even think about that, and when on an allowance can afford to tip well? The WHL allowance basically amounts to the poverty level.

[whlhockeyfan13]

The point is they made a committment to the team and the WHL. By doing so, they agreed to follow the rules and one of which is curfew. Yes other kids their age can go out and drink, but they are not playing in the WHL. If they want to party and have a good time they can do that off season. They made a comittment to the team. JMO.

[Dwight Schrute]

what kids ever do tip well or even think about that, and when on an allowance can afford to tip well? The WHL allowance basically amounts to the poverty level.
lol hey i understand that. i was just saying that they were id'd tough. (we all know what waitresses think of people who dont tip lol)

[Dwight Schrute]

The point is they made a committment to the team and the WHL. By doing so, they agreed to follow the rules and one of which is curfew. Yes other kids their age can go out and drink, but they are not playing in the WHL. If they want to party and have a good time they can do that off season. They made a comittment to the team. JMO.
does it say in their whl player contracts that they are to abstain from alcohol ?

[Knuckle Chucker]

The point of the thread was to point out that Mike was made the scapegoat. There was a group of about 8-10 guys who made a mistake and broke curfew. Of that group, Mike was traded because he had the most value (although we will see what kind of value we received in return).

What Mike and the guys did was wrong..they know that and Mike payed for it. However IMO this trade and "cerfew-gate" was spun by a GM who is worried about his job. It is a smokescreen to cover up the sorry state of this team right now. Statements were made that changes on this team were needed..thus the trade. The change that is needed, but has not happened, is the GM needs to go.

[Knuckle Chucker]

Mike didnt have the most value out of the guys that broke curfew they would have gotten alot more if they would have traded any of the other guys that were with them. In fact they probably traded the guy with the least market value

Don Clark said in the PA paper: "“Mike is an attractive commodity in the league and we can’t continually fix things by nipping around the outside.”

Take it for what its worth

[Brandonite]

what its worth is Clark covering his ass. Do you really think he wouldnt have gotten more for depape,mcdonald or Robertson ? all of which arent 19 year olds?

I never heard anything at all about what happened with Gauthier until this trade happened but I don't think it is going to hurt P.A. all that much. Gauthier is way over-rated and I agree was likely the guy with the least amount of value. I'd take guys like DePape, McDonald, Robertson, LeBlanc, May over Gauthier regaurdless of his age. We've been through this before as well on a different thread. It'll be a good trade for P.A. in the end I think...

[Knuckle Chucker]

what its worth is Clark covering his ass. Do you really think he wouldnt have gotten more for depape,mcdonald or Robertson ? all of which arent 19 year olds?

We agree that Clark is covering his ass.

I should have been more clear: Mike had the most value because Clark is not going to trade offensive players (at least I hope not) when the team can't score goals as it is. I thought that was a given.

Other GM's would take any of the 3 mentioned players but they know that Clark is in panic mode so I am sure we would get raped in a trade. Doesn't mean Clark won't pull the trigger and take one for the team so to speak.

I think we got hosed in the Gauthier trade. Any offensive upside the new d-man has will be offset by the loss of toughness. Teams are going to start pounding us and we don't have anyone left to step up. If Clark doesn't address this, the offensive guys we do have are going to take a pounding.

By the way, all 3 players you mentioned ARE 19 yr olds ;)

[Dwight Schrute]

im cringing at the thought of gillies nailing robertson from behind, or klotz running around with a huge grin cause nobody can do anything about it now.

[Drop em' eh]

it looks like we won't have to worry about klotz, he's playing like he wants to win the lady bing trophy this year, philly must have told him they don't want him to be just a fighter haha

[Brandonite]

it looks like we won't have to worry about klotz, he's playing like he wants to win the lady bing trophy this year, philly must have told him they don't want him to be just a fighter haha

Thats what most NHL clubs tell their prospects that they want them to be more of all around players and display their other attributes. Especially guys who are most known for fighting and laying the body that comes with the territory, then put in mind hes 6'5" meaning when your that big you better be willing to drop the mitts from time to time!

[eye4aneye]

well i wish gauthier the best and hope he has a great finish to his dub career closer to home. as for all the comments about drinkin in the other thread, guess what he is of age and is allowed. what a terrible way to trade him.
is there a way we could start some kind of petition to get rid of clark ?

I think where we lose sights as fans is that a new sheriff is in town (Bruno) and the rules and standards have changed. I am sure as the new guy he came and talked to the vets telling them what his expectations are and what the consequences if they are not met. ( at least that is what i do when i am a new manager of a business). Sure it was easier to get yelled at instead of getting into a conditioning routine and doing your homework, which by the way you would be doing if you lived at home. when you have kids of age as mentors to the young ones the coaches have the right to make you accountable. Prays to the hockey gods in thanks that Anholt is gone! :dead:

[TheSnowman]

trade had as much to do with the curfew issue as it did mike standing up for the boys to donn... whatever his actual words were, i can't imagine it helping his cause mike being mike... either way, trade seems to be working out ok

as for the tipping danno, when the waitresses in PA start earning their tips instead of expecting it just for showing up to work they might make a bit more that way lol

[Dwight Schrute]

trade had as much to do with the curfew issue as it did mike standing up for the boys to donn... whatever his actual words were, i can't imagine it helping his cause mike being mike... either way, trade seems to be working out ok

as for the tipping danno, when the waitresses in PA start earning their tips instead of expecting it just for showing up to work they might make a bit more that way lol
there re too many waitresses in pa and other places that expect to be tipped 15% for no reason. tips are earned and worked for. but this is getting a little off topic

[TheSnowman]

true story
probably better off as a PM really, but it was worth repeating =P