Jacques Martin in Trouble? Um, No

Our good friends from Canada continue to speculate that Jacques Martin is in danger of losing his job as general manager of the Florida Panthers.

Their theory: Owner Alan Cohen is upset that JM the GM didn't get anything good for Jay Bouwmeester at the trade deadline. Because of that, if the Panthers don't make the playoffs, Florida could be looking for a new GM.

Baloney.

Yes, I'm sure Alan Cohen doesn't like to think about another playoff-less spring here in west Broward County, but he has told me on numerous occasions that he likes what he sees in the direction the franchise is taking. Sure, they are baby-step small, but they are forward steps regardless.

And he never has anything bad to say about Jacques Martin. Mr. Cohen says he feels secure in knowing that JM is running the hockey side of things, and respects his opinions on this game.

Did JM err in not trading Jay? Yes. Would trading Jay have been a mistake? Probably.

JM and the Panthers were in a no-win situation at the trade deadline. JM was in the worst position of any of his peers and he did what he thought was right at the time. No deal blew him away, so he stood pat and decided to go forward with a team that was looking pretty good in the playoff race.

Did he know Jay and the Panthers would tank in the following 10 games after the deadline? He surely did not. If he did, things would most definitely have been different. Note, I do think Jay and the Panthers have turned things around despite Friday's result, although that 10 game stretch may turn out to be a killer.

And, one might want to know, Alan Cohen was pretty happy Jay stuck around. This team still has a good chance of making the playoffs this season. Let's just wait before we start digging those graves, eh?

-- You all doing the technology thing? I'm going to give twitter a try. Give me a shout. Or whatever twitter does.

https://twitter.com/OnFrozenPond

Comments

[Georgia Panther]

Cohen always has a scapegoat after every year of not making the playoffs, so it's only a question of who?

[Georgia Panther]

GR is right that it's premature to fire anybody before the season is over with as we do still have a shot at the playoffs but he's wrong to think there won't be repercussions to not making the playoffs and losing Bouw. Someone will be made to walk the plank in that event. It may or may not be JM but it's a very good bet that someone will pay the price.

[EJ]

Of course Cohen is happy...he won't have to pay JayBo's contract next year and he won't allow JM to acquire a comparable caliber player.

[Derek]

Who knew that Jay would go into the tank after the trade deadline? Maybe he really does want out of here that bad. If JM had traded Jay and the team had played as bad as they did after the deadline everybody would want his head for that. This team has had too many changes in the last few years. Its messed up our young guys development and allowed for no consistancy. The Panthers have a decent core of forwards and defense. The goalie situation is good what we need is a scorer(center) and a decent d-man who will actually hit someone to replace Jay. I hope they make the playoffs this year but expect them to make it next year.

[Laus723]

Great work GR, appreciate the quick response, that's why I turn to you first. (Even if I sometimes can't tell when you're joking, lol)

Thanks for the great work!

[Bo]

Derek makes a good point, if he was traded and the team had the same record the same people saying he should have traded Bou would be saying he shouldn't have traded Bou. After the trade deadline Bou's play was less than stellar so it is easy to say he should have traded him but I think JM made the right move trying to make the playoffs with the current team since what teams were offering wasn't that much. As a Canadian I can tell you the Canadian sports media makes up more stories than FOXNEWS.

[George Richards]

Don't you mean CNN?

[CATFAN927]

I thought I posted this once but for some reason it didnt get through.

I am impresssed GR. I didnt even get to ask my question about this and you already have an answer up.

In my opinion firing JM at this time would be a huge mistake. I believe one more year of patience is necessary. From the time Jaques took over as GM he has made many good moves. The one glaring mistake is not aquiring the center he said we needed from the preseason on. All the other signings have helped to improve the team.

Not dealing Jaybo at the deadline could have gone either way and unless we do make the playoffs was a no win situation. If you deal him and we dont make it, it looks like a bad move, just like if we dont make it now.

As a full time STH since the move to Broward and an original '93er as a fan, I like the direction we have gone in the last couple of seasons (since the Luongo/Keenan fiasco). JM has been retooling the team from the net out and there has been improvement each season in many ways. Even if the total points and or final positional placement doesnt reflect it. In my opinion, this is his last offseason of rebuilding and JM needs to have the time to finish the deal.

If I were better with words in type I would send an open letter to Alan Cohen telling him as hard as it is, one more year of patience is needed.

[Cliff]

Fine, he didn't trade Bow. No matter, the jerk did nothing to help this team at the deadline. Every other team we were fighting with for the playoffs strengthened themselves. We did nothing. Why? Cohen is cheap and JM sucks. JM must go and Cohen must sell. Until then, It will be the same old, same old crap.

[season ticket holder since day one]

having been a season ticket holder from the beginning, the truth of the matter is the problem is at the top (Cohen), the scouting department is run on the cheap. Yormark stated at a season ticket holder event that they could save money by having the scouts watch video, unfortunately video doesn't show whether the player has the intangibles to be a great player.

The booster club had a meeting at the arena the night they traded Bure (clearly to cut payroll) and we were told flat out that they would spend the money on a couple of players.

Do not be surprised when Boumeester leaves and Cohen doesn't spend the savings.

With Tampa and Atlanta possibly getting the first two picks, the teams in our division will be getting better while we tread water.

The only reason this team is challenging for a playoff spot is that they have a coach that has gotten more out of the talent then the amount of talent we have.

We are weak at center, below average at wing, slightly above average in goal and very good on defense.

If this organization goes backwards this off season and does not get the number one center (in fairness to Weiss he should be a third line center and not a number one center) and does nothing with the money it saves from losing Boumeester then the calls should be to get Cohen to sell the team

[Evan]

If the team needs a scapegoat, fire Yormark. Ok, fine, advertising may keep the team viable, but whoever (Yormark) decided to put the Panthers logo in the urinals needs to be fired. It disgusts me that every time I have to go to the bathroom at the big billboard, I have to do everything possible to avoid pissing on the logo. Yormark may get more advertising dollars from whoever it is if they changed the urinal advertising for each game and the fans were able to pee on the visiting teams' logo instead of ours.

[zeroG]

lol @ season ticket holder since day one

"slightly above average in goal"? haha. we have the number 2 and 3 guys in terms of save percentage.

and this team is not challenging just because of pete. sorry. this team is built well, from the net out, for the style most teams are trying to play nowadays. i'd argue (and have) that JM would've fared similarly with this group. he did put the roster together after all. it's got its weaknesses but it isn't altogether different than last year's bruins team - they didn't score a lot, played a more disciplined defensive style and built from there. in fact, i'd also say that this team's biggest failing right now is defense, not finishing - if this team had stayed committed to coach's style and avoided the temptation of getting into these track meets (which they can compete in but win less often than they'd like), they'd be in the top 8 right now.

anyhow, he'll surprise the naysayers this offseason by finding a good fit down the middle in FA and if jay walks, the rest of the money will go to bring in a replacement in the top 4. he's building opportunistically, i.e., the way he *has* to if he wants to build a sustainable organization.

[john vanbisbreck]

Jacques Martin is smart. Keep him at the helm and the Panthers will get there. No more changes!

[season ticket holder since day one]

Yes slightly above average goaltending. A goaltender's job is to win games and make the big timely save among other things.

Taking one statistic does not show the true picture. With safe percentage if the other team is not getting scoring chances then the goalie better have a high save percentage because the shots are coming from the outside.

What we don't have is a goaltender that makes the key save (see the Buffalo game, Tampa Game and Columbus game for recent examples).

There are at least 10 other number one goalies that I would take over Voukon and that makes him slightly above average with 30 number 1 goalies