I had the pleasure to meet mister Bowman in the early nineties. He was actually looking for my boss when I lived and worked in Buffalo, who wasn't in the workplace at the time, but he took the time to be nice and friendly and he really left a wonderful impression on me and even talked a bit of hockey with me. Very nice guy.
Actually, to shoot straight, he was a lousy GM. Just look at the state of the Sabres under his management. Look at the brief time he was GM of the Red Wings.
Jean Beliveau said that he thought Bowman was a great coach but an impatient manager. He would demand a player be traded for any reason at all. Sometimes he would barge in on meetings between Pollock and Beliveau to demand this player or that player be traded and Pollock would have to calm him down and explain to him that no player was about to put in 80 perfect games.
He hit on some draft picks in Buffalo (Housley, Andreychuck, Barrasso), but admittedly seemed to struggle later to update an aging team in time to remain a contender. Gotta disagree about the job he did as Personnel Director for the Red Wings, though. From what I understand, he was responsible for primarily making trades. In 3 years, he swapped for Mike Vernon, Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan, and Larry Murray, while also valuable role players like Doug Brown, Bob Rouse, and Kirk Maltby. That's pretty damn good, especially when you add to those moves the best move he NEVER made: trading The Captain. In my opinion, he seemed to learn from his mistakes in Buffalo and made the necessary adjustments for his time in Pittsburgh and especially Detroit.
I had the pleasure to meet mister Bowman in the early nineties. He was actually looking for my boss when I lived and worked in Buffalo, who wasn't in the workplace at the time, but he took the time to be nice and friendly and he really left a wonderful impression on me and even talked a bit of hockey with me. Very nice guy.
Imagine what it’s like to have a coach that old but that up-to-date instead of being a dinosaur.
Its unfortunate that he wasn't made GM when Sam Pollock retired.
Actually, to shoot straight, he was a lousy GM. Just look at the state of the Sabres under his management. Look at the brief time he was GM of the Red Wings.
Jean Beliveau said that he thought Bowman was a great coach but an impatient manager.
He would demand a player be traded for any reason at all.
Sometimes he would barge in on meetings between Pollock and Beliveau to demand this player or that player be traded and Pollock would have to calm him down and explain to him that no player was about to put in 80 perfect games.
He hit on some draft picks in Buffalo (Housley, Andreychuck, Barrasso), but admittedly seemed to struggle later to update an aging team in time to remain a contender.
Gotta disagree about the job he did as Personnel Director for the Red Wings, though. From what I understand, he was responsible for primarily making trades. In 3 years, he swapped for Mike Vernon, Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan, and Larry Murray, while also valuable role players like Doug Brown, Bob Rouse, and Kirk Maltby. That's pretty damn good, especially when you add to those moves the best move he NEVER made: trading The Captain.
In my opinion, he seemed to learn from his mistakes in Buffalo and made the necessary adjustments for his time in Pittsburgh and especially Detroit.
Best coach in NHL History.
GOAT. Plain and simple.
And his kid did okay in Chicago