Article: Elliotte Friedman Provides Additional Reporting On Wild's Front Office Turmoil

[Carlton Bloom]

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[Adamada]

Well this sounds like it's messy, definitely not a good look.

[Citizen Strife]

Guerin is in some shit, and sadly, the team's record isn't going to help.

[MacGyver]

Nice dumpster fire BG. 

[Pewterschmidt]

Benito Mussolini Guerin better start ripping off some winning seasons because the pitchfork crowd smells blood. In case you haven’t been following the sports news over recent past (Perry, Chicago org in general, nfl abusers, entire nba,etc) there’s little to no tolerance for boorish behavior. If there’s any behavior by Benito that affects merchandise sales, you can bet Leo’s loyalty will wane.  Bad behavior is only tolerated when you’re a winner.  Bad behavior by struggling teams is grounds for dismissal

[Lovehockey]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Benito Mussolini Guerin better start ripping off some winning seasons because the pitchfork crowd smells blood. In case you haven’t been following the sports news over recent past (Perry, Chicago org in general, nfl abusers, entire nba,etc) there’s little to no tolerance for boorish behavior. If there’s any behavior by Benito that affects merchandise sales, you can bet Leo’s loyalty will wane.  Bad behavior is only tolerated when you’re a winner.  Bad behavior by struggling teams is grounds for dismissal

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Benito Mussolini Guerin better start ripping off some winning seasons because the pitchfork crowd smells blood. In case you haven’t been following the sports news over recent past (Perry, Chicago org in general, nfl abusers, entire nba,etc) there’s little to no tolerance for boorish behavior. If there’s any behavior by Benito that affects merchandise sales, you can bet Leo’s loyalty will wane.  Bad behavior is only tolerated when you’re a winner.  Bad behavior by struggling teams is grounds for dismissal

 

[Lovehockey]

And this is the guys who came in Minnesota screaming that he is going to change the culture. He is a worst as a GM and does not look like good person in general. Hope he will be gone soon

[MacGyver]

7 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Benito Mussolini Guerin better start ripping off some winning seasons because the pitchfork crowd smells blood. In case you haven’t been following the sports news over recent past (Perry, Chicago org in general, nfl abusers, entire nba,etc) there’s little to no tolerance for boorish behavior. If there’s any behavior by Benito that affects merchandise sales, you can bet Leo’s loyalty will wane.  Bad behavior is only tolerated when you’re a winner.  Bad behavior by struggling teams is grounds for dismissal

I agree with the exception of winning. In today's world you offend someone enough for them to file a formal complaint that is usually the beginning of the end for you. Winning is not going to save you. I'm guessing Billy is going to be very low profile, very apologetic for sometime. I've known and have worked with a few of these alpha male types. At some point they lose control again. They are absolute control freaks that are hyper competitive with a nasty trigger temper. Always so much fun to be around.  

[joebou15]

Andrew Heydt is their logistics guy. They make a trade? Heydt is the second person after the GM getting them to the airport and in a hotel and makes sure the equipment staff has their jersey ready to go.

That infamous equipment fire in Ottawa? Heydt worked with the equipment staff to bring in the player’s spare equipment.

Heydt is the guy who gets things done, and this is the guy that Guerin decided to lambast. Regardless of what was said, it's clear he crossed a line somewhere for the guy to make a formal complaint. 

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I've known and have worked with a few of these alpha male types. At some point they lose control again. They are absolute control freaks that are hyper competitive with a nasty trigger temper. Always so much fun to be around.  

For a formal complaint to actually be filed, to me this sounds like more than just 1 event. I'm not sure that Guerin is a control freak because he seems to delegate a lot of authority. Fenton struck me as a control freak. However, the hyper competitive with a nasty trigger temper sounds an awful lot like how Guerin would roll. 

If you look at some of the public interviews with him, even reporters can trigger his temper and he gets unpleasant. The venting of the Fiala/Dumba fiasco probably represents this well, as well as the trading of Talbot because his agent spouted off publicly. 

I'm guessing that he and O'Hearn have had sparring sessions, and if you happen to come into the office at the wrong time, you might get barked at. With no evidence at all, I'd speculate that this happened to Heydt on more than one occasion. 

With individuals like this, venting happens. When a team is not winning, it happens more. People around Guerin should know this about him, but in Heydt's position, sometimes he is summoned in the heat of the battle to get something done. Apologies are likely in order, because it's probably not Heydt's fault. 

On this point, I don't know what classes or training will do to help Guerin. Guys with trigger tempers and guys who are passionately competitive take losses hard and losing hard. There will tend to be barking when this happens. Not everyone can fit into a nice neat little box of how things should be. We're all flawed. Sometimes you just have to know that this is someone's personality and expect that there will be some fireworks. 

[mnfaninnc]

It is interesting, though that O'Hearn mutually agreed to separate for whatever he did, yet Guerin keeps his role. Now, I wonder what happens with Heydt? Can he continue working under this environment? Do he and Guerin grow closer?

[MacGyver]

4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

It is interesting, though that O'Hearn mutually agreed to separate for whatever he did, yet Guerin keeps his role. Now, I wonder what happens with Heydt? Can he continue working under this environment? Do he and Guerin grow closer?

Is it something O'Hearn actually did or did he just agree to mutually part ways to remove himself from a bad and toxic place. The way I understand it O'Hearn was not fired nor have I heard or read he actually "did" anything. Maybe I missed something. 

[mnfaninnc]

9 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Is it something O'Hearn actually did or did he just agree to mutually part ways to remove himself from a bad and toxic place. The way I understand it O'Hearn was not fired nor have I heard or read he actually "did" anything. Maybe I missed something. 

It's not going to come out from Guerin nor the team, so the only way we will now is if O'Hearn opens up. Somehow I have doubts about him leaving a toxic relationship since he had no idea this was coming. We assume, and I believe correctly, that it came from the 1st investigation findings. That seems to be the most logical. 

I wonder how long it will take him to find another role somewhere?

[Sviginak]

Is BG a guy who can’t get out of his own way? A week ago I would have said it could be possible. Today we appear to be veering into the probable lane. Car crash coming soon?? I hope not but if the drip, drip, drip continues it won’t matter at some point. Decisions might be made whether they are warranted or not just so we can move on. 

[Greenbean]

On 12/16/2023 at 12:16 AM, Lovehockey said:

And this is the guys who came in Minnesota screaming that he is going to change the culture. He is a worst as a GM and does not look like good person in general. Hope he will be gone soon

I refuse to spend money on bally sports, tickets, or merch until this clown is gone from the GM position. I haven't watched a game since he fired Evason. Not because I loved Evason, but the way Guerin has acted over the last year, created a complete dumpster fire, then wants to blame the mess on every body but himself.

 

I thought this idiot would turn the team around, instead he has pretty much ruined 97's prime, and made this the exact team he said he would fix. 

[Mateo3xm]

I’ve literally been waiting for this to happen.

not saying I wanted it to happen but knew something like it was bound to happen soon.

BG has always come across as a very arrogant and contentious person to me. I’ve come to that conclusion by interviews, podcasts how he’s dealt with players and their contracts and investigations like this.

i think BG has a shelf life that isn’t going to last super long because I could definitely see players and staff getting tired of it pretty quick.

one of the reasons Fenton got fired was allegedly because he was a prick to the staff.

[Mateo3xm]

8 hours ago, Greenbean said:

I refuse to spend money on bally sports, tickets, or merch until this clown is gone from the GM position. I haven't watched a game since he fired Evason. Not because I loved Evason, but the way Guerin has acted over the last year, created a complete dumpster fire, then wants to blame the mess on every body but himself.

 

I thought this idiot would turn the team around, instead he has pretty much ruined 97's prime, and made this the exact team he said he would fix. 

I agree with most of what you said but I think it’s the owner who won’t allow a proper rebuild so this team is doomed to mediocrity unless they do it properly.

[MacGyver]

Always unanswered questions that are left to linger with this team. The whole KK thing trying to get back into the states from Russia mystery. I get it that we don't need to know and probably can't know everything but nothing was ever fully explained and when you leave questions unanswered the worst is always assumed and crazy rumors fly. Ask Connor Bedard about that. I heard KK did not go back to Russia this past off season. So is he a wanted man over there? Did he get a fake military ID like what was rumored? We will never know. Just like we will probably never know what actually happened in this latest drama. When something comes out in the public domain whether it was intended to or not the best way to handle it is to come clean and deal with it openly and right away. 

When a team is not transparent about inner workings it makes them appear shifty and untrustworthy. Makes it difficult to take them seriously. 

[Will D. Ness]

Pitchforks and torches seem to come out with ease from the vaguest of gossip.  Brave new virtual world we have here.

I'm just happy to watch some good hockey at last.

[Jon]

Gives me traces of Zimmer vibes, I fear.

[M_Nels]

On 12/16/2023 at 9:46 AM, MacGyver said:

Is it something O'Hearn actually did or did he just agree to mutually part ways to remove himself from a bad and toxic place. The way I understand it O'Hearn was not fired nor have I heard or read he actually "did" anything. Maybe I missed something. 

The way I'm understanding is that there was an investigation into something to do with his personal conduct as well. "Coincidentally" the 2 investigations were running concurrently, the one into O'Hearn's conduct and Guerin's.

The way it was phrased in the Athletic article and a radio interview with Russo makes me think that O'Hearn had something of his own going on at the same time the complaint was filed against Billy. What it is we'll probably never know exactly because unlike the HR complaint they are keeping that one closer to the vest.

Not a good last month for the Wild's executive staff. Have heard lots of speculation but don't really know any details except that the independent investigation into Billy was deemed "not a fireable offense." Will he last the season? Who knows?

As long as all this isn't a Blackhawks-esque sexual abuse scandal/coverup or an egregious personal conduct issue then it's not going to affect me being a fan of the team. Do I have to be a fan of Billy? Hell no but I like the players and am vested in following the prospects. 

[mnfaninnc]

Let's just say that Bill Guerin did end up leaving. Then what? Where would we go from there? Who could take this organization to the next level?

The hard work has mostly been done. The "rebuild" on the fly has us with a lot of great prospects that are marinating and needing the full 5 years of development. And, this is no mystery, since Covid took out at least a couple of years of development of each of these players, whether with us, or in jr. 

I'd hope that a new guy wouldn't just trade off all these prospects but would let them play. So, this would be a hypothetical exercise. Who would you target as GM?

[Up North Guy]

28 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Who would you target as GM?

I hear Chuck Fletcher is available. 😎

[mnfaninnc]

The return of the Jedi (GM). There must be some sort of meme out there for this, perhaps in a world far far away?

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

On 12/18/2023 at 12:01 PM, Up North Guy said:

I hear Chuck Fletcher is available. 😎

🤮