Huntley new GM

[RyanP]

Just got the email Coach Huntley will be our GM for 2010.

[dougm]

does that mean we get a new coach?

[RyanP]

http://www.wingslax.com/article/70995

Huntley Named Wings GM
Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Philadelphia Wings Team President and Owner Russ Cline announced that Dave Huntley has been named the team’s new General Manager. This will be Huntley’s second stint as Wings General Manager as he was the team’s first GM during the 1987-88 seasons. Huntley will maintain his current Head Coach duties.




“The ownership has conducted an extensive study of the positives and negatives of our organization.” said Cline. “All the players and staff participated in an open and honest evaluation of where we are today and what it will take win a league championship. We are convinced that with the right changes to the organization we can reach that goal. We determined that Dave Huntley deserves the opportunity to lead us and can do that more effectively as General Manager and Head Coach.”




As the Head Coach for Wings, Huntley’s record is 17-15. In 2008 he led Philadelphia to its first playoff appearance since the 2002 season. Before his tenure with the Wings, Huntley compiled a very impressive coaching resume. He is a four-time coach of the Canadian National Team and was most recently an assistant coach for the squad that won the gold medal at the 2006 World Championships. He also served as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (2003-2005) and helped guide the team to a championship in 2005. Huntley is the current Head Coach of the MLL’s Toronto Nationals.




“I appreciate the confidence our owners have demonstrated in me in expanding my duties,” remarked Huntley. “We have identified the improvements we need to make to our team and our processes to play consistent winning lacrosse and are working to affect those changes.”




Huntley resides in Towson, MD with his wife Nancy. The couple has two children, a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Kevin, who was drafted by the San Jose Stealth with the 5th pick in the 2008 NLL entry draft.

[thwingfan]

Guess this isn't a real surprise.

[RyanP]

I have to say I saw this coming. I think it could be a good move, time will tell.

[WINGS4EVER]

Not a suprise.

But now lets start the rumors:

Here is the 1st one I will start.....In the PDX disponal draft (if it happens) Philadelphia takes Powell with pick number 4 and since he a west coast guy we offer him to the former San Jose team for the rights to a lefty forward named Huntley...HMMMM makes you think doesnt it.

.

Any one else want to jump on the rumor mill with me

[WingsNut423566]

Originally Posted by WINGS4EVER

Not a suprise.

But now lets start the rumors:

Here is the 1st one I will start.....In the PDX disponal draft (if it happens) Philadelphia takes Powell with pick number 4 and since he a west coast guy we offer him to the former San Jose team for the rights to a lefty forward named Huntley...HMMMM makes you think doesnt it.

.

Any one else want to jump on the rumor mill with me

Does Powell last til 4? I rather have Jacobs. Let huntley sit one more year and then get him for nothing.

[RyanP]

It seems like alot of teams do this.

Makes me wonder if it saves the teams $$$. I mean do they just give Huntley a raise, or give him his salary plus Sanderson's?

[dougm]

unless you are named kilgour, this rarely works.
although one did get a sense that dave & lindsay were not on the same page but i would had prefer seeing matt sawyer behind the bench.

[Wings-4-Life]

I can't see this working, but I'm not surprised. I'll give it a year until I bash the move.

Really can't say anything bad yet since he hasn't done anything.

[WINGS4EVER]

Originally Posted by WingsNut423566

Does Powell last til 4? I rather have Jacobs. Let huntley sit one more year and then get him for nothing.

Here is why I see powell lasting to 4
1. Edm- Brodie
2. Tor - Disher
3. Minny - Conway
4. Philly --- Powell or Jacobs

The only wrinkle I can see is the Rock if they dont want disher. Than my plan is shot

[PUNCH ME]

I'm not a real big fan of this double duty. Don't mind this move, but I'd like to see a new head coach too, Guess who I'd Pick.

[StealthDragon]

I don't necessarily know that the Stealth need or want a 32 year Powell on the team when they could get someone younger who'll be around longer. It's hard to pass on a player of his caliber and he does live on the West coast, but I say let Colorado have him.

If you guys draft Codron I'd trade him for Huntley in a heartbeat. He lives in Vancouver, so he's even closer to Everett than Powell is in PDX If you're going to spread a rumor, spread that rumor please.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by WINGS4EVER

Not a suprise.

But now lets start the rumors:

Here is the 1st one I will start.....In the PDX disponal draft (if it happens) Philadelphia takes Powell with pick number 4 and since he a west coast guy we offer him to the former San Jose team for the rights to a lefty forward named Huntley...HMMMM makes you think doesnt it.

.

Any one else want to jump on the rumor mill with me

[swami24]

Originally Posted by RyanP;514763“The ownership has conducted an extensive study of the positives and negatives of our organization.” said Cline. “[B

All the players and staff participated in an open and honest evaluation of where we are today and what it will take win a league championship[/B]. We are convinced that with the right changes to the organization we can reach that goal. We determined that Dave Huntley deserves the opportunity to lead us and can do that more effectively as General Manager and Head Coach.”

News is no surprise of course, but the bolded line caught my attention. If the rumors of meddling that are bandied about around here are accurate, were the right questions asked, and did enough people have the stomes to answer honestly.

Let the GM manage, should have been the message if what we read is accurate. I'm fine with the move to GM, the dual role, maybe not so much. The team needs one messqage, no matter who coaches, they have to be the top dog at prqactice and on game day. The GM hand owners have to be fans on game day.

[Hollywood42]

nice to see not a shocker

Ryan Powell however makes his home in PDX so would be a cross country fly in for games so i dunno if hes a viable option for the wings at this time

[mtbf]

unless you are named kilgour, this rarely works.

I think in the NLL it works better than you give credit for. I might even say unless the name is Day , it works normally. (even for day you have to remember he was stuck in the Rush, Rebel, Smash black hole where no playoff game can ever be seen.)

[rnsykes]

Even Darris himself says it's the worst possible situation to be in. I think that Huntley just got the job by default. There were plenty of guys who were very qualified and very available. I wish I could have seen a list of the guys they actually interviewed for the job. maybe nobody else wanted to be a part of this train wreck.

[MadDog2008]

Originally Posted by RyanP

It seems like alot of teams do this.

Makes me wonder if it saves the teams $$$. I mean do they just give Huntley a raise, or give him his salary plus Sanderson's?

Most of us did see this coming! I am sure this does save the team money. However, that is not a bad thing since our attendance was declining last season. Maybe some of the money they may be saving on the new GM will be spent for advertising to help fill up the seats. Anyway, it can't be any worse than Sanderson last season.

[JR87]

It's a typical Wings move. I'm sure the "extensive search" consisited of old Wings players, before he settled on Huntley. I'm not a fan of this move. It's just typical of what Russ does. Huntley, i'm sure, had some say in who played here. While I was in favor of getting rid of Sanderson, did we really solve the problem? Maybe Huntley is the final say now, but he had a part in the players we have here now. I see the same old, same old. Huntley keeps Chris here as an assistant coach, maybe they bring in another coach, we gain players through expansion, we lose players through free agency, we go 7-9 or 6-10 or 8-8, possibly no playoffs, definitely no home playoff game, etc....The cycle continues.

[swami24]

Originally Posted by JR87

It's a typical Wings move. ........ did we really solve the problem? Maybe Huntley is the final say now, ....The cycle continues.

It all depends on whether or not the frank discussions with management identified all of the organizational issues, and most importantly, whether beahaviors and decision making will change as a result.

[rnsykes]

I'm thinking nobody else wanted the job knowing that the owners couldn't trust them enough to just do their jobs. Huntley was the GM 20 years ago, not sure he left, but why go down that road again?

[RockStar#666]

It all comes down to whether the board meddles or they don't. If they do, it doesn't matter much who the titular GM is.

[dougm]

Originally Posted by dougm

unless you are named kilgour, this rarely works.
although one did get a sense that dave & lindsay were not on the same page but i would had prefer seeing matt sawyer behind the bench.

i never liked this idea no matter the sport. basically its an all-or-nothing boom-or-bust strategy. its really whacked when you want a "player's coach" that is also the team heavy as gm. if there is a tune out by the players, and i'm afraid that there is AGAIN but never so hideous - then you can't just fire the coach or or the gm to regain stability, its a shot at the whole thing.
dave cane in here with high hopes and seemed gung ho with a full-floor burn rubber idea of lacrosse and lindsay gave him the team to do so. there was no midseason trade that winter but i did find it bizarre that the team multi attack was discarded to pump up athan's goal record. i doubt if that was the idea but that what it became on the floor and i didn't see any attempt to change it. so when dave had a full roster clicking on all cylinders, he lost control of it.
** correction we did make a trade getting miller and shannon giving up mostly picks and rights to players not on our roster but it didn't upset the roster like previous midseason trades **
lindsay would had stayed, along with matt sawyer, but he did us no help last summer and we're still paying for the lack of moves that were needed. our coach now gm had an ok draft given what he had to work with but now we see how over evaluting talent for draft picks can bite. [ besides lets not anoint cody jamieson anything yet, quite a few 1st round picks that have become busts in powless, mayshita, and i'm thinking that greer maybe another ] we are young but our kids don't speak of future all-star like gajic brothers, that beers kid w/ the stealth, billings, they look like role players no stud just roster spots. at least the ny saints collected great young talent that they could not keep, the future under 1 winter is looking more bleak under this stewardship.
now losing 3-all-stars to injuries and they were 3 of your top-5 on a team with limited depth gives you what you have..a losing record. again, we'll take the losing if hunts gets a motivated playing force out on the floor. but i'm seeing two consecutive seasons of bizarre offseason moves that have set us back that only an inspiring coach can stabilize. but when you have this gm/coach combo thing going on, if the players are down on the gm, they'll be down on the coach as well.

[RockStar#666]

Originally Posted by dougm

.......i'm thinking that greer maybe another.....

Give it a bit of time before calling this - he's 3 points per game on a not so strong team.