Not even three hours after Sinden rolled out his former GM's plight, and lent his credence, support, and sympathy, owner Jeremy Jacobs labeled that reasoning for the club's failures as a ''load of [expletive]."
''That's what I think of that," added Jacobs, whose ire over his all-but-dysfunctional NHL product finally has come to a head in recent days and weeks. ''I really do."
Jacobs, while acknowledging he agreed with the pre-lockout business plan, one he said was structured by Sinden and O'Connell, made it clear he held the two accountable for not making the plan work.
''No one had a cleaner platter to build the team they wanted," said Jacobs, reached by telephone at his Florida home. ''A lot of the performances [of the players signed] fell far short of what was expected of them. So I don't share that belief. Who is [O'Connell] kidding?"
By Jacobs's eye, his management team should have been able to make far better use of the millions of dollars in cap room that it cleared out in anticipation of the new CBA being finalized last July. O'Connell used nearly $11 million of the $39 million cap to bring back free agents Joe Thornton and Glen Murray, and then failed to land Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano. The 'A' list of free agents quickly gone in a heated seller's market, O'Connell then signed the 'B'-list likes of forward Alexei Zhamnov ($12 million over three years), and defenseman Brian Leetch ($4 million for one year).
Not even two weeks into the season, it was evident it was going to be a long and challenging campaign, because of a lack of talent. By mid-November, O'Connell began to tear apart the roster, the biggest of the moves coming at the end of the month when he jettisoned Thornton, drafted in '97 as the franchise centerpiece, to San Jose. The trade led to a dramatic improvement, beginning in mid-January, but the run was short-lived, and by early last week Jacobs had made up his mind O'Connell would have to go.
''Harry likes to say that, too," said Jacobs, referring again to O'Connell's belief that the failed business plan turned the season upside down. ''But I don't believe it. [O'Connell] could have done what he wanted. They made their decisions . . . "
