When the Prince George Cougars decided to dismiss General Manager Todd Harkins it was another reminder that the WHL is no different than the NHL; it’s a results oriented business.
When the Cougars would not give Harkins an extension he desired during the season, his fate was sealed.
Whether all six members of the EDGEPRO group were on board with the decision or not, Harkins simply did not do enough in his four years as GM to exude the confidence of ownership to continue in his high profile position.
Once the Cougars were out of contention in January, the team sold the youth movement to the fans.
Patience will be needed to see how many of the current Cougars blossom into top-notch players.
Edmonton ended the season the youngest team in the league, with Prince George the second youngest, with an average age of just over 17.5.
It’s no co-incidence the Oil Kings and Cougars were both last in their Conference, the 22nd and 21st overall teams (out of 22) respectively.
Harkins has left the Cougars with two first round, two second round and two third round Bantam picks in the next three years, including 2018.
The next GM will welcome those assets.
However, Prince George gave up the third overall pick this year to Prince Albert, thanks to the 2016 Brendan Guhle trade.
Harkins was promoted to General Manager in 2014 with no prior GM experience; another example of how difficult it is to succeed when there isn’t a track record in that job.
No one would disagree that the 49-year-old Harkins was a vast improvement over the previous regime, but the team headed in the wrong direction after his first three years.
Under his leadership, the Cougars went from a record of 31-36-2-3 in the 2014-15 regular season to 36-31-3-2 in 2015-16 (improvement of 10 points), to 45-21-3-3 (improvement of another 19 points) in 2016-17, to 24-38-5-5 in 2017-18 (a stunning drop of 38 points).
Over the four years, his 136-126-13-13 mark would be graded a “C”.
To be fair, one could suggest a bonus should be given to the letter grade and bumped up to a “C+” for delivering a BC Division first-place banner last year, the first such accomplishment in team history.
Lack of playoff success ultimately played a huge role in the Harkins departure.
The Cougars were 1-4 in the 2015 post-season, 0-4 in 2016, the very disappointing 2-4 in 2017 and then the eye-popping, jaw-dropping no playoff appearance in 2018.
To many this isn’t progression.
Now let’s look at attendance over the last four years at the CN Centre.
There was an average of 2,852 in year one (2014-15), followed by 3,122 in 2015-16, to 3,626 in 2016-17, to 3,024 this season (2017-18).
When a team loses 600 fans a game and one combines that with an on ice sink of 38 points in the standings, and your contract is up for renewal, it doesn’t bode well for negotiations.
One may believe it is not fair to pin attendance on the General Manager, but if the team was winning, wouldn’t that 3,000 number be a lot higher, even with the controversial new ticket pricing structure?
When co-owner Eric Brewer met the media to address the reasons behind the decision, he made reference to having the team remain competitive, year-in and year-out without the huge drop-offs.
.@PGCougars part-owner Eric Brewer emphasizes ownership is committed to making the team the prime franchise of #NorthernBC; “fans ultimately decide the success or failure of this team” | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/mVuF1p3c3U
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 20, 2018
The on-ice performance plummeted 40% from the previous season.
Attendance declined 17%.
The WHL All-Star teams were named this week with no Prince George players selected, not even the high profile ones that were dealt at the January 10th deadline.
The Cougars only have one player (Jackson Leppard) on the Central Scouting “Players to Watch list for the 2018 NHL draft, and he is listed a “C” prospect (fourth to sixth round).
The only Cougar that was chosen in the 2017 NHL Draft was Nikita Popugaev, fourth round (98th overall) to New Jersey.
Yes, that is the same Popugaev that was rated by Central Scouting as a late first rounder when he was with Moose Jaw.
And it’s the same Popugaev that quit the Cougars and went back home to Russia last year.
And it’s the same Popugaev that cost the Cougars Justin Almeida (43 goals & 98 points this season) and others in the Warriors deal.
The Cougars are a hard-working team without stars.
If some of the players develop into front-liners, the Harkins era will be looked upon more favorably, but it appears ownership was asking, what have you do for us lately?
Yes, it’s a results oriented business, as the next guy will find out.
WATCH:
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
A 102-year-old woman broke a pair of world track and field records. The 102-year-old ran the 100-meter dash with a time of “February.”
*Conan O’Brien of TBS
March Madness is officially underway. An interesting poll says that 17 percent of March Madness viewers watched the game with their boss last year. The bosses called it “tons of fun” while employees called it “mandatory.”
*Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon
Everybody is into March Madness. Everybody bets — President Obama filled out a bracket. He picked Michigan State to win. President Trump, however, did not. He likes to wait to fill out his bracket until after the tournament so he can tell us that he got them all right.
*Jimmy Kimmel Live
The owner of a Greek soccer team this weekend stormed onto the field during a match waving a handgun. So long story short, soccer is now the official sport of the NRA.
*Seth Meyers of Late Night
Bidding for the Carolina Panthers has topped $2.5 Billion, which shows that it isn’t only the NFL players who are suffering the effects of CTE.
*Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va., http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.ca/
Major League Baseball wants to speed up their games to attract Millennials who find the games too long and boring. How about Uber delivering pitchers from the bullpen?
*Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver
The Houston Astros signed Jose Altuve to 5-year, $151 million extension. So Jose will be able to take his family to Disneyland, even if he still isn’t tall enough to ride all the rides.
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Sergio García’s new baby girl, Azalea, is named for a flower common at Augusta where he won the 2017 Masters. The kid is lucky Dad didn’t win the Waste Management Open.
*Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
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Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT.
He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.
Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @Hartley_Miller