From a public perception point of view, the Prince George Cougars failed to make a splash.
But does that mean they hired the wrong man? No, it doesn't. It just means that every move Todd Harkins makes as the team's general manager will be intensely scrutinized.
When Harkins was introduced as the Cougars' new GM during a Tuesday media conference at CN Centre, the news didn't create a buzz of excitement among the fans and reporters in attendance. Harkins received a polite round of applause but there wasn't a single "whoot-whoot" to be heard.
Likely, the people who took time out of their days to find out who the Cougars had chosen to lead their hockey operations were hoping for a big-name guy - perhaps someone like Doug Soetaert, the former GM of the Everett Silvertips whose name surfaced in connection with the job opening in Prince George. Getting someone like Soetaert - who helped Everett to three U.S. Division titles, a regular-season championship and a Western Conference playoff championship - would have been seen as a coup. Heck, after all the years of dissatisfaction with Dallas Thompson's work at the helm of the Cougars, landing Soetaert or someone like him may have resulted in the declaration of a civic holiday.
Instead, the Cats' new ownership group went with Harkins, who joined the organization under the previous regime when he was brought on board as a regional scout in 2012. Harkins worked for Thompson and the Brodsky family and, as such, may not be seen by fans and casual observers as someone representative of a fresh start. The team has been touting the beginning of 'A New Ice Age' and, for many, it will be hard not to see Harkins as a holdover from the last one.
However, all of this is not to say the Cats went with the wrong person as general manager. They've taken a leap of faith on an individual with no previous experience as a Western Hockey League GM, but they've also given him the job after an exhaustive search that brought them in contact with a ton of qualified individuals.
During the media conference, Cougars president Greg Pocock said 17 people expressed interest in the general manager's job. From that pool, the team spoke to eight candidates, interviewed five and shortlisted two. The fact Harkins rose to the top of the list says a great deal about his credentials. Ultimately, the Cougars were sold on him because of the job he did as head scout and director of player personnel - a position he was handed last June - and also because of how well he handled the role of interim general manager, which became his title in May. Pocock and the rest of the Cougars owners had a comfort level with Harkins and were aware of the fact he had designs on being a GM in the league. If they didn't hire him, they knew they'd eventually lose him to someone else and they didn't want that to happen.
Some quick biographical information on Harkins: he's a 45-year-old from Cleveland who played 11 seasons of pro hockey, including stints in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers. He spent his final five years in Europe and retired in 2001. After that, Harkins turned his attention to coaching and also became director of hockey for the North Vancouver-based North Shore Winter Club. While he was with the North Shore program, those teams won six provincial peewee championships, a world peewee championship (2003), three bantam provincial titles and a Western Canadian bantam championship (2005). Harkins was also head coach of Vancouver Northwest Giants teams that claimed B.C. Major Midget crowns in 2011 and 2012.
So, in one form or another, Harkins has been around the game for most of his life, and at a high level. Pocock called him "a winner through and through" and lauded him for his commitment to the Cougars and to building a championship team in Prince George.
Ultimately, Harkins will be judged by his success or failure in this last regard. He has a four-year contract, with a team option for a fifth, and is immediately on the hot seat in a city that has been starving for a Cougars club that contends for titles, year-in and year-out.
If Harkins does the job well, followers of the team will quickly forget all about the other candidates that were out there. If he doesn't, there will long be talk in local hockey circles about the guys who were passed over in favour of him.
In hiring Harkins, that's the situation the Cougars have created. The story of their decision will play out over the next four or five years and will determine just how much of a new ice age we really have in Prince George.
