The Prince George Cougars organization took the most important step it can down the rebuilding road Tuesday by naming Todd Harkins as the team's new general manager.
While the new ownership has made its desire to change the direction of the franchise abundantly clear since buying the team this spring, it falls to Harkins to be the actual agent of change.
He's coming from a position of strength. He has the support of the head coach below him and the blessing of team president Greg Pocock and the other owners to make the choices necessary to deliver a competitive team that will challenge the top clubs in the Western Hockey League and contend in the playoffs.
Notice there's no mention there of winning championships or hanging banners in the rafters. Every general manager of every team in sports, regardless of the level of the league, is trying to build an organization that will win championships. If there was a simple recipe to follow, everybody would do it but there is not. To succeed as a general manager of any sports franchise is no different than being a GM in any other kind of business. Success takes an equal combination of talent, vision, commitment, support and luck.
Most importantly, general managers of sports teams don't win championships. That role belongs to the coaches and players. It is the job of the general manager to create the setting and the culture where coaches and players can excel.
Pocock already has his man in Andy Beesley who will run the business side of the operation but Pocock will remain an active participant at this point, overseeing the organization and making sure it continues to evolve and improve. Pocock spoke several times at Tuesday's press conference about focus and setting up individuals in their various roles with the team where they could focus on their core responsibilities. Clearly, he expects Harkins to focus on hockey and giving head coach Mark Holick and his staff the tools to get the most out of the players.
Here is where the slippery slope lies for Harkins: the expectation he faces from his coaches and players beneath him, the ownership group above him and the fans and the community looking on are high. It will not be enough for him to be better at his job than the previous GM, Dallas Thompson, was. It will not be enough for Harkins to take a bad team and make it a mediocre team. Good will not be good enough. Greatness is not just expected, it will be demanded of him from everyone around him.
Worst of all for Harkins, Pocock revealed Tuesday that a more experienced, more well-known candidate was turned down for the general manager's job. In other words, the team has made a substantial bet that the lesser-qualified man with some fresh ideas and a good attitude is the way forward. For Harkins, that means part of his job will be to make sure Pocock and his fellow owners don't regret taking a chance on him.
From that perspective, it's a lonely road he's heading down, where the first rule is that others will take credit for his success while failure will be no one else's fault but his. Every move Harkins makes will be analyzed, criticized and scrutinized by everyone around him, particularly by the knowledgeable base of local fans, many who honestly believe they could do better.
It won't be enough for him to do the right things, either. Harkins also has to say the right things and he missed a glorious opportunity right out of the gate.
When asked jokingly by a reporter if he'd be willing to trade his son, Jansen, a 17-year-old Cougars forward and a promising NHL prospect, Harkins laughed and replied that he's already entertained offers and "he has a no-trade clause."
Cute comeback from a proud dad but the wrong answer. The right response would have been, "I love my kid but if winning a championship for this team means I have to send him and a duffel bag of sticks and pucks to Brandon, I'll do it in a heartbeat."
It's that level of bravado and determination that both the team and the fans need to hear and to see. Whether Harkins can make the tough choices and follow through will decide how successful he can be in his new role.
