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Wild Ignore Playoff Hiring Ban; Hire Pens Asst. GM

When you're in desperate need of help, I guess rules, written or unwritten just don't apply. That must be what the Minnesota Wild must be thinking as owner Craig Leipold announced today the hiring of Pittsburgh's assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher to be the Wild's new general manager. Fletcher will start his duties immediately, despite the Penguins being in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs. True, assistant general managers don't get on the ice, but it is highly unorthodox to start raiding a team's front office in the middle of a playoff run.

The Penguins GM, Ray Shero, believed that Fletcher was ready to be a GM somewhere and I'm sure he recommended him for the Minnesota job. I 'm equally sure he would have preferred it not happen until after the Pens playoff run was over. I'm sure Commissioner Bettman will have nothing to say about this as usual. In the other three major sports, no such hiring would be permitted until after the candidate's team had concluded its playoff run and Bud Selig doesn't permit any personnel announcements during the playoffs - especially during World Series week. This was admittedly not the finals but it is conference finals week and still the Wild could have and should have waited.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).