Doug Risebrough Fired

by HockeyJoe on Apr 16, 2009 12:36 PM CDT

Minnesota Wild Owner, Craig Leipold, announced today that the organization will not renew the contract of President and General Manager, Doug Risebrough, beyond the 2008-2009 season. "The entire Minnesota Wild organization is forever indebted to Doug for his substantial efforts in establishing this franchise’s solid foundation and winning tradition," said Leipold. "The positive impact of Doug’s service will be felt for many years to come. We wish Doug the very best." The search for a new General Manager will begin immediately. The first order of business for the incoming General Manager will be to select the Team’s next Head Coach. Until a replacement is found, Assistant General Manager Tom Lynn, will be acting-General Manager.

I don't know for sure what there was to agonize over, but this is a move that was necessary for the Wild to stop treading water. Now it's up to Craig Leipold to make the right choices to fill some very important spots.

According to two outside NHL sources, Wild GM Doug Risebrough has been fired by owner Craig Leipold. It is unconfirmed inside the organization.

Leipold was said to have agonized over the decision but decided, in the final analysis, that a change in direction was called for. - Russo

EDIT: 4:30 pm CDT

All from Russo

“I got a call from [assistant coach Mario Tremblay] and he told me this and I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It was shocking, it was shocking. I never expected it. I never thought he’d be fired after I left,” former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. “We tried to get this team better. What Craig thought was something different.
“Us, I thought we did some decent things there. We don’t know anymore what to think there. It just shows you the owner has a different perspective than a lot of people could go.” - Jacques Lemaire

Lemaire was unable to get in contact with Risebrough.

Lemaire, by the way, does not want the job.

From the Leipold conference call:

He made his decision a month ago.

He told Risebrough Tuesday, and he took it professionally.

The new GM will only be GM, and not GM and President

On whether Lemaire would have been fired if he didn’t quit, Leipold said he hasn’t thought about that because he always assumed Lemaire was leaving.

He has a little of former GM’s and bright stars he’s interested in. Candidates have solicited him already today via call and email.

The opinions posted here are not those of Hockey Wilderness

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Comments

Ladies and Gentleman

The house has been cleaned!!!!!!!! I didnt think Leopold had the balls.

"Baseball is the only field endeavor in which a man can succeed only three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."
Ted Williams

by RileysCannibalJct on Apr 16, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions

STUNNED

I don’t know whether to dance or cry. Lots of my friends at hockey were talking about who might come back and what the team will look like next year. We all agreed DR needed to go.

Is this where Leopold finally loosens up the wallet strings and the Wild start stockpiling big name talent???

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boi!!!!

by darksaga on Apr 16, 2009 1:05 PM CDT reply actions

Load up on what talent? The UFA market always looks interesting this time of year. But by the time July 1 rolls around most of the top players are signed to deals with their existing clubs and the remainder get signed to overpriced contracts. Cammelleri is likely going to be a perfect example of the overpriced talent.

by NuckFan on Apr 16, 2009 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions

this is very good news…

by Eric B on Apr 16, 2009 1:14 PM CDT reply actions

HE'S GONE!!!!!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!

This news Made my Day!

by Tony_O on Apr 16, 2009 3:36 PM CDT reply actions

Good move ... maybe?

It’s a little early to start celebrating until we see what changes come next. There is no guarantee that things won’t get worse — look at what happened to Tampa Bay.

At this point I’m cautiously optimistic on the news.

by SpaethCo on Apr 16, 2009 3:44 PM CDT reply actions

Ding Dong the d&%k is gone, the d&%k is gone, the d&%k is gone, Ding dong the stupid d&%k is gone!!!!!!

"If you're gonna shoot, shoot, don't talk"

by VikesFaninNM on Apr 16, 2009 4:58 PM CDT reply actions

And the rebuild begins

Boy did I have a great day. Now maybe we can get some talent around here. I think the first move should be getting something going with Gaborik. We don’t want to give him away for nothing.

by mckay10 on Apr 16, 2009 10:40 PM CDT reply actions

Hopefully,

a new GM and Coach will convince Gabby to give us a chance to compete on an equal footing with the other teams that will be offering him contracts this offseason.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Apr 17, 2009 8:30 AM CDT reply actions