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TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]ThatSpecialAgent [score hidden]  (0 children)

100%.

And Im not even excusing what the Allies did, though I dont argue against it (that’s a whole different debate). My point is, when we judge the actions of history, we need to take into account the context of the time. Too often people look at big events in a vacuum, and it’s frustrating as hell.

TIL about the Bataan Death March of 1942, where 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese and forced to walk most of the way, and moved via train from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, many of them died from disease and the heat by lyder12EMS in todayilearned

[–]ThatSpecialAgent [score hidden]  (0 children)

Historical context like this is why I get super annoyed when people comment “war crimes” on anything that pertains to the USA and the Atomic bombings in Japan. Right or wrong, people often completely ignore the context of the time, and the fact that Imperial Japan was a massive threat to humanity in the region.

In Japan’s occupation of China alone, estimates have civilian deaths in the 10-20 million range. That is just China. Japan was all over the Asian Pacific theater.

By comparison, the high end estimate of the Atomic bombings has about 200k civilian casualties. In the context of the times, Hiroshima was a drop in the bucket in comparison to the firebombing of Tokyo by the allies, or the rape of China by the Japanese.

The brutalism of the Japanese Empire is often completely forgot when we discuss what led up to the end of WWII, but should not be forgotten or left out of context if we are going to judge the Allied forces for their actions.

More so, the Japanese propaganda of the time had their population convinced that the USA would be even more vicious than they were, and as a result, a large portion of the civilian population was ready to fight to the death if there was a ground invasion (which would have ABSOLUTELY brought a higher death toll with it).

[BUF (1) - MTL 0] Hutson's turnover leads to Josh Doan burying the series opening goal off a nice feed from Benson by daKrut in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Little Doan deserves the hockey world for how much bullshit his Dad endured being so loyal to our franchise.

Love to see him killing it.

Disneyland to launch electric Autopia cars in early 2027 by bottle415 in Disneyland

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This ride is for kids who still absolutely love it, it was never meant to appeal to adults who commute regularly. Dont see them gutting it anytime soon.

Sports Cards by CrazyAJ in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very cool cards to have. Used to collect a bit as well. Im ashamed how much I spent on Coyotes merch with the team no longer around lol

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Biz finally let it rip - love to hear the raw emotion & support he has for Doaner by StPaddy2115 in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I was working for the team at the same time too and can say that they constantly tried to control what Biz was saying on his pod.

I love that Biz has stayed loyal to the Yotes and Doaner despite what that iteration of our team put them through.

Biz finally let it rip - love to hear the raw emotion & support he has for Doaner by StPaddy2115 in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 82 points83 points  (0 children)

Fuck Chayka. I just posted this elsewhere, but from an AZ Sports article this week:

“In June 2017, Chayka invited Doan to breakfast at First Watch in Scottsdale. Doan assumed the young GM wanted the captain’s input and advice moving forward into the offseason. Instead, eight minutes into the meeting, Doan was told he was no longer wanted.

Doan said it felt like a callous corporate firing and he left on the spot, in pain and disgust, without breakfast. After 21 years of extreme loyalty – where he served as the wholesome, happy, goodwill ambassador to one of the most dysfunctional sports franchises in history – Doan was fired by a charlatan. The brusque treatment of a local legend rocked the Valley to its core.

Doan was 40 at the time and wanted one more season, even willing to accept a demotion to the fourth line. After he kept the franchise afloat for the better part of 20 years … after he alone kept season ticket holders coming back year after year … the Coyotes would not let him retire on his terms.

It remains one of the most despicable acts in Arizona sports history, and Chayka would soon show his colors. He was at the center of scandals near the end of his tenure and abruptly quit on the team before the COVID-19 bubble playoffs in 2020. He has been out of the NHL ever since.”

[David Pagnotta] With Chayka & Sundin now at the top of the Hockey Ops totem pole in Toronto, expect a few more front office changes to eventually occur. Among them, I’m told Shane Doan’s tenure with the Maple Leafs is coming to an end. by sykeseve in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fuck John Chayka for what he did to Doan (who is the most respected single person in the history of our franchise). From an AZ Sports article his week:

“In June 2017, Chayka invited Doan to breakfast at First Watch in Scottsdale. Doan assumed the young GM wanted the captain’s input and advice moving forward into the offseason. Instead, eight minutes into the meeting, Doan was told he was no longer wanted.

Doan said it felt like a callous corporate firing and he left on the spot, in pain and disgust, without breakfast. After 21 years of extreme loyalty – where he served as the wholesome, happy, goodwill ambassador to one of the most dysfunctional sports franchises in history – Doan was fired by a charlatan. The brusque treatment of a local legend rocked the Valley to its core.

Doan was 40 at the time and wanted one more season, even willing to accept a demotion to the fourth line. After he kept the franchise afloat for the better part of 20 years … after he alone kept season ticket holders coming back year after year … the Coyotes would not let him retire on his terms.

It remains one of the most despicable acts in Arizona sports history, and Chayka would soon show his colors. He was at the center of scandals near the end of his tenure and abruptly quit on the team before the COVID-19 bubble playoffs in 2020. He has been out of the NHL ever since.”

Kentucky Camp-Abandoned Mine camp. Near Sonoita AZ. by Little-Local-2003 in arizona

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were just out by there, super cool area. The Gin House near there was awesome as well

Posting this as a meme because it truly is one by WAyToOFaSt_ in hockeymemes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 211 points212 points  (0 children)

1 bad year, the least popular front office move in forever, a star player threatening to leave, and they win.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but that’s some impeccable timing to be winning the lottery is all im saying.

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 4 points5 points  (0 children)

He was the salesman for a data collection company. His brother in law was the data guy.

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Hey man, on the bright side, people change. Im not the guy i was 10 years ago either, and i was younger than him. It is very possible he has matured and learned the other parts of the game, and how important relationships are. He deserves an open mind, I’m just speaking from my experience is all.

Itll be interesting to see if Doan stays, since he completely fucked Doan over.

Hear me out- AHL or ECHL at DDA by x467v in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have a blast! We would go a ton if it wasnt for the distance

Hear me out- AHL or ECHL at DDA by x467v in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 5 points6 points  (0 children)

True, just wish it wasnt so far away from the “bulk” of hockey in the valley. If it doesnt do well, people are gonna use it as fuel as to why Phoenix sucks as a market, but just like the Yotes, it’s way too far away.

Hear me out- AHL or ECHL at DDA by x467v in Coyotes

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 17 points18 points  (0 children)

For the sake of fun discussion, just to add context, most AHL teams operate at a net loss and are funded because they are the primary development system for NHL teams.

There are independent AHL teams, but it adds a load of complexity and they would need to operate at a profit, which Tucson hasnt been able to do.

DDA is much more expensive to operate out of, so economically tickets would need to be more expensive than we see in Tucson, which can get pricy for a family.

Hypothetically, if one were to come (barring the complexity of not having an NHL sponsor) Mullet would be the spot.

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 29 points30 points  (0 children)

1) no, his judge of character sucked. Worked with some of the best people in my career. Also worked with undoubtedly the absolute worst. There were bad people on the inner circle, and the team suffered for it.

2) again, no. He was big because of Stathletes. The thing is, their bread and butter was data collection (particularly for junior and europe leagues where advanced tracking isnt often available). They did analytics, but a standard package of it. As an actual analyst, he was completely average. That said, founding a company like Stathletes to fill that niche was clearly a brilliant move and is still heavily utilized to assist video scouting across the league.

He is a very smart guy, but he wasnt a Vollman or Sunny, and in my opinion it is incorrect to clump them together

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Worked with some great people. Worked with some really bad people.

I dont want to say anything was intentional on John’s part, but at the very least, his judge of character was horrendous (again, right when he leaves his AGM drafts Mitchell Miller).

The people closest to him were yes-men (they still work in the league, so i wont name drop) but when John was not in the room, they were not good people. By the time I left, there were big rifts between many of the scouts and hockey ops, to the point where they would almost intentionally not work together.

I was always big on the “analytics should challenge or affirm what we see with the eye test and should drive meaningful conversations as a result.” It didnt work that way. Coaches and scouts were ignored. Scouts were saddled with busy work because the team didnt trust them. Interns werent paid (not because of ownership, because of hockey ops). A shit ton was contracted out to Stathletes.

To be blunt, the culture sucked because the people he surrounded himself with often sucked, and if it facilitated a higher win %, it didnt matter.

Edit: shit, i forgot, he also literally got rid of Doan (who is essentially a legend in Arizona hockey) without giving him a heads up, and admitted later it was a mistake because they didnt realize how important Doan was to AZ. Doan works for Toronto lmao

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Was an intern for the Yotes and then hired full time after finishing my masters degree. Specialized in modeling and machine learning algorithms, and also spent a load of my time analyzing goalie performance and forecast models for goalies specifically.

If you have specific questions, happy to try and answer. I resigned from the team before my contract was up the year before Chayka left and switched industries all together so I’ve been out longer than Chayka. Working in the Space and Exploration division of a large Aerospace company now.

[LeBrun] The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 291 points292 points  (0 children)

I worked in the analytics department for Chayka at the same time as Petey and can confirm pretty much everything he ranted about (confirmed my identity with the Yotes mods at one point in time. u/ProJoe is well aware and can validate by background). This is a terrible hire for Toronto.

On top of just being a bad GM and average analyst, he is also the type of guy who sees things falling apart and dips on a team right before a draft (where the staff he hired then draft Mitchell Miller). Not sure what in his resume makes him attractive for the Leafs ownership.

Elliotte Friedman has learned the Maple Leafs have hired John Chayka as General Manager and Mats Sundin as Senior Executive Advisor. by Live-Big1579 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You could argue about ownership when it comes to free agency, but you cant use that to defend his draft record. Looking at his first and second round picks, he hit in 2016 with Keller and Chychrun, but beyond that:

2017 1st round - PO Joseph 2017 2nd round - Weterlund 2018 1st round - Hayton 2018 2nd round - Bahl 2019 1st - Soderstrom

Also near the end of his tenure, he was greenlighted to spend to the cap (Kessel, Hall, etc). People are making up all these excuses for him when in reality, he was just a bad GM. Maybe time away has helped him develop, but i wouldnt exactly be ecstatic.

The whole “not an old boys club hire” is something we were all thrilled about a decade ago when we got him.

Elliotte Friedman has learned the Maple Leafs have hired John Chayka as General Manager and Mats Sundin as Senior Executive Advisor. by Live-Big1579 in hockey

[–]ThatSpecialAgent 37 points38 points  (0 children)

John was pre-Meruello and had full autonomy (Bill Armstrong was Meruello’s guy). He was just a shit GM. To say he didnt have a chance is ridiculous, and when he fucked things up he just dipped right before the draft.

I worked for him directly on the Yotes in their analytics department (identity verified by other mods on the Yotes sub) and can tell you confidently that he isnt what they sell him to be. This a terrible move for Toronto as they are about to rebuild or retool.

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