[Triumph36]

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Keenan was pretty terrible as a GM for the Blues in the mid-90's. As coach and GM, he went way overboard trying to acquire "the right" players. Here are some snippets from an article I found online:

"Surprisingly, on his KMOX call-in show, Keenan admitted he made a mistake in giving up as much as he did for Khmylev. When a caller asked why he gave up so much, his response was brutally honest: "Sometimes when your an hour away from the deadline and you're looking to improve the hockey club, you're at the other general manager's mercy."

"But, in the less than two years that Keenan has been in control, only Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, Basil McRae, and Murray Baron have survived the trading block."

"Since July 1995, Keenan has made 20 deals involving 28 players and draft picks, by far more than any other team in the NHL."

I'll admit I scoffed at his Shanahan-for-Pronger deal at the time, but looking back on it, it was a good deal, as Pronger was less replaceable and younger than Shanahan.

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Keenan didn't sink the Blues' franchise. While he traded a lot for Khymlev, say, (and Khmylev was terrible and one of the picks turned into Maxim Afinogenov), the Shanahan for Pronger deal was a steal for the Blues, they swiped Wayne Gretzky for nothing and got Pierre Turgeon for Shayne Corson and Murray Baron.

they also traded Curtis Joseph for 2 1st round picks and regretted that deal