Red Light Racicot

This whole deal where any form of criticism gets interpreted as something personal needs to stop. I feel Ive been more then fair. I will readily admit Gillis did a great job building this team and deserves a lot of credit, a lot more then Burke and also a lot more then many seem willing to give. As he deserved praise then, he deserves criticism now. Plenty of it.

To repeat what I said, this is the only time ownership has interfered with anything I can remember. Im assuming its because Gillis no longer has the authority to make trades because hes basically done here already. Gillis was basically the envy of GMs because of how much autonomy he had and the resources that were at his disposal. Obviously there is only so much the Aquilinis will tolerate; Gillis botched the Hodgson thing, botched the goaltending situation last year, and utterly botched the coaching change/reset. Im guessing this Luongo thing was the last straw and he could no longer be trusted to make any decisions, namely the Kesler deal.

Im not too sure about that. As far as I can remember Gillis was given the green light and then some; he was afforded every luxury (sleep doctors for example) This is the only time the owners have ever interfered. I would guess its because hes not actually the GM anymore in any realistic sense. I think the Aquilinis realize that meddling ownership creates disasters.

Im pretty sure his days here are done. I would guess that Luongo situation and resulting trade was almost certainly not approved by ownership the way things went down today. That would be 3 trades Gillis has been forced to make from a disadvantage, which is 2 more then most GMs are allowed. He has set the bar so low Im not sure its going to be all that difficult for a successor with the proper credentials to improve the situation here.

He didnt win that award yesterday. No offense, but I dont see the point of acting as if he did.

He doesn't use it wisely as far as I can tell, no argument here. And even though he has yielded incredible value signing free agents, its kind of a moot point because it only accomplished a fraction of what it would take for this team to remain as competitive as in years past. If he had more foresight he may have avoided this situation altogether; that is the one where he is completely reliant on hitting several massive home runs in free agency just to keep pace with the powerhouses of the west.

Even if we win we will still be behind the Leafs by 3 points

Go Seahawks!

I hear something to that effect every time this topic comes up, a reminder is not necessary. It didnt save AVs job did it? Not even a Stanley Cup makes you bulletproof. He does have a knack for getting good value with free agents. As for their scoring woes... Well, he built this team. Im not sure how he gets let off the hook for that.

A lot of posters are agreeing with this post, and I also agree has done a fantastic job of getting value from free agents. As for the second point I couldnt disagree more. How does Gillis get off the hook when the team he has assembled cant score? I don't think there is any rush to replace him at the moment; but preferably before any further major decisions are made with the team. Gillis might botch it.

He's certainly not in the running for GM of the year now is he? All President Trophy-like accomplishments do is buy you time for when you arent doing a good job, and this team has deteriorated rather quickly since then. His typical response to this is to make up excuses like "I dont have a crystal ball" as if everyone else has one.

It felt better then most losses for sure, and I feel playing that style gives us a much better chance to put the boot to these ridiculously stacked Cali teams. Our division and conference is idiotic this season. However... and this is a big however... the Canucks were terrible on the PP once again... especially late in the game when they generated next to nothing... It has cost them too many points this season.

Booth again? Im not sure what Torts dislikes so much about him, but the fact of the matter is that whether he is in the lineup or not it still costs the same. You cant really trade him considering his contract and current value.

I cant imagine what state the team would be in if he was still here. Replacing him was a no brainer.

When youre counting on Glen Sather to make some intelligent trades...

Ive always hated these Hawk games. They always seem to get the better of us. Id enjoy the rivalry a lot more it weren't so one sided.

Lucic' treatment has truly been embarrassing for the city and fan base. I am absolutely appalled and pissed about all of this.

The officiating is terrible. Should I be scared now?

How is Bettman or anyone else arranging any of this? Is he having secret meetings with officials promising them new porches if the game is called a certain way? He's risking time in prison if someone ever gets wind of this, he must hate Canada a lot eh?

I would be very happy if Kassian can build on what I saw yesterday and it was also good to see that Torts rewarded him with more ice time, hopefully Torts knows what he is doing. Loved how Kass used his big frame to protect the puck along the boards for example, I hope to see more.

Is there a coach out there that tolerates a questionable effort level? Sutter? Hitchcock? Tippett? Ruff? Babcock? Julien? Its the same with all of those guys as far as I can tell. I doubt any coach who overlooks something like that is going to remain at his job for very long.

If thats the case then he seriously needs to understand this in a hurry. Otherwise I think you have to send him to Utica if you want to save him from this limbo he seems to be in. I dont really care about how many points he puts up as long as he plays hard. Even the Sedins make sure they finish every check.

Id much rather he silence his critics by playing a lot better. At this point Id be happy if he just threw some real body checks, apprehensive is the opposite of how the kid needs to play.

I never thought Id say this, but yeah... I would prefer Burke.

That doesn't matter in the slightest. All that really matters is how Gillis compares to the other 29 GMs. Not good over the last couple years.