Has Av Coached His Last Game At Rogers' Arena?

[WHL rocks]

If the Canucks lose this series AV will be replaced. Doesn't matter if its in 4 games or 7. This team is expected to win a couple of rounds at least.

Dan Bylsma may be available after the way things are progressing in Pitt. I think he's an excellent coach.

[Lenny Jones]

AV is a bonehead... when players like Lapierre do well on the top line, he takes them off and puts raymond there... who instantly dries up that line.

[Blueberries]

No, because we're winning the damn cup this year

[steviewonder20]

Even without Daniel, we shouldn't lose to LA (especially if we are swept in 4). I would expect AV to be fired and many changes to be made. I would see us going after bigger defencemen and stronger forwards (bye, bye Raymond). BTW, even though the losses are not Lou's fault, I think Schneids should start on Sunday.

[snucks]

If we lose in the 1st round, I think a new coach is needed.

We need to wake up and play, were getting walked all over (horrible series for us, nobody besides Henrik and Raymond are giving it their all on every shift).

[Brackenreid]

Too much focus on the coaches these days with all the firings and letting go going on thsi season, most recent being Calgary's.

I think more of the blame for things needs to land on the players and management

and by players I mean ones who purposly injure others like what took out Danny and the hit on Zitterberg.

$2500??? and Bitz get suspended?!??

[Guest The Brown Burrows]

AV needs to go, and he can take Raymond, and Luongo with him. Bring on Mactavish !

[gumshoe242]

If he goes, take Mike Gillis with him.

[cIutch]

i think if he gets swept then maybe , i dont think dannys injury should be taken into account , hes one player , av should be able to get his team going regardless of ONE player being gone out of a presidents trophy winning team

that said , 2 games before that happens and some real bad luck on canucks part that Av cant be blamed for in the last 2 games

[58thecat]

Yep AV to montreal and take elflopp with him for Price. If price was in net we would be up two games same if Schnieds was in.

[58thecat]

Yep AV to montreal and take elflopp with him for Price. If price was in net we would be up two games same if Schnieds was in.

[gumshoe242]

These two losses have not been Luongo's fault, but the team plays a tighter defensive game in front of Schneider. Cory should play, simple as that.

[ChuckNORRIS4Cup]

Okay well, whatever, that's actually even better.

I honestly didn't know I didn't pay much Attention to the Managing part of the Game at that time.

And That helps because its another example of us Firing a GM right as he's starting to Build a Contender.

Like I said thats why we were never a Contender because we always fire the Guy then the Next guy comes in and Add things that Shouldn't be part of the Vision.

[Smashian Kassian]

Oh it was a stupid move by the Canucks organization, Brian Burke in my opinion is one of the best GMs out there because he wants to win just as bad as the fans and will do everything in his power to make his team strong, tough, fast, talented and skilled. Nonis on the other hand I wasn't a fan of the guy much, he seemed very inexperienced in the role as GM, he did make the trade to get the Canucks Luongo, but other than that he didn't really do much. Burke had already set this team up for him, and Nonis just couldn't get the job done. Gillis on the other hand is better then Nonis, but he's still not the best I think his first mistake was resigning AV to a contract, trying to offer Mats Sundin 10 Million a year, and the biggest fault so far in his GM role was this year at the trade deadline and yes letting Cody go, it should of been a trade that was made after this season, not at the trade deadline.

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of losing Grabner either, but I think getting Booth now fills that mistake. I also like Ballard and why I believe if Gillis let AV leave, Ballard would be a way more impact player on this team and AV has ruined that in Ballard. It's the trade with Cody that still has me up in arms, and I probably wont let it ever go, especially now with Daniel out of the lineup Cody would of helped this team out offensively HUGE. I would still take Brian Burke back in a heartbeat, but I would keep Gillis over Nonis any day!

[KING ALBERTS]

.

Reason 2 - Who is out there that would be an upgrade? It is reckless to make a change just for the sake of change.

[skyfall]

I really don't know what AV is great at except for making specific grinders that he likes to play a specific system under a great goalie.

He isn't a great defensive coach because I'm watching Washington play with a third string goalie with traditionally soft run and gun type players and they only let in 2 goals in 2 OT games. Everybody is committed... even Semin!

AV has his favourites like the Burrows or Keslers are committed but he has his fair share of players of the pure offensive mould like Naslund, Demitra, Hodgson, etc. that he can't get to buy in. In 2007 I remember the team was great under Luongo but whenever backup Sabourin was in net it's suddenly like the system feel apart. It was very player dependent.

He's not a great offensive coach, because while the team scored a lot of goals after MG was hired, it was more based up on the D jumping into the play or the Sedins doing their thing. However, there isn't a consistent wave of attack. There seems to be confusion a lot of times and lots of perimeter play. The fact that a lot pure offensive players don't work out tells me that he can't manage them properly.

It seems like AV wants to be a natural defensive coach but MG loves the offensive side of the game. MG seems to like some control and AV is flexible to change which probably why he's been around so long. AV does try to adapt whereas other tougher minded coaches might tell MG to screw off.

AV is not a pure X and O's guy because he delegates so much that he lives and dies by the initiative of the players and assistants.

Strategy wise the team should be great at something to get a competitive advantage. If not, then they're just another team who has to hope for a large amount of luck to get through.

The deal breaker to me though about AV is that ever since he took over, I feel like my love of hockey has died. The boring defensive system that wasn't even that effective because it required Luongo so much was tough to watch, the MG years where talent was squandered in part because AV's system wouldn't allow pure offensive players to shine and lack of confidence shown in the playoffs where it seems like he's learning as he's going along is hard to watch.

I want either a team that's totally committed to D like Dale Hunters, offensive and fiery like Quennvilles or Laviolette's or great at adjustments and X & O's like Mike Babcocks. Preferably you have all three and let the offense shine but the team should have a clear identity that is unwavering... not a team that sometimes wants to trash talk and then sometimes claims to be honorable and play whistle-to-whistle.

I really don't know what this team is and how they're going to be better than anybody else. I see more fear than passion. A new system and new direction is needed. This isn't just based upon the 2 playoff losses, this is from 2007 to present. Unemotional hockey has to win games or I'm mentally checked out of the Canucks as a fan.

[jigsaw99]

I was not surprise that AV put Ebbet and Phaulsson out there in that last min when we pulled the goalie. That's the type of head scratching move that I am so used to from AV.

[Canuck Surfer]

The team just won the Presidents trophy; with results off versus last year by all its best players. That the coach still crafted that record easily suggests he knows what he is doing. AV is not the problem.

MG on the other hand seemed to do an about face in philosohphy. In the off season at the beginning of the year Gillis defended a speed and talent games as the reason we got to game 7 of the finals. He also suggested that we should not re-craft our team philosophy over one match up (Boston). The problem was, he abandoned a key that made us successful, delusional that it was just talent and the PP responsible for our success.

The about face was that last season our team made its renaissance change by getting rid of soft players Wellwood & Bernier. He hit a home run first with hard working 220 lb Malhotra & 215 lb mind freak Raffi Torres. They added, without being fighters, the big bodies that put the "balance," in our ability to match up with big lineups.

This year, MG ejected Torres in favour of Higgins and while its not his fault Malhotra has been less effective; we still have stuck with him. At the deadline, our big 3 (Kesler/Hank/Danny) were all off, but Hodgson WAS providing the secondary scoring (one missing element) we lacked last year. As we also picked up Booth, CoHo was replacing very adequately Samuelsson as the teams next best playmaking forward. But all attempts to replace that physical balance had failed. Much was made of Pahlsson being brought in to replace Hodgson, but REALLY he was brought in to be that big 3rd line defensive equalizer. He was brought in to replace Manny. Manny should have been offered a coaching job to reward him for his effort but clear the cap space. And all 5 guys who had been brought in to compete for Torres's position failed. We had lost that edge that made us so dangerous last year.

So MG hit the panic switch, quoting that the Hodgson trade was being made to swing that balance.He could have adressed it much cheaper in the off season, but was under the dilusion that it was strictly our talent responsible for our success. And he failed even panicking, as Kassian has had little to no physical impact. Our problem is we have gone backwards in our ability to physically match up, even with having given up on Hodgson. And we never made any attempt to add that type of physical play to our defense.

I called for Souray last off season, was laughed at & it has been proven it would have been a superb move. Souray was the equivilent to Malhotra, a former #1 high pick guy looking for a chance to resurrect his career. A 238 lb guy with a big shot, who can fight alone would have put the balance back into duelling with Lucic, Horton, Thorton... All we needed to do was sign Souray & keep Torres.

MG then mortgaged our future to restore some balance, paying big with Hodgson. All the right calls he made last year, he blew this year. And rental players like Gaustad, Hal Gill, Grossman & Kubina were all available. CoHo could be playing Couturier's role, providing young legs (on an entry contract) & goal scoring.

If we loose in the first round its not AV to blame.

The boys are on the ropes, but can turn this all around with a big win in LA on Sunday. That said, if the Canucks go down in four, which sadly is a real possibility, I think the Canucks coaching staff will be gone. The PP is a disaster, our line combinations are still not set, and this season the entire team has just been off and seemingly disinterested for long stretches. Am I the only one that sees a house-cleaning coming?

[Salmonberries]

I'd like to think we could send Vig packing after this season but realistically you can`t fire a coach after a presidents trophy season. Add in in the loss of Daniel Sedin, and you have a legit excuse for playoff failure. I`d love to see him gone but the team would have to have a bad season or two before Gillis could justify pulling the trigger.

[TheWheeler]

What is with people and the "President's Trophy"?

That trophy means jack s***. The only prize that matters is the Stanley Cup. I, for one, won't give a rats ass about the Presidents Trophy if we get bounced from these playoffs.

And Daniel? I'm sorry, if Pittsburgh can still be a force without Sidney, Vancouver should still be able to be a force without Daniel.

I'm editing this to add a bit more:

This is the exact situation Gillis could have, and SHOULD have, avoided at the deadline. The fact that a player can get injured is EXACTLY the reason you don't trade a budding star. Not only did we lose Daniel for these playoffs, we have also lost Hodgson.

I don't know the story, none of us know the story. Maybe it was Hodgson's camp making a huge deal about it and not Cody himself. I know it would be very tough if a father was involved, family is very important to some people, and this could be why he has kept his mouth shut. BUT REGARDLESS, Gillis bowed to the pressure and let them force his hand. And THAT, is a bad GM decision.