bryguy26 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 When former general manager Dave Nonis first hired Alain Vigneault and then a year later elevated him from Manitoba to be the Canucks head coach, he warned everyone that this guy would say things people would find upsetting. And as Willie Mitchell, Cody Hodgson and now Ryan Kesler for the second time have discovered, Nonis had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about. Kesler found himself under the Vigneault bus once again Wednesday when the coach was enjoying a self-serving, post contract-extension conference call with the media and took a break from listing his accomplishments to tell everyone he didn’t think the American centre’s injury was a factor in his poor playoff performance. Kesler’s agent Kurt Overhardt danced pretty well Thursday before saying his client was “perplexed” by Vigneault’s comments. And while the player wasn’t talking publicly, he wasn’t amused, just as Cody Hodgson and his camp were not amused when Dr. Vigneault essentially suggested the player had no significant health problems but was using them as an excuse for a poor performance in his first camp. Later examinations found the back problem and once it was fixed Hodgson eventually became a productive member of the team although the tension between the two was never repaired and it eventually led to Hodgson’s departure. Now the discreet charm of Dr. Vigneault nails Kesler in much the same way. And here the Canucks had better be careful because unless someone gets a handle on this pretty quickly and some back-pedaling takes place, you could easily find this team split into two camps when they resume play under Toe Blake again this fall. Kesler has some friends on this team, some of whom are not fans of Vigneault to begin with and who were very much unimpressed with the lack of preparation for the LA Kings series. They will not be thrilled at these latest developments in the least. They could easily find themselves in disagreement with the country club types who very much like Vigneault’s ‘let the players take ownership’ style whereby he’s never in anyone’s face. That group is almost certainly led by the Sedins who enjoy all the good things life has to offer here, and we’re not just talking the wine on charters and in house executive chef. Consider they are out for most offensive zone faceoffs, they play 90 seconds plus of every power play no matter how it’s going, never have to kill penalties and the coach comes valiantly to their defence publicly whenever they decide to go without a goal for 10 games. What’s not to like here? They have to be kicking their heels in delight at the extension of their favorite spokesman. And they will have their own camp of comfortable pro AV types with them, all good fun if you like differing views, differing approaches. The reaction around the league to the Vigneault extension is pretty clear. Everyone agrees he is a good coach including this agent. His regular season record is outstanding and he’ll coach in this league for as long as he likes, that’s a given. But everyone spoken to has roughly the same response which goes like this: ‘Why does a team with this kind of talent keep going with such a defensive coach?’ You hear it everywhere, from GMs, other coaches, scouts, players and agents. Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman and associates have assembled a terrific roster here and we think the goal is still a Stanley Cup, not President’s trophies. What makes them think Vigneault can get them to the big prize here is the curious part given he couldn’t win it with the ‘10-11 dream team. Consider this was a once in a generation team that some franchises will never enjoy. It was No. 1 in goals for, goals against, power play, wins, points and faceoffs and fourth on the penalty kill. They had Mr. Art Ross, Mr. Selke and the two Mr. Jennings and were favored in every series they played in that playoff. The timely injury to Sami Salo had allowed for salary cap breaks to facilitate both Kevin Bieksa and the aging Finn to be on the same quality back end, the former starting the season late leaving him fresh for the playoff run. And as a group, they were profoundly hungry after two previous second round exits. It was a perfect storm team, very much like the one Chicago enjoyed the season before, the one no GM can ever keep together.. Still, he couldn’t win. Now, after the same players have heard the same speeches for seven years by the time next spring’s playoffs begin, this message is going to resonate and they’ll sweep to a Cup with a lesser team? Nothing in this game is impossible but the odds on that happening can’t be good. © Copyright © The Province Read more: http://www.theprovin...l#ixzz1vpnH3zNx Vigneault is a good coach, in fact he's a great coach... in the regular season. But he is not someone who will win you a Stanley Cup. He'll give you President's Trophies, Western Conference Titles and Division Banners up the ying yang if that's whats important to you. But I thought what we wanted here was a Cup! I really don't care how they get into the playoff's as long as they hoist that shiney silver cup over their heads at the end of it. Last Year I feel like Vigneault was the single biggest reason we lost in the cup final. He was out coached plain and simple. Something that's become very repetitive over the last few years. You know when the turning point of the series was?? Game 3 at the start of the 2nd period when Loungo skates out and stays in goal after letting in 4. The fact Alain didnt pull him in between periods was ridiculous... RIDICULOUS! Instead of Lou taking a break on the bench and being able to prepare and focus for the next game, what happens? He gets embarrassed and gets pulled later on, destroying his confidence and blows the next game too. That simple decision is what started the downward spiral to another year.. cupless. He had his chance, we need to move on. I remember at the beginning of this season after Mac T was hired "everyone" was saying this was Alains last chance and anything less than a Stanley Cup final showing means he would get the axe. What happened to that? How many more chances does this man get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Who cares? Why does the Province constantly try and stir up crap with this team? Did AV not get along with one of these jokes? Or maybe he didn't give him good enough quotes, so they wanna oust him for someone like Torterella? I don't understand the logic that he can win you every series until the finals, but he can't win a cup? That's BS. If Boston loses to Tampa Bay, we win the cup. Unfortunately we had an injured team going against WWF players on skates. Everyone knows the storyline though. Time to drop it. We don't make the decisions for this team,and neither does the province, even though they may think have the power to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi Babe Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Read the byline " Tony Gallagher" and that was enough to know what the tone of this article would be....... Edit: I also, along with canuckelhead70, would like the OP to quote the post I made where I said " this was Alains last chance and anything less than a Stanley Cup final showing means he would get the axe." Oh that's right.........as a part of "everyone", I didn't say it. Generalizations will always suck the credibility out of your argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckelhead70 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I remember at the beginning of this year after Mac T was hired everyone was saying this was Alains last chance and anything less than a Stanley Cup final showing means he would get the axe. What happened to that? How many more chances does this man get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opmac Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Gee...surprise...surprise....written by Tony Gallagher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bauer1337 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 nice essay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 TG has never liked AV and he's the biggest pessimist in the world Not going to put much stock in this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostViking Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Every day I'm reminded why I didn't buy the Province that morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Light Racicot Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Kesler has some friends on this team, some of whom are not fans of Vigneault to begin with and who were very much unimpressed with the lack of preparation for the LA Kings series. They will not be thrilled at these latest developments in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Tony's article (as usual) has lots of speculation but no evidence or facts. But he still passes his opinion and speculation off like it's the gospel. Does he actually have inside sources, or does he think he's a mind reader? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my boy lapierre Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 vigneault is a terrible coach all he does is cross his arms and chew gum, and keep putting raymond on the 1st line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Read the byline " Tony Gallagher" and that was enough to know what the tone of this article would be....... Edit: I also, along with canuckelhead70, would like the OP to quote the post I made where I said " this was Alains last chance and anything less than a Stanley Cup final showing means he would get the axe." Oh that's right.........as a part of "everyone", I didn't say it. Generalizations will always suck the credibility out of your argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonz Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I'm not an AV fan but Tony Gallagher always stirs up trouble. Really, what do the Sedins have to do with this only in Tony's eyes Sedins are AV's pet. If Sedins were AV's pet than why don't they lead the team in ice time. In fact I always thought the defensive type of players like Burrows and Kesler were favoured, and Sedins only get tons of ice time when the team is down in the game. He must have forgot AV used be a defensive first type coach. Regardless, bringing other people into Keslers and AVs small piff makes Gallagher sound like an old grumpy man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westcoasting Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 If this was actually the case and it upset Kesler, then it's time for him to move on also. But i can't see there being a problem between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smackyo23 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 When former general manager Dave Nonis first hired Alain Vigneault and then a year later elevated him from Manitoba to be the Canucks head coach, he warned everyone that this guy would say things people would find upsetting. And as Willie Mitchell, Cody Hodgson and now Ryan Kesler for the second time have discovered, Nonis had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about. Kesler found himself under the Vigneault bus once again Wednesday when the coach was enjoying a self-serving, post contract-extension conference call with the media and took a break from listing his accomplishments to tell everyone he didn’t think the American centre’s injury was a factor in his poor playoff performance. Kesler’s agent Kurt Overhardt danced pretty well Thursday before saying his client was “perplexed” by Vigneault’s comments. And while the player wasn’t talking publicly, he wasn’t amused, just as Cody Hodgson and his camp were not amused when Dr. Vigneault essentially suggested the player had no significant health problems but was using them as an excuse for a poor performance in his first camp. Later examinations found the back problem and once it was fixed Hodgson eventually became a productive member of the team although the tension between the two was never repaired and it eventually led to Hodgson’s departure. Now the discreet charm of Dr. Vigneault nails Kesler in much the same way. And here the Canucks had better be careful because unless someone gets a handle on this pretty quickly and some back-pedaling takes place, you could easily find this team split into two camps when they resume play under Toe Blake again this fall. Kesler has some friends on this team, some of whom are not fans of Vigneault to begin with and who were very much unimpressed with the lack of preparation for the LA Kings series. They will not be thrilled at these latest developments in the least. They could easily find themselves in disagreement with the country club types who very much like Vigneault’s ‘let the players take ownership’ style whereby he’s never in anyone’s face. That group is almost certainly led by the Sedins who enjoy all the good things life has to offer here, and we’re not just talking the wine on charters and in house executive chef. Consider they are out for most offensive zone faceoffs, they play 90 seconds plus of every power play no matter how it’s going, never have to kill penalties and the coach comes valiantly to their defence publicly whenever they decide to go without a goal for 10 games. What’s not to like here? They have to be kicking their heels in delight at the extension of their favorite spokesman. And they will have their own camp of comfortable pro AV types with them, all good fun if you like differing views, differing approaches. The reaction around the league to the Vigneault extension is pretty clear. Everyone agrees he is a good coach including this agent. His regular season record is outstanding and he’ll coach in this league for as long as he likes, that’s a given. But everyone spoken to has roughly the same response which goes like this: ‘Why does a team with this kind of talent keep going with such a defensive coach?’ You hear it everywhere, from GMs, other coaches, scouts, players and agents. Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman and associates have assembled a terrific roster here and we think the goal is still a Stanley Cup, not President’s trophies. What makes them think Vigneault can get them to the big prize here is the curious part given he couldn’t win it with the ‘10-11 dream team. Consider this was a once in a generation team that some franchises will never enjoy. It was No. 1 in goals for, goals against, power play, wins, points and faceoffs and fourth on the penalty kill. They had Mr. Art Ross, Mr. Selke and the two Mr. Jennings and were favored in every series they played in that playoff. The timely injury to Sami Salo had allowed for salary cap breaks to facilitate both Kevin Bieksa and the aging Finn to be on the same quality back end, the former starting the season late leaving him fresh for the playoff run. And as a group, they were profoundly hungry after two previous second round exits. It was a perfect storm team, very much like the one Chicago enjoyed the season before, the one no GM can ever keep together.. Still, he couldn’t win. Now, after the same players have heard the same speeches for seven years by the time next spring’s playoffs begin, this message is going to resonate and they’ll sweep to a Cup with a lesser team? Nothing in this game is impossible but the odds on that happening can’t be good. © Copyright © The Province Read more: http://www.theprovin...l#ixzz1vpnH3zNx Vigneault is a good coach, in fact he's a great coach... in the regular season. But he is not someone who will win you a Stanley Cup. He'll give you President's Trophies, Western Conference Titles and Division Banners up the ying yang if that's whats important to you. But I thought what we wanted here was a Cup! I really don't care how they get into the playoff's as long as they hoist that shiney silver cup over their heads at the end of it. Last Year I feel like Vigneault was the single biggest reason we lost in the cup final. He was out coached plain and simple. Something that's becoming very repetitive over the last few years. You know when the turning point of the series was?? Game 3 at the start of the 2nd period when Loungo skates out and stays in goal after letting in 4. The fact he didnt pull him in between periods was ridiculous... RIDICULOUS! Instead of taking a break on the bench and being able to prepare and focus for the next game, what happens? He gets embarrassed and gets pulled later on, destroying his confidence and blows the next game too. That simple decision is what started the downward spiral to another year cupless. He had his chance, we need to move on. I remember at the beginning of this year after Mac T was hired everyone was saying this was Alains last chance and anything less than a Stanley Cup final showing means he would get the axe. What happened to that? How many more chances does this man get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 "Jeez. Slow off-season. But AV was just extended. I'm going to nitpick everything he says in the Team 1040 interview, call an agent about Kesler's obviously poor season, get a response, disregard the response, and make up a pointless story about nothing in particular. Slow off-season." Yeah. And here i was defending 'writers' against bloggers just today. Can't do it when it's ALL garbage. Slow off-season. Pick your method of time waste and run with it i guess. Cheers. TOML Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 The G Man is sure great at stirring up the masses of idiots in this town though. Then again, blogs, tweets, out-of-context quotes, false rumours, and things said by anonymous people on internet chatboards are enough to do that as well. "Keslar had an off season? Fiar AV know!!!" "Some french guy sed AV sed Lu wants out? Wow eben i no Lu wants out, rite, but Fiar AV know!!!" Epic face palm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Can't wait till October November so this type of trash article can be substituted for other fluff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Just what CDC needed, yet another AV bashing thread poorly disguised as something else. There are a hundred or so pre-existing threads in which to post this kind of recycled garbage.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshinefe Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Who cares? Most of the article is speculation and I would never put much stock in it. Plus AV was right in saying Kesler's injury was no excuse. We don't need a team of excuse makers, we need people to give us results. Every single team battles through injuries on the way to and through the playoffs, the teams that learn to deal with it are successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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