Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Canucks Missed Out On Mitchell And Bernier


RAMBUTANS

Recommended Posts

No, we did not miss out. Last time I checked neither put their respective teams on their back and carried them to the finals. I'm pretty sure they could have been interchanged with other guys and LA and New Jersey would still be in the finals.

Stop acting like they are the reasons why they are in the finals this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bernier was routinely ripped when he played here for not being what everyone wanted him to be. Now we somehow missed out because he happens to be doing something in what he knows is probably his last chance in the NHL? Laughable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Omg we didnt draft Kopitar...where are those posts??

Omg we traded Grabner.

Omg we traded Hodgson.

Deal with it, we cant change it.

We dont know what happens behind closed doors...and hindsight is 20/20. Also just because a player looks great on one team doesnt mean that they will work out on another...CHEMISTRY. Sometimes it works , sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes all a player needs to hear something a different way (different coach/ different environment) and they click. It didnt work here. Whatever.

There is no point mulling over it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once upon a time, we had them. Both are fulfilling important roles in their respective SCF teams. However, the Canucks office wasn't able to recognize their role when they were here and wasn't used to their fullest ability. In the case of Willie, the Canucks opted to not take the risk and replace him with Ballard.

The Canucks need more personnel that can recognize this and avoid letting role players like this get away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn't miss out on Mitchell, he walked during free agency for more money.

In a non-cap situation we would have kept him in a heartbeat, the fact is that we are a cap strapped team and we can only really afford quality players if they're willing to sign at a discount, Mitchell wasn't willing to do that. Nothing against him he just was looking to sign with a team for an amount that he felt he was worth, and truth is he was worth more than what we could afford to pay him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hindsight is 20/20.

Bernier is average at best.

Willie was great in Vancouver but there was no way to tell if he would ever be the same after those concussions.

It was risky for anybody to sign him, and it looks like it paid off for LA.

Maybe next will be a thread about Cody Hodgson / Michael Grabner / Kyle Wellwood or any other ex-canucks that are doing OK and how we never should have traded them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once upon a time, we had them. Both are fulfilling important roles in their respective SCF teams. However, the Canucks office wasn't able to recognize their role when they were here and wasn't used to their fullest ability. In the case of Willie, the Canucks opted to not take the risk and replace him with Ballard.

The Canucks need more personnel that can recognize this and avoid letting role players like this get away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Give me a break. Bernier hadnt found his game until this year. People wouldn't have flinched if we had traded himfor a water bottle when he was playing here. We didnt't "miss out" on him at all.

Mitchell on the other hand, i do miss greatly. He was my favourite canuck when he was here, but i do understand why we let him go. 3.5 M was too much for a guy coming off a serious concussion when he hadn't even recovered yet...1 year would have been risky let alone 2 or 3.

What's done is done. Let it go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve Bernier is a beast and was never a bad player. He's just not a scorer. He's a checker, he has always excelled as a checker except for that one season where he put on too much weight. If he'd been developed properly he could have been and could still be a great third liner, but he was paid way too much so we had to trade him to improve the team. No regrets there, really.

Mitchell, we should regret losing. This guy grew up a Canucks fan, is the ultimate warrior and team player, should have been captain and was our best defenseman from the day he arrived until the day he walked off the ice with that concussion and never came back. I understand why Gillis didn't want to take the risk though, and by the time Mitchell announced he had recovered, we had already acquired two replacement defensemen. Just unfortunate the way things turned out there, but I'm happy to see Willie having success in a big, big role on his team, when many here were all too happy to see him go after the first loss to Chicago, and didn't think he was good enough to be a top pairing guy. Mitchell and Salo, as a pairing, were better than Hamhuis and Bieksa are. Hamhuis and Bieksa are extremely effective, but not dominant - Mitchell at his best is dominant defensively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can't just name players who go to cup finals and say their previous teams missed out on them.

St.Louis must be really upset they got rid of Salvador...he might have pushed them past LA

Minnesota might have gone to the cup if they kept Zidlicky happy.

Philly could have gone all the way with Richards and Carter.

Who knows where Edmonton would be with Stoll and Fraser, definitely first.

Carolina would be cup contenders with J.Williams.

NO! It doesn't work like that. Players get traded, released or don't re-sign. They don't always work out with certain teams. And believe it or not, sometimes a team will get a better player to replace the ones who depart. I guarantee the Canucks have no regrets about Mitchell or Bernier, and if they did, that would be foolish. Zidlicky was property of NYR at one point, should they cry for Sather's head because he traded him to Nashville and now he helped beat them?

Maybe the Canucks would have won the cup if we kept Hedberg. I bet management is really regretting that one too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The really funny thing in all this is that Mike Gillis actively went out and acquired Steve Bernier, at a cost of a 2nd and a 3rd pick. Then he gave him a 2-year deal.

Then, Mike Gillis chose to part ways with a Willie Mitchell who was one of the most active and proud leaders of this team.

Must be nice to be rewarded with things like "GM of the Year", and cushy contract extensions, after showing a high susceptibility to making errors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike Gillis chose to acquire Ballard using Bernier (in part) because it was unknown whether Willie Mitchell would be able to play again in the near future, if ever... (this little thing called a serious concussion) - he did what he thought was best for the team and acquired a very highly regarded defenseman who skates well, moves the puck well, and was an effective physical player as well - not many people complained about getting Ballard at the time - and all the hindsighting is a bunch of crap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...