MG should be on thin ice...

[Smashian Kassian]

Wow, you really don't get what MG gave up on...COHO will be a top 20 player in the NHL pointwise for the next 10 years for a player who will be given far more opportunity then COHO was ever given and has way less talent.

[oldnews]

How come when I click on the link it takes me to the twitter homepage, not to the tweets or this guys page.

Then how come when I searched it in the search bar under people nothing came up?

[Smashian Kassian]

Hey Smashian:

Winter's ridiculous, pedantic 6400 word response to Pass It to Bulis also redirects to a spam page lol.

Here are a few of the juicier bits (Stamkos comparisons etc aside):

First, the notorious Gallagher quote that lead PITB to assume there was fire behind all the smoke:

"I think the Canucks are really playing with fire. In fact, I know they’re playing with fire with this business of what they’re doing to Hodgson. They may not have to accede to demands to be traded, if in fact they come, but you don’t want to be messing around.

Once a player starts doing that, starts asking, if you’ve gotta say no, then you’re starting to really sour the relationship and I don’t think they want to go there. They are perilously close to that kind of situation. I mean, if I had been Cody’s agent I would have been asking long ago. They have been way more than patient."

Winters' launched an incredibly long and odd attack on PITB, but remarkably, never took issue with a single word Gallagher said.

In fact, look how he stick-handles around the issue

"In fact, every time Tony and I speak I am surprised at how much angst Cody’s ice-time is causing him. In fact, my reaction to his concerns was all Tony was talking about. Nothing more. Nothing less. But, Wagner never called Tony or me to check on that and went on to make a mountain out of a bag of pucks.,,,Of course, unlike Wagner, I actually know who had issues with Cody’s ice-time and why. But, will not say."

The math doesn't appear as complicated as some people may wish to believe.

[DeNiro]

Wow, you really don't get what MG gave up on...COHO will be a top 20 player in the NHL pointwise for the next 10 years for a player who will be given far more opportunity then COHO was ever given and has way less talent.

[oldnews]

Wow, you really don't get what MG gave up on...COHO will be a top 20 player in the NHL pointwise for the next 10 years for a player who will be given far more opportunity then COHO was ever given and has way less talent.

[wallstreetamigo]

I wish Hodgson would just finally admit he wanted out of Vancouver so people would just let it go. He is GONE......GET OVER IT.....

[oldnews]

Math? This is a bit of basic english, basic socials, and basic science all mixed into one.

Your post illustrates perfectly that their were issues, it's crystal clear their were issues just by looking at the way Cody "Stick handles" (as you put it, I like that analogy BTW) around the questions about requesting a trade.

Unfortunately people like Nuck refuse to read between the lines like you, Baggins and I can.

[oldnews]

Folks waiting for MG to lose his job may as well go outside and watch grass grow.

[Baggins]

There was nothing wrong with drafting Patrick White in the first round - he was ranked around that position but he didn't pan out, which is a common phenomenon with draft players.

The kid had a terrific attitude when he came to camp but nobody knows why he was traded so quickly as he did to SJ. Also Gillis picked up MA Gragnani and let him go from UFA. Nobody knows why these players didn't succeed. It's one of the questions that I'd want to ask Gillis if I could.

[Moonshinefe]

White was ranked 23rd among North American Players. Overall, International scouting had him ranked 34th, TSN at 46th, and The Hockey News at 60th. He was a surprise 1st round pick as he was expected to go in the 2nd round.

In the Hodgson/Kassian deal we appeared to be getting the better end between Sulzer and Gragnani. Sulzer being a pending UFA and the younger Gragnani a pending RFA. For whatever reason Gragnani simply didn't click here. Gillis made sure he played enough games to remain an RFA but by the end of June things had changed that made Gragnani more expendable.

That fall Gragnani would be waiver eligible. Meaning he had to make the active roster or clear waivers to be sent to the farm team. We already had 6 d-men under contract for the 12/13 season: Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Ballard, Tanev, and Alberts. This only left two roster spots available. MG was still trying to re-sign Salo, Schultz has us on his short list at the time, and it had become apparent Garrison would be available to pursue July 1st. All three being better options than Gragnani. With 3 better options the waiver eligible Gragnani became expendable after a less than inspiring showing down the stretch of the 11/12 season.

[Baggins]

Tweeted what? Cody is asking to leave Vancouver?

Give it up ,Baggins.

[Gollumpus]

Wow, you really don't get what MG gave up on...COHO will be a top 20 player in the NHL pointwise for the next 10 years for a player who will be given far more opportunity then COHO was ever given and has way less talent.

[hockeywoot]

This thread is laughable.

Some people need to temper expectations.

Name one GM who has a flawless record.

You can't. Believe it or not, as humans, as people, we mistakes.

Yes, NHL GMs too...

Managers are either above average, average, or below average.

Look at the other top managers in the league.

Are they significantly better than MG?

MG ain't perfect, but he's pretty damned good.

His good moves far outweigh the bad.

For those sucking at the Burke-Nonis teat.... give it a rest.

As if Gillis should have gotten rid of perfectly good core players simply to appease a few nutty fans LMAO.

Gillis took an "okay" team with some good players, and turned them into a perennial contender.

It's no accident.

Ultimately its the players who have to perform.

Management can only do so much.

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

See for yourself......

http://blogs.theprov...s-before-trade/

Near the end of a long day on twitter for Ritch Winter, Cody Hodgson’s agent, a Vancouver Canucks fan, @scurrie90, sent him this tweet:

“Cody’s Dad made him go through 3 agents til they finally found one that antagonized MG (Mike Gillis) enough that Cody (was) moved.”

Winter (@hockeyagentdad) responded with this:

“Third time luck they say.”

It was the glib low point in a day Winter didn’t do his client any favours. The agent who openly mocks the media for rampant speculation, ironically fueled even more with his revelations about the events that led up to the blockbuster Hodgson trade to Buffalo.

First with a bullet was Winter revealing Hodgson met with Vigneault Saturday about his role with the team. Winter called it a “great meeting.”

Maybe. What it’s not, is common. Mentioning a meeting with the coach about his role two days before he was traded only feeds the wooly mammoth in the room. And that is did Hodgson ask for a trade? Did his camp push the Canucks into their decision to deal Hodgson for Zack Kassian on deadline day?

Winter said only Vigneault and Hodgson know what was said in the meeting. It certainly doesn’t help the optics.

It’s ironic Winter reveals the meeting in the same tweet he says, “I just find speculation fascinating.”

He must.

For most of Wednesday, he was the source of it.

Continuing to stoke the fire, Winter added:

“Now we did ask for more ice time.”

In the meeting two days before the trade deadline? That meeting was about asking for an increased role? Oh, right, that’s pure speculation.

Winter clarified it later with this:

“I discussed icetime on several occassions over 2 years. Never demanded it ever.”

Sometimes, it’s better to say nothing. Let a story die, instead of pumping oxygen into the fire. Hodgson’s ice time was a rager which was finally dying down. By confirming it was an issue, Winter dumps his gasoline on it at the worst possible time. It will make things more difficult for Hodgson Saturday, when he’ll again be asked all about his request for ice time.

When pushed on the topic, Winter says:

“He never made such a request. Why would you assume that.”

Because you mentioned it.

He followed that with:

“how I love the unfounded speculation.”

Good luck making sense of that sequence.

Of course, Winter didn’t stop there. Unwilling to disengage, he added this:

“Cody loved Vancouver, the vanc (sic) fans and the city. Team had different goals than Cody. The trade supports that. But it was a surprise.”

It was vague and open to questioning. How were the goals different? Long term goals, or short term?

Winter has continually stressed Hodgson did not ask for a trade. Maybe he should have left it at that.

“Media (is) trying to fill blogs, airtime, etc. With speculation in 24/7 sports media world 2 c what sticks,” he tweeted.

Oh, the ironing.

The 24/7 sports world will be just fine without Hodgson speculation.

“Speculation just a product of those who r having trouble reading Eng. Its pretty clear,” Winter says.

It seems there are different definitions of clarity. And English.

Or how about this gem......

http://blogs.theprov...-request-story/

The run of the Cody Hodgson circus in Vancouver appears to be finally coming to a close.

His agent Ritch Winter took down the big top late Thursday, finally deleting a series of contradictory tweets which only fuelled speculation that Hodgson wanted out of Vancouver and asked for a trade.

Winter admitted Hodgson wanted more ice time, something he said was an issue for two years, and revealed a meeting Hodgson had with head coach Alain Vigneault. He did get the date wrong. The meeting was last Friday, not Saturday.

At maybe its strangest moment, Winter tweeted out his cellphone number and when someone asked him via Twitter why he would do that, he said it didn’t happen.

A couple hours later dozens of tweets, going back two weeks, were deleted. Everything on Hodgson was gone.

Then Friday the Buffalo Sabres arrived in Vancouver and said Hodgson would not be available. But they changed that late in the afternoon, giving the Vancouver media less than 20 minutes to get to a presser with the rookie. It wasn’t enough notice for most of the media, including The Province and TEAM 1040.

Sportsnet and Vancouver Sun’s Elliott Pap was on hand, however, and gave Hodgson a good grilling. I’m loath to link to anything at the Vancouver Sun, but this is hilarious and worth a read.

Essentially, Hodgson doesn’t answer any of the questions and refuses to specifically address whether he asked for a trade.

Maybe it could lead to more speculation, but Vancouver is just about run bone dry on Hodgson speculation at this point.

He starts every answer with “Like I said,” which wasn’t dissimilar to Todd Bertuzzi when he answered every question with “It is what it is” after returning from his suspension in 2005.

The best exchange, mostly for the great question, was this:

Pap: Given the history of your back issues two seasons ago, and the supposed bad blood over that, did any type of conversation take place between your side and the Canucks in which you were told, if you wanted a trade, you would have to play well in a Canucks uniform to establish your trade value?

Hodgson: “Like I said, I don’t look back at everything that’s happened. I’m happy for my time here. I’m really grateful that they drafted me and gave me an opportunity to play. They helped develop me and become the player I am today so I have nothing but good things to say about the organization and what they’ve done for me.”

Hmmmm, Winter wipes out tweets and Hodgson evades questions.....it's a head scratcher.....

[D-Money]

Higgins, Lappiere, Hamhuis, all great pick-up's. Garrison is probably going to be good for the canucks as well. Not to mention that most of the players who Burke and Nonis are responsible for were re-signed at cap freindly deals.

The real problem I see facing the Canucks is the scouting department. I'm sure they hit a home run with corrado, but not much else is happening with the canucks drafting. I say this excluding the obvious first rounders the canucks have selected. I would much prefer a drafting system in which they take the best possible player available instead of trying to hit home runs on projects. Detroit uses the best player available model, and it seems to work great for them.

Next is the trade's. Gillis gets feed back from the scouting department on players around the league when trades are being discussed with other teams. If the advice he gets from his scouting department is sub-par, then you end up with players who under achieve such as Ballard. I like Ballard, but the return for should of been much better for what the Canucks gave up. I feel the same for the kassian deal as well. Hodgsen has top 20 scoring ability and was drafted 10th overall, perhaps a larger package for Hodgsen should have come back.

Either way, I think Gillis needs to take a serious look at the scouting department if this franchise is to succeed in the future!

[I Got A Boy]

This thread is laughable.

Some people need to temper expectations.

Name one GM who has a flawless record.

You can't. Believe it or not, as humans, as people, we mistakes.

Yes, NHL GMs too...

Managers are either above average, average, or below average.

Look at the other top managers in the league.

Are they significantly better than MG?

MG ain't perfect, but he's pretty damned good.

His good moves far outweigh the bad.

For those sucking at the Burke-Nonis teat.... give it a rest.

As if Gillis should have gotten rid of perfectly good core players simply to appease a few nutty fans LMAO.

Gillis took an "okay" team with some good players, and turned them into a perennial contender.

It's no accident.

Ultimately its the players who have to perform.

Management can only do so much.

[frazzY]

Lol negative people will grasp at straws. Sure majority of our core is from the Burke/Nonis era. but look how long those 2 combined were here for? Lots of GM's like to blow the team up, Gillis saw that we were close, just needed some tweaks, that in itself is great insight and a great managerial decision. The character players he's added have worked out amazing and he has given up little to nothing to acquire.

You can't argue with the on-ice product, we contend every year, are at the top of the league for the last 2, what more do you want? I know this town is hurting for a stanley cup but its not easy to win that trophy. 29 other GMs in the league want what we and Gillis want.

And the argument that "he didn't have to try hard to get Hamhuis, Garrison, etc. Cause they wanted to play here, bla bla" is LAUGHABLE! That means that Ken Holland is a crap GM cause everyone wanted to play in Detroit the last 20 years....

Give Gillis some credit, by far our best GM since Quinn, statistically he is better actually. These last few years have been the brightest in this franchise. But some of you clearly wish MG blew the team up when he came here cause you just cant help but compare him to Nonis and Burke....

SMH

[TimberWolf]

Did everyone forget Gillis' most spectacular signing in his 1st year as GM ... Sundin ??!! ... I mean #13 is in the HOF, right ??Originally offered him $20 mill for 2 years, Gillis' arse was saved when Sundin only chose to play 1 year ... I mean 1/2 year. Had Sundin taken Gillis up on his original offer, I'm pretty sure Gillis would be back to representing players again instead of GM of Canucks.

[KING ALBERTS]

gillis put the peices together to turn this team from a p layoff team to a stanley cup finals team.

if anyone should be on thin ice its vigneault

[stawns]

gillis put the peices together to turn this team from a p layoff team to a stanley cup finals team.

if anyone should be on thin ice its vigneault