AV should be on thin ice...

[Canuck Surfer]

I believe AV (honestly) was brilliant for trying a smallish LW as a RW on a line with two sublimely talented players who never hit their stride before. Honestly, AV does not deserve the credit the Sedin's do. I adore the quote from Babcock saying the Sedin's have "decided to be elite!" But really, who would have put a small left wing on the Sedin's flank?

What I love about AV is he rewards work rate before all else. Its also why guys like Hansen made it before guys like Hodgson.

I honestly believe it took brilliant coaching moves by Quenneville and Julien, even Sutter to craft lines which the Canucks really had near an impossible time matching physically. Perhaps AV could have tried Torres with the Twins to ease size problems? Size, not talent, has been our down fall.

Adding Garrison and Kassian, a big depth centre (Malhotra revitalized, Lappy beefed up or Arnott) and another big wing and I reckon MG may have solved what little is missing from AV's coaching???

[Primal Optimist]

Take the worst coach in the NHL over the last oh, 6 years and make him the coach of Luongo, Sedin, Sedin, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Kesler, on and on and on and on.....and I will show you a coach with an awesome looking record but no cup wins.

I was wrong about AV all these years, I have always said he can not win a Stanley Cup, and I apologize for that clearly with an awesome team, any NHL coach could win a cup. If AV is eventually fired, I won't lose sleep, and I am curious to know who may inherit this team.....not likely to happen though, so i gave up wishing for it.

[MJDDawg]

Deja vu

[ThaBestPlaceOnEarth]

The best coach we've had since Quinn hands down, and one of the best in history, right up there with Neilson and Neale and Quinn for sure. But go ahead, since y'all are such fools and can't handle success, let's get rid of the coach, GM and starting goalie all at once. After all this is only the best run of seasons the franchise has ever had in its history, obviously someone is screwing up horribly and we might as well ditch everyone we can just to be safe.

Seriously, are our fans really this stupid or are all these people 5th columnists from Alberta and the east?

[Baggins]

Wacky line-up choices and personal grudges and butt-buddies aside, AV needs to acknowledge the necessity to be willing to change things up once in a while. Same-old same-old isn't going to cut it. Never has, never will. With a shortened season, he's going to need to act fast to keep on top of this team.

[DCR]

When people talk about replacing someone, the question that immediately comes to my mind is "who with?"

AV has the best record in franchise history, and the chances are that anyone they replaced him with would be worse. Yes, he has his flaws, but it's not like there are a plethora of better hockey coaches lying around just waiting for a job. Most of the really good coaches already have jobs, and the market is such that a good coach won't last long before someone hires them.

AV isn't perfect, but I don't see anyone better just waiting for a job.

[casofilia.canuck.nz]

In professional sport everyone should be on "Thin Ice". The admin can only do as well as the guys on ice play. So if there are losses look at the players first!!

Go Canucks Go

[Bananas]

That "same-old same-old" coach got us to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and helped make this team into a contender. Have no idea why people think teams can just change a coach and nothing will go wrong. AV is a great coach and he tends to be the whipping boy when no one else is performing poorly, the off-season is happening, etc. You're just complaining to complain. You didn't bring up a single good point that was backed up by an example. All in all, this is a pretty poorly constructed argument and I consider that if you truly want to express your opinions about the man like this, take some more time and effort into your posts.

[oldnews]

[lowest common denominator]

AV is great at making players defensively responsable and we have had unprecedented success with him.

The thing that bothers me about AV is that he seems to let the players have too much say in what is gonna happen. Just a few examples that come to mind:

Lu deciding when he's going to be pulled if he happens to be crapping the bed. Fail

Now the Sedins are deciding who they want on the powerplay with them. I dunno, is AV the coach or just the fall guy to the media?

Not the best with matching up lines but he can only work with what he is given.

Because its defensive responsibility first and AV wants to keep his jerb, the younger players don't get a lot of opportunity here either.

There's some other examples but I can't think of 'em right now.

Queue Gollumpis with his boat picture.

Where's Smashian on this one? Pretty sure he doesn't love AV.

[WHL rocks]

This is what happens when you have a veteran, back to back Presidents Trophy team. The players are given more responsibly.

AV not going anywhere for a couple of years unless there is a sudden meltdown and the team misses playoffs or goes on extended slide (10 games)

[newgm]

There's any number of innovative hockey minds (like Roger Nielson) that were good coaches and never won a Stanley Cup.

AV is a capable bread and butter systems coach that has been given a great deal of talent, but his version of innovative was talking Gillis into agreeing with the stupid idea of making Luongo Captain which was a lose lose position for him and the team.

Detroit has one Stanley Cup to show for winning 5 Presidents trophies, twice back to backs failed to deliver a Cup. In 27 years only Edmonton, Calgary and Dallas have won Stanley Cups after winning their second Presidents Trophy back to back and no team has won the Presidents trophy three years in a row.

The problem with AV is his inability to prepare his teams, and just as importantly, he seems emotionably incapable of motivating his players and inspiring them to rise to the challenge at that crucial moment in a game when really talented coaches can make a difference.

Neither a Scotty Bowman or Mike Babcock won the Cup every year, but even when they lost, it was a battle to the last whistle, as opposed to the chronic embarrasing no shows that have characterized AV coached teams.

I can only pray that the spirit of Toe Blake will somehow possess AV and make me eat my words.

[UFCanuck]

Dan Hamhuis and the Sedins should be on thin ice.

[Tortorella's Rant]

If the Canucks take another quick exit out of the playoffs, he will be.

[RUPERTKBD]

One of the few benefits of the lockout....

...I didn't have to read trite, misinformed "Fire AV" threads. Oh well, take the good with the stupid, I suppose....

[DarthNinja]

That "same-old same-old" coach got us to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and helped make this team into a contender. Have no idea why people think teams can just change a coach and nothing will go wrong. AV is a great coach and he tends to be the whipping boy when no one else is performing poorly, the off-season is happening, etc. You're just complaining to complain. You didn't bring up a single good point that was backed up by an example. All in all, this is a pretty poorly constructed argument and I consider that if you truly want to express your opinions about the man like this, take some more time and effort into your posts.

[Barry_Wilkins]

[newgm]

In the post game Hockey night in Canada segment tonight Hrudey asks AV what he said to the players after the game. His reply was "nothing".

You'd think that with the Oilers in here tomorrow night, the Coach might have something to say to his team after an effort like tonight.

It's not surprising why this team is consistently unprepared.

[The Analyst]

I had written a blog that seemed fitted to this topic:

There is no question that the bench boss of the current back to back president's trophy winners has had a history of success. But as many economists will tell you, past performance is not an indicator of future returns. AV's style has evolved over his tenure with the club, almost allowing his players to room the dressing room themselves. He holds the veterans accountable and the team holds themselves accountable. And for the past two seasons, this has worked; but the window to win hockey's Holy Grail is closing and unless AV sings a different tune, his next cab ride won't be to Roger's Arena, it could be to the unemployment line.

Let's take a look at the facts. AV prides himself on a balanced team. 2 Scoring lines, a checking line and 4th line of grinders. He has a preference for experience over youth. Which makes sense if you are trying to win the cup here and now. But GM Mike Gillis isn't building a team that is one and done. He's using the 'Detroit' model of building through prospects, earning spots and being competitive every year. Take players Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Filppula. Working their way up through the ranks in Detroit. Given 3rd line duty at first, learn to be defensively responsible and gradually increase their ice time.

The same can be said with currently Vancouver favourites Ryan Kesler and Alexandre Burrows. Originally 3rd and 4th line checkers, these players were eventually given more and more ice time, but the got their footing with limited minutes, behind high-end talent (Bertuzzi and Naslund, Sedins) so the can face other 3rd and 4th liners and raise their games slowly.

Fast forward to today, where we see a young Zack Kassian thrust into the (Only out of necessity) 2nd line with Mason Raymond and Andrew Ebbett. Great experience for Kassian but hardly a recipe for success, and if he struggles he'll be relegated to 4th line duty in a heartbeat. Mason Raymond is the only proven NHLer on this line and although fleet footed, has yet to gain enough strength and balance to remain a top 6 forward for a full NHL season. Andrew Ebbett has shown potential in the past with good NHL numbers alongside Getzlaf and Perry. But that's hardly an indication of overall skill, just ask Anson Carter. 2009 1st Round pick, Jordan Schroeder had an excellent training camp but AV would rather continue his development with top 6 minutes in the AHL.

I don't claim to know more about coaching or hockey than AV but I can see some fundamental flaws in the current system.

1. AV would rather ice NHL 3rd and 4th liners who have reached their ceiling versus create a 4th line of young prospects to help acclimate them to the game. On a team that is 9 deep on defence and arguably the best goaltending tandem in the league, he would rather have defence first 4th liners with zero scoring potential (Dale Weise/Manny Malhotra/Aaron Volpatti)

2. Sedin's have the lowest ice-time in the league among 1st liners. (The year Daniel Sedin won the Art Ross, he was 75th in ice-time, with less than 17 min/night) Henrik and Daniel have asked for additional ice time, which included penalty killing but AV prefers to keep the Sedins to limited minutes.

3. The reduction in the NHL Salary cap will mean that team will be required to lean heavier on Entry Level Deals for secondary scoring. Vancouver has the weakest prospect pool in the North West Division and will continue to have that if we keep developing them the way they do.

The 2012-2013 is a wild card season, with Ryan Kesler and David Booth out with injury, the team is likely to continue to stumble throughout the first 12 games or so. But I don't see how Andrew Ebbett, Dale Weise and Aaron Volpatti give you a better chance to win over, Jordan Schroeder, Nicklaus Jensen and Zack Kassian.

Keep in mind, that it is these players that will eventually need to carry the torch. To have them in the line-up, overshadowed by the Sedins, Burrows, Kesler and Booth allows them to learn the NHL game without added pressure of being relied on for the majority of team scoring.

# of years in the NHL before scoring more than 75 points.

Datsyuk = 4

Zetterberg = 3

Bertuzzi = 7

Kesler = 7

Let these kids grow on the 4th line AV. The new NHL needs 4 scoring lines, with everyone being defensively responsible.