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What can AV even do with this team?


Sixteen W's

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I think you can also add the fact that we are locked in for another ~5 years with 4 D taking up 19mil in capspace, all with NTCs!

I've been mesmerized by the allure of Gillis in the past. It's worn off on me now. What has gone from being cool, calculating, and precision in building a team has now turned into downright stupidity that has destroyed this team for the next 3-5 years. Sorry, but apart from Daniel and Henrik being our only legitimate stars right now (and Luongo, but apparently Gillis wants to trade him), this team has gotten more average throughout Gillis' regime.

I don't blame people for not seeing it though. The guy is a lawyer and an agent. He can spin anything and it can come off as true.

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Peppered? He faced an average of 28 shots per game. The only reason he faced so many shots was because he played 76 games. If you average out his other seasons over the same amount of games as his first they are all the 28 shots per game range. In 2006-2007 his average was 28.5 shots against per game, which would have put him at 15th in the league in shots faced per game. The Canucks also had the leagues best power play.

If you dont think Luongo first year success had anything to do with the fact that this team had a very good defence, you are simply blind.

Its you AV haters that I find so easy to laugh at. When the team dominates it all the players, when they struggle its all on the coach. Was it AVs fault that Luongo melted down in net how many times against the Hawks? Or that Hamhuis, Edler, Ehrhoff, Kesler, and Samuelsson were all either out or playing injured in the finals?

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I disagree. I think this team will be fine the next 3 years anyway. Where Gillis' moves have really hurt will become apparent after that when our prospects -- in quantity and quality -- will be dominated at the NHL level by then by the prospects of Edmonton, Minnesota, and just about every other team during 2016 and beyond for a healthy stretch. And if Gillis thinks that adding another aging centre at the trade deadline for yet more picks is a wise move, our cupboard will change from thin to bare.

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what scares is me is that we don't even have that much to trade... was trying to think of a way to get John Tavares or Corey Perry.. we can't trade the Sedins obviously, Kelser is injury prone, Edler is currently doing terrible, Burrows is useful to us but not sure if other teams would even want him, Booth won't get much return, can't trade Bieksa, Hamhuis, Higgins, Hansen, Tanev otherwise we have no players. If Schneider continues to lose momentum, what's left that other teams would actually want?

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3 years might even be pushing it a bit but I agree with the premise.

At this point it is a difficult road ahead. I fully believe that a very ugly rebuild is a few years away and that Gillis needs to not end up like the Flames here. They need to strategically start moving older core pieces (Kesler, Bieksa, Luongo, etc.) for a combination of younger impact guys that can help now, upgrades for the prospect pool, and more picks.

They need to start not only accumulating picks but taking as much possible advantage out of each one of them, even in the late rounds. Start drafting guys with size and skill rather than smaller guys all the time. And spread it out so that all positions are getting filled, not just going BPA (can the Canucks really even say they know who the best player available is with their dismal drafting record????).

This starts with doing something now about the inept scouting. Considering actually drafting from the WHL would be a good place to start. Drafting BC boys would be another area to pay attention to. How many great ones have they lost out on over the years? TONS. My point is that overall the scouting needs to be 1000x better going forward.

I think Gillis biggest failure will be convincing everyone that this tea will continue to be a cup contender every year. I just don't see it without a drastic change in how they do things.....Even then all I see is a very ugly and prolonged rebuild.

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It's AV's job to find a way to create some urgency. The players should already be motivated, and we know MG won't make a trade to get them going.

I agree though, I don't get excited on breakaways anymore. Hell, I don't get excited at all anymore. The team is just not fun to watch when they don't give it their all.

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I agree to an extent. I think an injection of youth going forward will be necessary.

But I think the prediction is a bit overly pessimistic.

3 years is a LONG time.

It COULD go bad, but hard to say it WILL.

If MG does absolutely nothing...then yes, its more probable.

This team will continue be a perennial contender, they'll be in the mix.

Will they continue to be a heavy favorite? not nearly as likely, but doable if the right changes are made.

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"Not going to happen. No cap space. Nobody that anyone wants that we can afford to give up."

This sums up Gillis (and his garbage scouts) for me. Even the people we sign on big contracts, nobody wants.

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ERRR No ***T and to why Luongo had to face the most shots and make the most saves he has ever had to in all the years he has been here. How is that being the best coach in the league? My point is he didn't deserve the Jack Adams award, if it wasn't for Luongo the team wouldn't of done so well. How is that a good coach? Ok boys this year we will not play offense, but just play defense and let our goalie get peppered every night and let's hope we do alright. The fact that Luongo faced the most shots in all the years he has been here, does not make your coach a Jack Adams, it makes your coach a lucky S.O.B. from your goalie.

Also my other point is, this so called great coach everyone thinks he is, and you all probably think he is so great because he was able to win the Jack Adams in his first year here. I bet after he was awarded the Jack Adams you felt we had this great coach and really starting liking him more, ok makes sense I understand that, but if he is so good why isn't he able to win this year? Compaired to in 06-07 when they didn't have as much of a solid team as they do now, of course with Kesler and Bieksa out this team looks more like it was back in 06-07 not as solid, but if AV is so good, then he should still be able to win, but he's not.

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It's AV's job to find a way to create some urgency. The players should already be motivated, and we know MG won't make a trade to get them going.

I agree though, I don't get excited on breakaways anymore. Hell, I don't get excited at all anymore. The team is just not fun to watch when they don't give it their all.

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Mike Gillis even said 4 YEARS ago (when we lost to Chicago) that it is important to have youth stepping up that are on ELCs.

We've had youth step up. Schroeder played great with Hansen and Raymond (they were, in my opinion, the most exciting line we've had all year). Hodgson played great in his role while he was here. Kassian played great with the Sedins. Grabner played great while he was here. Shirokov actually played really good in the 2 games he played.

What's happened with our youth? They show promise, then get traded or demoted after a brief stint of bad play. The problem is not only our coach who lacks the balls to rock the boat with any of his "originals", the guys who have been here as long as he has.

But it's also our GM. For letting a coach destroy the future of this organization.

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3 years might even be pushing it a bit but I agree with the premise.

At this point it is a difficult road ahead. I fully believe that a very ugly rebuild is a few years away and that Gillis needs to not end up like the Flames here. They need to strategically start moving older core pieces (Kesler, Bieksa, Luongo, etc.) for a combination of younger impact guys that can help now, upgrades for the prospect pool, and more picks.

They need to start not only accumulating picks but taking as much possible advantage out of each one of them, even in the late rounds. Start drafting guys with size and skill rather than smaller guys all the time. And spread it out so that all positions are getting filled, not just going BPA (can the Canucks really even say they know who the best player available is with their dismal drafting record????).

This starts with doing something now about the inept scouting. Considering actually drafting from the WHL would be a good place to start. Drafting BC boys would be another area to pay attention to. How many great ones have they lost out on over the years? TONS. My point is that overall the scouting needs to be 1000x better going forward.

I think Gillis biggest failure will be convincing everyone that this tea will continue to be a cup contender every year. I just don't see it without a drastic change in how they do things.....Even then all I see is a very ugly and prolonged rebuild.

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Well if he had started 2 years ago........and started properly, fine tuning the team it could have gone on successfully a lot longer. I don't know if it's his scouts (he is always referring to them) or himself who comes up with some of these selections but if it is the scouts surely by now he can see they are taking him for a ride.......and fire them!

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Blaming AV for the nucks problems is assinine...he does what most successful coaches do...get the players to play to the best level they can with the line up he has...you can't blame the coach every time a team plays poorly...he has obviously motivated them for years...with a lot of success....but in one short year..."he lost the team">..hahahahahha...what a joke...he's better than anything out there at the moment...no team but Chicago is doing anything

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Blaming AV for the nucks problems is assinine...he does what most successful coaches do...get the players to play to the best level they can with the line up he has...you can't blame the coach every time a team plays poorly...he has obviously motivated them for years...with a lot of success....but in one short year..."he lost the team">..hahahahahha...what a joke...he's better than anything out there at the moment...no team but Chicago is doing anything

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Who here is scratching their heads asking, "What the hell is AV talking about?" with his comment that -- "the team is playing better than many may be thinking right now."

I've been an AV supporter for a long time and still think that getting rid of him during the season is not the best thing, but geezzzz, I'm starting to wonder what he's referring to when he makes such comments...case in point:

(1) Ineffective PP (and yes, this falls on Brown's shoulders, but AV needs to step in if things aren't working)

(2) Inability to alleviate pressure on the left wing lock forechecking that the right side d-men are dealing with

(3) Ill-time pinches by our d-men along the offensive blue line

(4) Inability of the forwards to generate any kind of offence

(5) Inability of the d-men to play physical and shut down gaps in spite of their size

(6) Constant bungling of the puck by Edler

(7) "Average" goaltending (these were Schneider's words, not mine)

(8) "I have to play better" -- Luongo

Sorry if my list sound uber-negative, and I hope that we are going to pull out of slump sooner than later (last night vs. Blue Jackets could have gone either way, so I don't think we're out of the woods yet), but the reality is we are playing like a .500 club, and for AV to come out and say that he thinks we're playing "better" than what we may think is almost unbelievable.

I like to think I'm a student of the game and understand the nuances fairly well, but am I missing something here? Did something get lost in the translation? Am I alone with being stunned by AV's comments?

AV made a comment the other day which was something like -- "We are where we thought we would be at this time" which made me stop...and after thinking about it, I thought, yeah, that's a fair comment to make given the circumstances the team has been dealing with since Day 1...but to say that we're playing better than what meets the eye, I don't get it...

This comment is about as flabbergasting to me as when he admitted that he didn't have a Plan B for Daniel's absence last spring.

SOMEONE PLEASE...explain this to me like I'm a six year old so I can understand!!!

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The meaning is this - Teams are not always as great as they appear... Just as Teams are not always as bad as they appear, what fans fail to recognize is that the parity is this league is higher than its ever been and the line that divides a team winning vs a team losing is smaller than its ever been.

In otherwords... don't stress things sit back watch the games and enjoy (or don't) but let the people who know hockey and are paid to be at the helm do what they do. Constant fans and media whining and complaining that things aren't how they expect them to be is not just tiresome its futile.

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