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stanleycanucks

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a thought about the leadership that the Canucks need, and to get others' opinions.

As we sit here on the eve of the first season in which the Canucks are now officially "re-building", there is a sense of excitement to see the team's future coming along. There's Bo, Boeser, Granlund, Virtanen, Stetcher, Hutton and Demo showing their skills and giving us a sense for where this team can be in the future. Now, getting there, that's a whole other thing, and I think that this team needs new leadership.

When bringing in youth, there is a need for the veterans to impart good habits on the youngsters, but there's also a need for a culture that welcomes youngsters - after all, the Canucks are now all about the future (let's not kid ourselves that the playoffs are realistic this year!). My feeling is that the current leadership does not connect enough with the youngsters, to chaperone them in. Current leadership is not very vocal, and youngsters need direction, so they need that talk. NHL history is rife with examples of rebuilding teams appointing young captains.

My question is, do you think the Canucks need young leadership after this season?

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Being vocal does not make one a great leader.  You can have great leaders that are vocal and you can have great leaders that are quiet.

 

I think people get too hung up on who is the captain and who is the alternate.  There are plenty of leaders that aren't wearing a special letter.  I don't feel that stripping the letters from the Sedins' jerseys will have the impact you are looking for.  One day, the Sedins will retire, and at that time the new leaders will be able to step into those roles.

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Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

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xereau - Leadership is more than scoring goals and skating fast. It's being a calming influence to the young guys, showing them how to be pros, passing on experience, having the respect from team mates and opponents (rat face excluded). I think if you asked any of the Sedins' team mates if their leaders, they'd disagree with you 100%. The Sedins were still both in the top 3 in points on the Canucks last year (the 4th place guy - Granlund - was 11 points behind that group). They're still producing. Do you have McDavid envy by chance? Just because that kid has a C on his jersey doesn't mean he's a great leader. Just means he's their best player.

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22 minutes ago, xereau said:

Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

Leading by example isn't about having great cardio, it's about showing the young guys how you train and how you prepare.  There's a difference.

 

There's also good leadership on the part of the organization by not stripping the Sedins of their titles just because they have lost a step.  As for the cliches, it is also good leadership to not give message board material for the opposition to use as motivation.  

 

The young guys will get their chance, in due time.  And in all likelihood, it will be the guys that are already behaving as leaders without having an extra letter on their jersey.

 

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7 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

  the sedins probably haven't helped cdc'ers and fans become better people. 

This is where I disagree with you, Joe.

 

Their community leadership is inspiring and admirable. 

 

I've just always wished they had a bit more fight / intensity in their on ice product. 

 

The skateaway-with-head-down-guys routine just bugs me to no end. Sends me into fits actually

 

 

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1 hour ago, xereau said:

Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

 

http://www.uvic.ca/home/about/campus-news/2017+nhl-servant-leadership-carolyn-crippen+ring

 

Hockey culture is adopting a leadership style that nurtures skilled communicators, system thinkers and compassionate collaborators who build teams and community.

At least that’s the aspirational view University of Victoria leadership studies researcher Carolyn Crippen puts forward in her new study of servant-leader philosophy in the NHL, as exemplified by Henrik and Daniel Sedin and key members of the Canucks organization.

 

A Case Study of Servant Leadership in the NHL, published in Interchange, a Quarterly Review of Education, provides evidence of the influence of the Sedins, Trevor Linden, Pat Quinn and others on the changing culture of the Vancouver Canucks, and provides expert comment on how their example could influence the NHL, aspiring professional hockey players, and sport in general.

 

“This study is about a side of hockey that’s often overlooked,” Crippen says. “Today, especially with our knowledge of concussions, it’s critical to change hockey’s image.”

Servant-leadership, a term coined by management researcher Robert Greenleaf in 1970, is described as a more humane, value-based and creative management style whereby the leader focuses on the needs of the followers first.

 

“There’s this evolution in the structure of management worldwide,” Crippen says. “There’s more awareness of leadership being lateralized, being spread out. The top-down style is dying.”

 

"Daniel and Henrik lead by example with strong values and an unparalleled work ethic,” said Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations. "They demonstrate the finest qualities of character both in the game and as community leaders to future generations of players and fans."

 

The leadership philosophy that Crippen studies mostly within corporate and organizational cultures, she hadn’t expected to find in hockey, until the Sedins and their playing style caught her eye when she moved to BC from Manitoba in 2009. As she described in an earlier study in 2013, the Sedins stood out for their civil, respectful approach to their teammates, coaches, opponents and officials. She came to see them as the “culture carriers” of the team, a term used by Canucks GM Jim Benning in an interview with Vancouver sports writer Ed Willes.

 

A self-funded research project seven years in the making, Crippen’s qualitative study includes: hundreds of hours of close observation and analysis of games broadcast between 2009 and 2016, as well as a number of live games and practice sessions; a lengthy interview conducted with the Sedin twins and, more recently, with Trevor Linden—Canucks President of Hockey Operations—and two Vancouver sports writers; archival news research; and data analysis.

 

Daniel and Henrik Sedin, she found, demonstrate accountability, responsibility, proficiency, diligence, empathy, civic values, inclusivity and continual growth of self and others. “All of these traits contribute to building better serving communities, both on and off the ice,” she says.

 

The original beliefs, values and norms established by Pat Quinn and then disseminated by Trevor Linden during his time as a player, team leader and now as an executive, continue through the Sedins. Because of their lengthy and stable history (18 years) with the team, she asserts that they’ve disseminated and reinforced a culture of civility and skill-based play that’s now embodied within young players.

 

“Youth, aspiring professional hockey players and those involved in hockey and sport in general, may be influenced by their willingness to serve the team and their community through relentless hard work, integrity and accountability, and caring for children, special needs, and outreach to the local and provincial community,” Crippen says.

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1 hour ago, xereau said:

Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

In my view you don't necessarily need a certain level of 'on-ice' skill to be a leader and that's what I think you're saying xereau.  Therer've been countless leaders throughout sports history who haven't had 'elite' skill in their sport anymore yet are tremendous leaders.  I remember back to the Flames (yes, the flames did have good leaders one time) when they were in the playoffs the year they won.  Lanny MacDonald was a great leader for their club yet his skills on the ice had diminished to the point he was barely able to stay in the league - yet you hear stories from the players on that team recounting how valuable it was to have him on the bench with them and 'in the room' as the saying goes. 

 

The Sedin's, as we all know, have dropped a level in their skill - age waits for no one.  But in my view - the Sedin's have actually raised their leadership levels in the way they interact with the community, how they prepare for the season and individual games and in how they set the standard in training camp year in/ year out.  At their age, let's be honest, they're putting in extra effort to out-do kids almost half their age sometimes and that takes dedication which in itself is a component of leadership imo. 

 

Yeah, they have great cardo - but you're selling them VERY short if that's all they bring to the rink anymore. 

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56 minutes ago, Baggins said:

 

http://www.uvic.ca/home/about/campus-news/2017+nhl-servant-leadership-carolyn-crippen+ring

 

Hockey culture is adopting a leadership style that nurtures skilled communicators, system thinkers and compassionate collaborators who build teams and community.

At least that’s the aspirational view University of Victoria leadership studies researcher Carolyn Crippen puts forward in her new study of servant-leader philosophy in the NHL, as exemplified by Henrik and Daniel Sedin and key members of the Canucks organization.

 

A Case Study of Servant Leadership in the NHL, published in Interchange, a Quarterly Review of Education, provides evidence of the influence of the Sedins, Trevor Linden, Pat Quinn and others on the changing culture of the Vancouver Canucks, and provides expert comment on how their example could influence the NHL, aspiring professional hockey players, and sport in general.

 

“This study is about a side of hockey that’s often overlooked,” Crippen says. “Today, especially with our knowledge of concussions, it’s critical to change hockey’s image.”

Servant-leadership, a term coined by management researcher Robert Greenleaf in 1970, is described as a more humane, value-based and creative management style whereby the leader focuses on the needs of the followers first.

 

“There’s this evolution in the structure of management worldwide,” Crippen says. “There’s more awareness of leadership being lateralized, being spread out. The top-down style is dying.”

 

"Daniel and Henrik lead by example with strong values and an unparalleled work ethic,” said Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations. "They demonstrate the finest qualities of character both in the game and as community leaders to future generations of players and fans."

 

The leadership philosophy that Crippen studies mostly within corporate and organizational cultures, she hadn’t expected to find in hockey, until the Sedins and their playing style caught her eye when she moved to BC from Manitoba in 2009. As she described in an earlier study in 2013, the Sedins stood out for their civil, respectful approach to their teammates, coaches, opponents and officials. She came to see them as the “culture carriers” of the team, a term used by Canucks GM Jim Benning in an interview with Vancouver sports writer Ed Willes.

 

A self-funded research project seven years in the making, Crippen’s qualitative study includes: hundreds of hours of close observation and analysis of games broadcast between 2009 and 2016, as well as a number of live games and practice sessions; a lengthy interview conducted with the Sedin twins and, more recently, with Trevor Linden—Canucks President of Hockey Operations—and two Vancouver sports writers; archival news research; and data analysis.

 

Daniel and Henrik Sedin, she found, demonstrate accountability, responsibility, proficiency, diligence, empathy, civic values, inclusivity and continual growth of self and others. “All of these traits contribute to building better serving communities, both on and off the ice,” she says.

 

The original beliefs, values and norms established by Pat Quinn and then disseminated by Trevor Linden during his time as a player, team leader and now as an executive, continue through the Sedins. Because of their lengthy and stable history (18 years) with the team, she asserts that they’ve disseminated and reinforced a culture of civility and skill-based play that’s now embodied within young players.

 

“Youth, aspiring professional hockey players and those involved in hockey and sport in general, may be influenced by their willingness to serve the team and their community through relentless hard work, integrity and accountability, and caring for children, special needs, and outreach to the local and provincial community,” Crippen says.

 

Thanks for the article Baggins. It's a downright shame that anyone thinks these guys aren't fantastic leaders.

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2 hours ago, xereau said:

Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

They are great leaders because of all the people in the organization saying how important they are. Bo Horvat has said how important their leadership was/is for him. They are leaders because of how they conduct themselves on and off the ice. What does skating have to do with leadership? 99% failure rate on between the leg passes? But feel free to continue disrespecting the Sedins. They aren't great in the community and weren't major parts in this team having the most successful few years in franchise history. Do we really need them?

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1 hour ago, butters said:

its the only comment worth making when people are pretending to know things that they don't

Well, by making comments that others know nothing about leadership is presupposes that you in fact do know about it - so let's hear your expertise on why the Sedin's do or don't make great leaders then? 

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1 hour ago, Fanuck said:

Well, by making comments that others know nothing about leadership is presupposes that you in fact do know about it - so let's hear your expertise on why the Sedin's do or don't make great leaders then? 

I don't have any expertise. My opinion is just as irrelevant as anyone's.

 

edit - and I don't even have one. I don't spend time thinking about things I don't really know about. However, I do know that "leadership" is an occasional buzzword that gets thrown around when pitchforks come out, and I hear the usual ragers get really dramatic about it. So I tend to call out pretense at expertise when I see it.

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6 hours ago, xereau said:

Gonna get flamed for this, but I am kind of tired of seeing and hearing about how great of leaders the Sedins are.  Do the terrible, 99% fail between 6 pairs of leg passes that end up in your own net count as leadership?  How about the skating in quicksand, feeble stick wave back check?  Is that leadership?  How about the new age sports cliches spouted to the media after a completely terrible team game, is that leadership too?  This mantra of the Sedins as the greatest leaders really grinds my gears, because I do not see it. At all.  They were good players.  They might have been good leaders even.  But leading by example goes far, FAR beyond having great cardio.

https://canucksarmy.com/2017/01/21/top-5-henrik-sedin-moments-so-far/

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6 hours ago, stanleycanucks said:

My question is, do you think the Canucks need young leadership after this season?

Its there. Bo is already doing it. Guddy too (hopefully he sticks around). I'd even put Grandlund in there as a "by example" kind of guy with his willingness to get to the net. This is one area where we don't have to be concerned going forward. 

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8 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

Canucks have a lot of leadership.

 

30+ - Henrik, Daniel, Eriksson, Vanek, Edler

25-30 - Del Zotto, Tanev, Dorsett, Sutter, Gagner, Gudbranson, Wierioch

20-25 - Horvat

Gotta ask. Why did you select these players names as leaders for the Canucks?

 

The Sedins leadership goes without saying I suppose, although I do question it at times.

Eriksson? I dont know him personally but from what I've observed on the ice and on his career stat sheet, I dont want the younger players emulating him in the least.

Edler. He doesn't exactly exude leadership.

Vanek? What do we know about him? He has yet to play a meaningful game for the team.

Del Zotto? See Vanek.

Tanev. Perhaps he's a very quiet leader.

Dorsett. He's not my favorite but you cant question his effort. Leader by example I guess.

Gagner? See Vanek, Del Zotto.

Gudbranson. See Dorsett.

Wiercoch? See Vanek, Del Zotto, Gagner.

Horvat. No argument here. The guy's a boss and it shows

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